''Muitalægje'' was the first newspaper to publish in a Sámi language. Launched in April 1873 in Čáhcesuolu, Norway, the paper published a total of 33 issues before folding in September 1875. The full title of the paper was ''Muittalægje Čuvgetusa Haliduvvidi Sámi Gaskast'' (Tales for Sámi Hungry for Education/Culture).

History

Inspired by the Sámi teacher Peder Larsen Ucce's appeal for a Sámi-language newspaper to support the education of Sámi people who were not benefiting from the state's Norwegianization policy, ''Muitalægje'' was founded by Northern Sámi-speaking Norwegian , the chief of police in

Buolbmát , , or is a village in Tana Municipality in Finnmark county in Norway. The village is located on the south bank of the river Tana, just east of the border with Finland (and the northernmost point of Finland). The village is the site of the P ...

, who also wrote the majority of the paper's articles, teacher Johan Eriksen Soffa, and fisherman Samuel Samuelsen. Larsen served as co-editor of the paper. The paper's founders all belonged to Vieljažiid Searvi (The Brotherhood), an informal society of socially engaged Sámi in eastern

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 ...

. The paper was printed at F. Kjeldseth's printing office in Čáhcesuolu, which also printed the Norwegian-language ''Finmarkens Amtstidende'' newspaper. Andreasen intended ''Muitalægje'' to encourage Sámi youth to look towards books for knowledge so they would learn more about the world outside the Sámi community and thus become more interested in public affairs and better willing able to advocate for Sámi rights. The paper also helped to preserve and promote the Northern Sámi language and to support Sámi identity as Norwegianization policies were being strengthened.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muitalaegje Newspapers established in 1873 Newspapers disestablished in 1875 Defunct newspapers published in Norway Mass media in Finnmark Vadsø Sámi in Norway Defunct Northern Sámi-language newspapers History of Finnmark