Swedish Info. Society to replace "Lapp" with "Saami"
Sue-Ellen Jacobs (sueellen@u.washington.edu)
Fri, 25 Aug 1995 08:47:39 -0700
Good news from The Sami Association of North America, August 1995, page 1.
The Swedish Information Society has finally promised to stop using the
term "Lapp" in literature which they distribute worldwide. Their decision
comes after months of correspondence between the Information Society and
Carl Lundin. Last month, a member of the society - Mattias Abrahamsson -
initiated a meeting between the Information Society and the Swedish-Saami
Court. The court advised that the Society should not use the term "Lapp",
but instead should use the term "Saami". Mattias Abrahamsson has promised
that the Information Society will stop using the term "Lapp", and that
they will also encourage other organizations to do the same.
One country at a time, one form of communication at a time, the Saami
people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kaola Peninsula of Russia have
been striving to reclaim not only their own name, but also their
language, religion, land and water rights. As elsewhere, the struggle has
cost lives and liveliehood, but little by little the Saami continue to gain.
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Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Assoc. Professor, Univ of Washington, Box 354345,
Seattle, WA 98195-4345, 206-685-1956, FAX 206-685-9555
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