Sámi youth demand actions to mitigate climate change

We acknowledge the climate crisis and demand immediate action to mitigate changes in the environment. We have the right to a future and the future should be our own. 

The declaration of the Sámi youth shows their worry for the condition of nature in Sápmi and the future. It also brings together suggestions for action. Sámi youth demand actions to mitigate climate change and actions to help adapt to it. Sámi youth are worried about the effects of climate change especially on traditional Sámi livelihoods and culture. 

– In the declaration we request that traditional Sámi knowledge would be considered an equal source of knowledge when we speak of or research climate change, land use and traditional livelihoods. The IPCC report tells us harsh facts about the climate crisis. We have been speaking for years already about the consequences of climate change and the difficulties our community faces. We cannot stop the impacts, and we need to start adapting so that we can secure our culture, languages and livelihoods, say the chair of the Finnish Sámi Parliament’s youth council, Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio and the chair of the Swedish Sámi Parliament’s youth council, Maria Unnes, who both participated in writing the declaration. 

Finnish Sámi Parliament’s youth council, Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio and the chair of the Swedish Sámi Parliament’s youth council, Maria Unnes.

The declaration states that cooperation between Sámi youths needs to be secured through common events and gatherings, and cooperation between Sámi across borders and with other indigenous peoples needs to be strengthened and increased. 

The Sámi youth have prepared the declaration as a part of the Nordic Sámi Youth Conference. The declaration acts as a tool for Nordic Sámi youth cooperation and it is an action plan against climate change across borders. 

The declaration can be read in:

The Nordic Sámi Youth Conference was held as an online event on the 26th of August 2021. The main organiser of the conference was the youth council of the Sámi Parliament and it was organised in cooperation with youth agents from the Sámi Parliaments from Norway, Sweden and Finland. During the conference we heard speeches from the Finnish Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Krista Mikkonen, the chair of the Sámi Parliamentary Council, Aili Keskitalo, the chair of the Sámi Parliament, Tuomas Aslak Juuso and young reindeer herder Jussa Seurujärvi. Workshops were held by social media influencer Emmi Nuorgam, artivist Pauliina Feodoroff and the global youth organisation Youth4Nature. The theme of the conference was climate change and the declaration was made as part of the conference. 

More information 

Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio  
Chair of the Sámi Parliament Youth Council of Finland 
+358 40 7082 072  
anni-sofia.niittyvuopio(at)samediggi.fi 

Maria Unnes 
Chair of the Sámi Parliament Youth Council of Sweden 
maria.unnes(at)sametinget.se 

Elli-Marja Hetta 
Youth Secretary of the Sámi Parliament of Finland 
+358 50 382 5179 
elli-marja.hetta(at)samediggi.fi 

Sámi youth come together to fight climate change in a conference on 26 August

The Nordic Sámi Youth Conference will be organised on 26 August 2021. The theme of the conference is climate change and the conference will be organised virtually. The conference is free of charge and open to all Sámi youth.

Sámi Parliament project worker Milla Pulska and chair of the Youth Council Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio welcome Sámi youth to the online conference.

“It is great that Sámi youth can once again discuss current and important matters across international borders. I believe that we will come to important realisations about climate change and how to battle it, but also realisations about how we can adapt,” rejoices the chair of the Youth Council, Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio.

At the conference we will hear interesting speeches from the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Krista Mikkonen, the Chair of the Sámi Parliamentary Council, Aili Keskitalo, young reindeer herder Jussa Seurujärvi and the Chair of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, Tuomas Aslak Juuso. The conference also includes workshops. The workshops will be held by the youth-led global organisation Youth4Nature, social media influencer Emmi Nuorgam and activist, director and screenwriter Pauliina Feodoroff.

“We hope that the young people participate boldly in the workshops. In the workshops, we will try to find everyone a suitable way of making an impact. Climate change can feel overwhelming, but we want to encourage people to find common strength and a message in the societal work against climate change,” explains the project worker of the conference, Milla Pulska.

Arctic indigenous peoples experience climate change most drastically and Sámi youth are worried about the impacts of climate change on the traditional livelihoods and culture of the Sámi people. At the conference, we will compile a declaration against climate change and plan shared operation models for Sámi youth across borders.

The Youth Council, which is under the Sámi Parliamentary Council, organises the Nordic Sámi Youth Conference every two years.  The conference is organised in cooperation with youth from the Sámi Parliaments of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The main organiser of the conference is the Sámi Parliament’s Youth Council. The goal of the conference is to encourage Sámi youth to develop Sámi society.

