Sámi schools, which were referred to as ''Nomad schools'' or ''Lapp schools'' before 1977, are a type of
school in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
that runs parallel to the standard
primary school system. Sámi schools are part of the Swedish
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
system, and as such are governed by the same curriculum that primary schools are. Sámi schools are state-owned educational institutions that are open to all children whose parents claim to be
Sámi. Each school has its own dormitory that many students live in for large parts of the
academic year
An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study.
School holiday
School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...
due to the long distances in the
north of Sweden.
Teaching took place in both
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 ...
and
Sámi, which was also taught separately. The Sámi schools have a small number of students. The schools are located in
Karesuando,
Lannavaara,
Kiruna
(; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norr ...
,
Gällivare and
Jokkmokk in
Norrbotten County
Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...
and in
Tärnaby in
Västerbotten County. Grades 1-6 are taught everywhere but Gällivare, where only grades 7-9 are taught. Some municipalities in Lapland do not have their own Sámi school, so they have integrated Sámi teaching at the primary school level and native-language education in Sámi when it can be arranged. The
Sami Education Board ( sv, Sameskolstyrelsen) in Jokkmokk has been responsible for the Sámi schools since 1981. Board members, who are Sámi themselves, are appointed by the
Sami Parliament of Sweden
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 net ...
.
An ordinance on nomad schools was passed in Sweden in 1913. This type of school ran parallel to the primary school form prevalent at the time called ''
folkskola''. While the number of days in the academic year was the same as for the ''folkskola'', the academic year itself was adapted to conform to the everyday life that the Sámi led at the time. During the 1940s and 1950s, the school ''
goahti
A goahti (Northern Sámi), goahte (Lule Sámi), gåhte (Pite Sámi), gåhtie (Ume Sámi) or gåetie (Southern Sámi), (also ''gábma''), (Norwegian: ''gamme'', Finnish: ''kota'', Swedish: ''kåta''), is a Sami hut or tent of three types of cov ...
'' that were in use were replaced with a western-style dormitory. Up until the 1950s, nomad schools could either be mobile or be in a fixed location. After that decade, however, the mobile versions were discontinued.
History
Sámi boys sent to Uppsala
The latter six had been sent to the bailiff in
Tornio to be transported over the water. The other ten were to be accompanied by Hjort himself, but one fell ill and had to be left behind. So there were only nine boys left that Daniel Thordsson Hjort led. When they arrived in
Gnarp in
Hälsingland, however, the two oldest boys ran away while a violent storm raged. Hjort had the entire parish out looking for them, but they were not able to find the two boys. The remaining seven boys were delivered to the bailiff in
Gävle
Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...
, where they were given Western-style clothing and shoes before they were finally settled in Uppsala. It would be Christoffer von Warnstedt, governor of
Uppsala Castle, who would be ultimately responsible for their upkeep.
No one knows how the seven Sámi boys at Uppsala fared. According to an announcement from 1612, however, it transpired that the students received no compensation for their studies during the three years there were at Uppsala.
The Piteå Lapp school
In 1617,
Nicolaus Andreæ, the vicar in
Piteå
Piteå () is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326.
Geography
Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River ( sv, Piteälven), at th ...
, offered to found a school for the Sámi. This idea was supported by King
Gustav II Adolf. Andreæ was from a
birkarl family and knew some Sámi. Each year, six boys would be educated at the newly founded Lapp school in the hopes that some of them would eventually become priests and start working with the mission in
Lappmarken. In 1619, Andreæ published a liturgy book and primer in Sámi; these were the first books to be published in the language.
When Andreæ died in 1628, the school only had three students, who stayed on to be taught by his successor, Johannes Hossius. In 1632, they transferred to the newly founded
Skyttean school in Lycksele.
The Skyttean school in Lycksele
After Andreæ's death, no other priest was available who knew Sámi. As the priests lived on the coast and only made the trip up to
Lappmarken a couple of times a year, they had to preach to the masses through an interpreter.
The dean in
Umeå,
Olaus Petri Niurenius
Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" ...
, saw that this was a problem and discussed the matter with person councillor ( sv, riksrådet)
Johan Skytte. This resulted in a new Lapp school, the
Skyttean school, being set up in
Lycksele with Johan Skytte providing backing for it. The school seemed to be open already in February 1632 with two former students from the Lapp school in Piteå having joined its staff as teachers. In April, Niurenius announced that the school had eleven students. One of the main objectives was to supply academically gifted boys for the seminary, so that they could then return to work amongst their own people. In 1633, the post of Sámi catechist was established at the Skyttean school. This resulted in the majority of teaching taking place in Swedish.
