ČSV is an

initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps wi ...

used to promote

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

identity and activism. The three letters are the most commonly used in

Sámi languages The Sámi languages ( ), also rendered in English language, English as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Indigenous Sámi peoples in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwest ...

. The combination of the three letters is explained as a play with word, meaning that it can stand for a variety of meanings. ČSV is commonly associated with meanings such as (Show Sámi Spirit), (Secret Sámi Helper), (Gather for Victory) and (Pure Sámi Blood).

History

In the early 1970s, Sámi activists adopted ČSV as a watchword similar to how the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an Native Americans in the United States, American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues ...

and the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

used the phrases "Red Power" and "Black Power" respectively. ČSV did not represent a group, but more of an idea that minority groups should take a more confrontational stance in demanding change. is credited with coming up with the purposefully vague acronym during the protests in Máze, Norway in 1970, saying that it stood for (Secret Sámi Helper). Although the phrase originated among the

Northern Sámi Northern Sámi or North Sámi ( ; ; ; ; ; disapproved exonym Lappish or Lapp) is the most widely spoken of all Sámi languages. The area where Northern Sámi is spoken covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Geographic distr ...

community in

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

, Norway, it soon spread across Sápmi and to other Sámi language groups. In general, someone who works actively to support the Sámi community has been referred to a ČSV. As an ethnocultural movement, ČSV has been associated with a certain style, including wearing

gákti is the Northern Sámi word used by non-Sámi speakers to refer to many different types of traditional clothing worn by the Sámi in northern areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. The gákti is worn both in ceremon ...

s, nutukas, tin-thread embroidery, and the Sami colors, as one of the goals of ČSV is to make Sámi culture and identity visible.

Artists

While the origin of ČSV was political, it soon became a cultural identifier drawing the attention of authors and artists. In 1972, participants at a Sirma, Norway, cultural seminar to promote Sámi literature were tasked with writing what ČSV meant for them as part of an exercise to encourage Sámi to write about Sámi experiences. The literary anthology launched out of this seminar, publishing 16 issues and featuring many first-time Sámi authors. A number of issues of featured poems with words containing the letters ČSV. In 2013,

Kildin Sámi Kildin Sámi, also spelt as Kildin Saami is a Sámi languages, Sámi language spoken on the Kola Peninsula of northwestern Russia by the Sámi people, Kildin Sámi, who have historically inhabited the peninsula. The Sámi languages closest to ...

photographer Sergey Gavrilov asked Sámi youth to repeat the ČSV exercise for an exhibition at the Sami Center for Contemporary Art in Kárášjohka, Norway. In 2014, the play explored the idea of a unified, independent Sápmi and how different Sámi communities and languages might engage with one another and the world.

Interpretation

Expressing the meaning of ČSV for many is an exercise in creativity, demonstrating the adaptability of the Sámi people and languages. Common meanings include: * (Show Sámi Spirit!) * (Sámi Unite for Victory!) * (Write, Sámi friends!) * (Clear Sámi Blood)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ČSV Initialisms Scandinavia Sámi-language terms Sámi politics Indigenous rights