More information about the conference: www.nuor.fi

More information:

Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio
Chair of the Sámi Parliament Youth Council
040 7082 072
anni-sofia.niittyvuopio(at)samediggi.fi

Milla Pulska
project worker
040 669 5295
milla.pulska(at)samediggi.fi

Welcome to the Nordic Sámi Youth Conference

When: 26.8.2021 Finnish time from 9:00 to 15:00

Place: Zoom

The conference is free of charge and open to all Sámi youth. We will divide the attendants into workshops and we strive to base this on their wishes. The conference will have simultaneous interpretation. All attendants will be sent a t-shirt designed by artist Arsi Keva.

The theme of the conference is climate change. The indigenous peoples of the Arctic are most affected by climate change. Sámi youth are especially worried about the impact of climate change on the traditional livelihoods and culture of the Sámi people. As a part of the conference, the Sámi youth will outline a common declaration against climate change and plan operation models for this.

The Youth Council, which is under the Sámi Parliamentary Council, organises the Nordic Sámi Youth Conference every two years.  The conference is organised in cooperation with youth from the Sámi Parliaments of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The main organiser of the conference is the Sámi Parliament’s Youth Council.

Registration before 25.8. Finnish time 12.00: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/762D510FDD3DA894

Invitation

Programme

9:00 Start

9:15 Speech: Chair of the Sámi Parliamentary Council, Aili Keskitalo

9:30 Speech: Young reindeer herder Jussa Seurujärvi

9:45 Speech: Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Krista Mikkonen

10:00 Workshops

  1. Youth4Nature: Mobilising Youth to Lead for Nature and Climate, Storytelling
    Language: English
  2. Emmi Nuorgam: Social Media and Influencing
    Language: Finnish
  3. Pauliina Feodoroff: Climate Activism Sápmi
    Language: English

12:00 Lunch break

12:45 Speech: Chair of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, Tuomas Aslak Juuso

13:00 Declaration workshops in groups

14:14 Wrapping up             

15:00 End

Additional information:

project worker Milla Pulska
tel. +358 40 6695295
e-mail: milla.pulska(at)samediggi.fi

The Youth Council will translate the LGBTQ+ vocabulary by Seta into Sámi languages

The next generation of Sámi LGBTQ+ people will grow up with the opportunity to express their identity in words in the Sámi languages.

The Youth Council of the Sámi Parliament will translate the LGBTQ+ vocabulary by Seta, the main LGBTQ+ rights organization in Finland, into the North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi languages. The translated vocabularies will be published on the information and advice website of the Youth Council. The vocabulary will gather terms and concepts connected with gender and sexual minorities. The main focus will be on diversity of gender and sexual orientation, but the vocabulary will also describe other words and themes broadly associated with the LGBTQ+ society.

– The translation of the vocabulary will be an appropriate follow-up to the dictionary of sexuality which was translated earlier. By translating the vocabulary we can offer Sámi LGBTQ+ people words for defining themselves, and also advance their inclusion in Sámi society and increase awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in the society, Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio, the chairperson of the Youth Council, states.

Translating and compiling the vocabulary is important for the development of sexual and gender identity among Sámi youth. With help of the vocabulary they will be able to define themselves and communicate with other LGBTQ+ Sámi across state borders. However, the vocabulary will not be able to completely capture the diversity among LGBTQ+ Sámi, as everyone has their own experience of their person and identity. By translating the vocabulary the Youth Council also aims to initiate discussion on the rights and the position of sexual and gender minorities in Sámi society.

The terminological aspects of the translation work will be done in cooperation with Sámi Giellagáldu. Many of the words in the vocabulary already have corresponding Sámi terms standardized by the language divisions of Sámi Giellagáldu. The translation project will compile already existing words in a form that is accessible and easy to use. As regards new terms, workshops for LGBTQ+ Sámi will be organized, and the LGBTQ+ community will thus be engaged in development of new terminology.

Information about the translation of the vocabulary has reached Sámi youth across borders. The Youth Council hopes to collaborate Sámi youth in order to put work with the vocabulary into practice, and possibly also to translate the vocabulary into other Sámi languages as well.

Sápmi Pride was organized in 2017 in Inari/Aanaar. Photo: Ville-Riiko Fofonoff

For further information:

Anni-Sofia Niittyvuopio 
chairperson of the Youth Council of the Sámi parliament
+358 40 7082 072 
anni-sofia.niittyvuopio(at)samediggi.fi 

Elli-Marja Hetta 
Youth secretary
+358 50 382 5179 / +358 10 839 3134 
elli-marja.hetta(at)samediggi.fi