Leena Huss, Hugo Valention-center, Uppsala

2008-2013

The aim of the project Revitalization Against all Odds? South Sámi in Sweden was to study the situation of the South Sámi language and culture before and after the year 2000, when the national minority policy first came into force in Sweden, and to investigate if the new policy has impacted the situation of South Sámi in terms of linguistic and cultural revitalization, and if so, how. A power analysis according to an intersectional analysis model was also carried out.
In order to shed light on the situation of the South Sámi language and culture previously and today, we have strived not only to highlight and analyse objective data, but also the subjective experiences and feelings of teachers, parents, cultural workers, and organizations - all this against the background of the new national minority policy from 2000 and the minority policy reform from 2010.
Data collection was extended to the time after the latter reform because of new developments in the field. Since this time traditional South Sámi municipalities have joined the Sámi administrative area. It was important for the project to document the atmosphere and development after South Sámi received the same status as the rest of the Sámi languages in Sweden.

RESULTS OF THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC SUB-PROJECT

The sociolinguistic sub-project focused on language choice and attitudes to South Sámi in families and schools. Interviews were done with different generations in two South Sámi families. The interviewees' experiences and thoughts were mapped with so-called language biographies, and questionnaires were answered by over 60 teachers, as well as parents of schoolchildren studying South Sámi in the municipal schools in Vilhelmina and Storuman or attending the Sámi school in Tärnaby.
The results show that in spite of the fact that a great majority of the participants view language as a core value in the South Sámi identity, most of them also state that Sámi language competence is not a precondition for being Sámi. There seems to be a readiness among the (South) Sámi to understand and accept that many among them have lost or never learnt Sámi, while the need for revitalization is considered acute.
Regardless of how individuals or local communities define the goals of their own revitalization efforts, how they assess their possibilities to succeed, or how they strive to overcome various obstacles, it appears obvious that reclaiming a language is no simple task. The results also show that revitalization in the minds of many not only implies language reclamation, but is also closely intertwined with ethnic revival, empowerment, and decolonization. One must overcome one's own history, the history of the family, and the entire Sámi people, and revalorize a language and an identity that have been heavily stigmatized during a long time. Many take a personal responsibility for South Sámi language and the culture, which sometimes can be heavy to bear. Others again speak about joy, pride and a new hope for the future. Here, age and gender seem to be significant: the younger and female participants tend to be more positive than the older and male ones.
The results also show that the participants generally perceive the national minority policy as a guarantee of the language without which the South Sámi language would very soon have been lost. New possibilities have emerged, while the implementation of the minority policy is considered by many as lacking, which hinders the revitalization that otherwise would have been possible. Other obstacles mentioned were the questioning of and negative attitudes vis-à-vis the Sámi language and Sáminess from the surrounding society, but also a language climate among the Sámi which can be all too purist and exclusive. The so-called ideological clarification, the importance of which is stressed in revitalization research, is present, but the interviews also show that there is a consciousness of the many obstacles on the way.

RESULTS FROM THE SOCIOCULTURAL SUB-PROJECT

The sociocultural sub-project focused on studying cultural activities within the South Sámi area, as well as the role of language in these activities and as part of the South Sámi identity. Interviews were done with a number of cultural workers (writers, artists etc.) and representatives for South Sámi organizations. In all interviews and organization presentations, a perception has emerged that the situation of South Sámi has improved and that the cultural workers and organizations today have better possibilities than before to carry out their work.
Characteristic of the interviews is a belief in the future and the planning of future activities, although all the interviewees also mention the lack of economic resources as the greatest obstacle for development. In some organizations the daily work is almost totally carried out in (South) Sámi, while in others the language has a more symbolic role.
In all organizations, there is a consciousness about gender and equality issues; also, the possibility of all age groups to participate in the activities is emphasized. We can speak of a double perspective here, drawing on the official equality discourse of the majority society as well as what can be regarded as a specific (South) Sámi discourse. The interviewees stressed that they follow a principle of equality when planning activities, but at the same time there is a strong consciousness about the fact that both the activities on offer, and participation in them, can nevertheless be gender-segregated in practice.
The markers most often mentioned for (South) Sáminess were the Sámi language, reindeer, handicraft, the yoik, Sámi clothing, film, music, food and nature. A contextualized and intersectional analysis showed, however, that these markers conveyed different meanings to different interviewees and also that their use reflected the sex, gender, and class constituency of the group and the embedded power structures involved in the organization of the group. Generally, we can say that both the interview data and the written sources used show three different positionings in formulating a group identity: identity primarily based on 1) reindeer herding and the (South) Sámi language; 2) the (South) Sámi language and other cultural expressions; and 3) a broad Sámi affinity and Sámi value system.
These positionings also reflect the placing of Sáminess in time and space; while participants from the traditional (South) Sámi area with a close relationship with reindeer herding saw reindeer herding and Sámi language competence as the most central markers, linguistically assimilated South Sámi in urban areas tended to have a clearly broader definition of Sáminess. All viewed language as an important marker, but their attitudes towards Sámi language competence varied considerably: for many, language competence was not a basic requirement when defining Sámi identity.
The reformed minority policy and the strengthened rights are perceived by almost all participants as an important factor supporting revitalization. Nevertheless, researchers of multicultural and postcolonial feminism have pointed out that instead of speaking in terms of assigned rights - as Western and "white" feminists often do - we should let minority groups themselves focus on the duties and responsibilities of individuals towards their own collectives, like several of the interviewees did. This can be related to experiences during the former forced assimilation policy and a lack of faith in the aspiration and capacity of the authorities to pursue a reformist policy requiring long-term planning and changes in their own work procedures.

