The Sámi National Day, smn, Säämi aalmugpeivi, sms, Saaʹmi meersažpeiʹvv, sma, Saemiej åålmegebiejjie, no, Samenes nasjonaldag, sv, Samernas nationaldag, fi, Saamelaisten kansallispäivä is an ethnic national day for the
Sámi (Saami) people that falls on February 6, the date when
the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in
Trondheim,
Norway.
The congress was the first time that Norwegian and
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Sámi came together across national borders to work on finding solutions to common problems.
In 1992,
at the 15th
Sámi Conference in
Helsinki,
Finland, a resolution was passed that Sámi National Day should be celebrated on February 6 to commemorate the first Sámi congress in 1917. Sami National Day is for all Sámi, regardless of where they live and on that day the
Sámi flag should be flown and the
Sámi anthem is sung in the local
Sámi language. The first time Sami National Day was celebrated was in 1993,
when the International Year of Indigenous People was proclaimed open in
Jokkmokk, Sweden by the
United Nations.
Since then, celebrating the day has become increasingly popular. In Norway it is compulsory for municipal administrative buildings to fly the
Norwegian flag, and optionally also the Sami flag, on February 6. Particularly notable is the celebration in Norway's capital
Oslo, where the bells in the highest tower of
Oslo City Hall
Oslo City Hall ( no, Oslo rådhus) is a municipal building in Oslo, the capital of Norway. It houses the city council, the city's administration and various other municipal organisations. The building as it stands today was constructed between ...
play the Sami national anthem as the flags go up. Some larger places have taken to arranging festivities also in the week around the Sami National Day. The National Day has been included in the
almanacs published by the
University of Helsinki since 2004.
The Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish authorities recommend general flagging on the day.
By coincidence, February 6 was also the date representatives of the Sámi of the
Kola Peninsula gathered annually to meet with Russian bureaucrats to debate and decide on issues of relevance to them. This assembly, called the
Kola Sobbar, has been dubbed the "first Sámi Parliament" by the researcher Johan Albert Kalstad. However, the founding of the Kola Sobbar did not influence the choice of the date for Sámi People's Day, as the assembly existed only during the late 1800s and was largely forgotten until the early 2000s.
See also
*
Sámi anthem
*
Sámi culture
*
Waitangi Day
Notes
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Sámi peoples
National days
February observances
Indigenous peoples days