Helvi Nuorgam-Poutasuo (October 15, 1943 – July 16, 2017) was a Sámi teacher, translator, and newspaper editor as well as a politician and a Sámi cultural influencer. She was the first lecturer in Northern Sámi at the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...

Biography

Helvi Nuorgam was born in

Utsjoki Utsjoki (; sme, Ohcejohka ; smn, Uccjuuhâ; sms, Uccjokk; no, Utsjok) is a municipality in Finland, the northernmost in the country. It is in Lapland and borders Norway as well as the municipality of Inari. The municipality was founded in 18 ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on October 15, 1943. Her parents were Niillas-Jon Niillas ( fi, Niiles Nuorgam and Ápparan-Mággá ( fi, Magga Nuorgam, née Helander). Her father's family was from Utsjoki and

Inari Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...

, while her mother's family was from Utsjoki. Poutasuo attended schools in

Ivalo Ivalo ( smn, Avveel, se, Avvil, sms, Âʹvvel) is a village in the municipality of Inari, Lapland, Finland, located on the Ivalo River south of Lake Inari in the Arctic Circle. It has a population of 3,998 and a small airport. south of Iva ...

and Mäntsälä. In 1962, she was selected as that year's High School Girl by ''

Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' ( Finnish for ''The New Finland'') was a Finnish daily newspaper that was published from 1919 to 1991. The headquarters was in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Uusi Suomi'' was established in 1919 as a continuation of tw ...

''. She studied Finno-Ugric languages, including Northern Sámi, at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. In 1967, she married Kari Poutasuo. She was a lecturer in the

Sámi languages Sámi languages ( ), in English also rendered as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwestern Russia). There are, dependin ...

at the University of Oulu from 1970 to 1972. She edited the Sámi language magazine '' Sápmelaš'' with

Pekka Sammallahti Pekka Lars Kalervo Sammallahti ( smn, Sevtil-Piäkká, May 21, 1947 in Helsinki) is a professor of Sami languages, Sámi languages at the Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu. A prolific writer, he has published more than 100 books and art ...

, Samuli Aikio, and Sulo Aikio. The editorial board of ''Sápmelaš'' was awarded the State Prize for Information Publication for its newspaper work in 1976.Jouni Kitti: Sapmelas-lehden historiaa jounikitti.fi. Viitattu 10.9.2017.''Inarilainen'' 16.8.2017, p. 20. Jouni Kitti: Helvi Poutasuo – saamelaiskulttuurin pioneeri. From 1976 to 1987 and 1992 to 1995, she was a member of the

Sámi Parliament of Finland The Sámi Parliament of Finland ( fi, Saamelaiskäräjät, se, Sámediggi, smn, Sämitigge, sms, Sääʹmteʹǧǧ) is the representative body for people of Sámi heritage in Finland. The parliament consists of 21 elected members and 4 elected de ...

(Vice-Chair, 1977–79 and 1992–95). From 1996 to 1999, she was a member of the

Saami Council The Saami Council ( se, Sámiráđđi; smj, Sámeráde; sma, Saemienraerie; smn, Sämirääđi; sms, Sääʹmsuåvtõs; sjd, Са̄мь Соббар; sje, Sámerárre) is a voluntary, non-governmental organization of the Sámi people made u ...

. Nuorgam-Poutasuo died in Utsjoki, July 16, 2017.''Inarilainen'', p. 6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuorgam-Poutasuo, Helvi 1943 births 2017 deaths Finnish Sámi academics Finnish Sámi politicians 20th-century Finnish women politicians Finnish translators People from Utsjoki Finnish editors Finnish women editors 20th-century Finnish women writers University of Helsinki alumni Academic staff of the University of Oulu Sámi women academics 20th-century translators