The first student from the Skyttean school that was actually ordained as a priest was
Olaus Stephani Graan, who became head of his old school in 1657. He wrote two books that would go on to have a major impact on the school’s program: ''Cathechetiska frågor, tryckte 1688 until Lapparnes undervisning'', as well as an updated edition of the ''Manuale Lapponicum'', containing
Psalms and
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...
from the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, a
Catechism
A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
, a
psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
, and a
lectionary
A lectionary ( la, lectionarium) is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evang ...
– all in Sámi.
Sámi students at Uppsala
By 1725, a total of 14 students with a Sámi background had enrolled at the
University of Uppsala. The majority of these students came from the Skyttean school in Lycksele, but some of them also had ties leading back to Andreæ in Piteå. The 14 students and the year each one enrolled at the university are as follows:
*1633: Andreas Petri Lappo (pastor in Arvidsjaur 1640–1649. After that, he became priest at the mine at
Nasafjäll, and then finally in
Jokkmokk.)
*1635: Paulus Matthiae Lappo
*1636: Jacobus Matthiae Lappo Gråtreschensis (very likely the brother of Paulus Matthiae Lappo; attended school in Piteå and went on to become the head of the Skyttean school)
*1660: Nicholaus Haquini Vindelius Lapponius
*1662: Hindrichus Svenonius Lyckselius (became the first assistant vicar in
Sorsele)
*1662: Nicholaus Olai Vindelius Lappo
*1672:
Olaus Matthiae Lappo Sirma (did not attend the Skyttean school; attended a primary school in Torneå; became a priest in
Karesuando)
*1674: Nicolaus Andreae Lundius Lappo (son of Andreas Petri)
*1676: Nicolaus Jonae Spolander Lappo
*1688: Laurentius Rangius Lappo (successor to Henrik Svenonius in Sorsele)
*1706: Sivardus Granbergh
*1710: Kenicius Granlund Lappo
*1720: Zimeon Zachariae Granmark Lappo
*1722: Petrus Thurenius
At the same time, there were Sámi students at other
institutes of higher education
An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education, including preschools, childcare, primary-elementary schools, secondary-high schools, and universities. They provide a large variety of learning environments an ...
such as
Härnösands gymnasium, which is, for example, where Olaus Stephani Graan studied.
Additional Lapp schools established
The royal decree of 1723 "Lappländarnes flitigare undervisning i kristendomen and skolars inrättande där i orten" stated that Lapp schools were to be established at each and every one of the seven main churches in Lappland. This resulted in schools being set up at Jokkmokk and Åsele in 1732, Arjeplog in 1743, Jukkasjärvi in 1744, Föllinge in 1748, Gällivare in 1756 and Enontekiö in 1813. As with the Skyttean school, which still existed, these were small schools that usually had six pupils whom the Crown provided upkeep for. The idea was that after two years in the Lapp school students would be able to start teaching other children back home.
This new decree changed the character of the Lapp schools. The new schools lacked the academic emphasis that the Skyttean school had had. Instead, these schools were two-year boarding schools at the primary level where schoolchildren were taught reading and Christianity.
These schools existed until 1820. During the last year of their existence, Åsele, Lycksele, Arjeplog, Jokkmokk and Gällivare had a ”full school”, i.e., six students and Jukkasjärvi and Karesuando had ”half” schools with three students each. As the number of pupils in the Lapp schools was so limited,
catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
s were used to supplement their education. Any Sámi whose children were not attending the school, but were otherwise interested, could request a catechist from their
pastor. The catechist taught the family's children at home and could even spend an entire winter with one family.
The Lapp schools in Åsele, Arjeplog, Jukkasjärvi and Karesuando were closed in 1820, replaced by a new, mobile form of teaching. By this point in time, catechists were responsible for teaching the entire curriculum to an entire
siida or some other larger group of Sámi.
See also
*
American Indian boarding schools
*
Canadian Indian residential school system
*
Cultural assimilation of Native Americans
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sami School (Sweden)
Sámi culture
Sámi in Sweden
School types
Education in Sweden