FUTURE RESEARCH

In future research in the South Sámi culture, there is a need for a deeper analysis of sex and gender combined with ethnicity. The debate about expressions of sex and queerness in Sámi society during the last few years would seem to offer new possibilities of positioning for Sámi identity. There is also a lack for research concerning urban Sáminess and among the young. Comparisons with the situations of other indigenous peoples would be of great research value.

INTERNATIONAL ANCHORING
 

The project has above all strengthened our research contacts with Norway where South Sámi is also spoken. S. Gröndahl was appointed as Professor II at the Sámi University College in Kautokeino, Norway, for the period August 2 2012 - September 30 2014. L. Huss has given invited talks about the project in conferences held in Trondheim and Snåsa, and she has also given lectures on language revitalization at a post-graduate course at the Sámi University College. The Language and Society Group at the Department of Linguistics at the University of Tromsø has applied for a Professor II position for L. Huss but the matter is still in process.
Our project has also attracted attention in Finland, not least through cooperation with the Finnish projects Northern Multilingualism and Peripheral multilingualism, both led from the University of Jyväskylä.
S. Gröndahl has been invited to join two anthology projects together with Nordic and Austrian colleagues. She has also co-initiated the network Sáfir (Sámi Literature Researchers' Network). The project has been a co-initiator to a literary conference to be held in 2014 in Kautokeino.
Colleagues from Georgetown University, Washington D.C. and the University of Pennsylvania have been invited to two revitalization conferences in Uppsala (October 2010 and October 2013).

DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS
 

The results of the project as a whole will be published in a volume with the title The Sámi language is like a Superpower! Experiences of South Sámi revitalization in Sweden, due for publication at the beginning of 2014. A popular science book called Giele geehpes guedtedh - The Language is Easy to Bear - will be published in November 2013.

Publications

PUBLIKATIONER

Bibliografi:

Lundqvist, Björn: Svensk syd- och umesamisk bibliografi 1990-2008. The Hugo Valentin Centre. Uppsala. 2011

Artiklar och kapitel i böcker:

Gröndahl, Satu: Multicultural or Multilingual Literature: A Swedish Dilemma?" I: Literature for Europe? Eds Theo D'Haen & Jannis Goerlandt. Studies in Comparative Literature 61. European Science Foundation & Lindköping University. Rodopi. Amsterdam - New York. 2009

Gröndahl, Satu: Ruotsin monikulttuurinen kirjallisuus ja sen paikantaminen kirjallisessa kentässä". [Den mångkulturella litteraturen i Sverige och dess placering i det litterära fältet]. I: Uutelo, Nr 25. Department of Literature and the Arts. Tampere University. 2010

Gröndahl, Satu: "Forest and Fell". Books from Finland. Finnish Literary Society, Helsinki. Review of Veli-Pekka Lehtola: Saamelaiset suomalaiset: Kohtaamisia 1896–1953 [Sámi, Finns: encounters 1896–1953], Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 2012; and Leena Valkeapää Luonnossa: Vuoropuhelua Nils-Aslak Valkeapään tuotannon kanssa [In nature, a dialogue with the works of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää]. Helsinki: Maahenki, 2011

Gröndahl, Satu & Huss, Leena: "Nationell minoritetspolitik och Europarådets konventioner" i (Gröndahl, Satu & Huss, Leena red.) Kunskap för egenmakt. Minoritetskvinnor och folkbildningen. NAMIS-Serien nr 4, 13-28. Uppsala: Hugo Valentin-centrum (2010)

Huss, Leena: Minorities and Language: The Situation in Sweden after the Year 2000, i Peter Karpf, Peter, Platzer, Werner & Pusching, Udo (red.): Volksgruppen im Spannungsfeld von Globalisierung und Regionalisierung. Klagenfurt:Volksgruppenbüro. (2009)

[Huss, Leena: "Mitt modersmål - ser du, det lärde jag mig aldrig!" Om begreppet modersmål och människors rätt till eget språk, i Müssener, Helmut & Jegebäck, Per (red.): Språket, makten och härligheten: Five lectures. Uppsala: Hugo Valentin-centrum (2011)

[Huss, Leena & Lindgren, Anna-Riitta] ”Scandinavia”, in Fishman, Joshua & García, Ofelia (eds.): Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity. Disciplinary and regional perspectives, Volume 1, 2 nd edition, 255-268. Oxford University Press. (2010)

[Huss, Leena & Csató Johanson, Éva] Hotade språk och forskarens ansvar, i Bockgård, Gustav & Tunón, Håkan: Gäller vanligt folkvett också för akademiker. Rapport från ett seminarium om makt och etik, 53-59. Uppsala: Centrum för biologisk mångfald. (2010)

Lindgren, Anna-Riitta & Huss, Leena] ”Defining language emancipation”, in Huss, Leena & J. Shaun Nolan (eds.): “Language Emancipation” (Special Issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language No. 209) (2011)

Pietikainen, Sari, Huss, Leena, Laihiala-Kankainen, Sirkka, Aikio-Puoskari, Ulla och Lane, Pia: Regulating Multilingualism in the North Calotte: The Case of Kven, Meankieli and Sami Languages, Acta Borealia 27/2010, 1-23. (2010)

Pietikäinen, Sari, Laihiala-Kankainen, Sirkka, Huss, Leena & Salo, Hanni] Kieli ja kokemus: Vähemmistökieli kolmen sukupolven kielielämäkerroissa [[Språk och erfarenhet: Minoritetsspråket i tre generationers språkliga biografier], i Puhe ja kieli [Speech and Language], Vol. 31/2, 67-88 (2011)