Giellagáldu project and Sámi Giellagáldu

Giellagáldu is a cooperation project between the Sámi parliaments of Finland, Sweden and Norway, which operates within the Sámi Parliamentary Council, the cooperational body for the Sámi parliaments. The project started on 1 August 2015, and ends on 31 May 2018. The Giellagáldu project is funded by Sámi Giellagáldu, the Nordic Resource Centre for the Sámi languages. A key aim of the project is to secure the permanent operation of Sámi Giellagáldu by obtaining permanent funding for the activities of the centre. The Giellagáldu follow-up project is funded by the Sápmi sub-area of the EU’s Interreg V Nord programme, the Regional Council of Lapland, the province of Tromsø, and the Sámi parliaments of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The project is headed by the Sámi Parliament of Finland, and the total budget is EUR 3,062,052.

Aims of the project

During the project, Sámi Giellagáldu will continue to develop, coordinate and strengthen cooperation between Sámi languages. Sámi Giellagáldu will also continue act as the highest joint deciding body for the language issues of the Sámi people. The aim of Sámi Giellagáldu is to preserve and promote the cultural heritage relating to the Sámi languages and to act as a professional expert body. The vocational and resource centre also has the overall responsibility for Sámi language services intended for users of the languages. During the project, the Language Council added to Sámi Giellagáldu will begin its work, and the language divisions already established for South, Lule, North, Inari and Skolt Sámi will continue their activities. The language personnel, consisting of 2 staff members for South Sámi, 2 for Lule Sámi, 3 for North Sámi, 1 for Inari Sámi, and 1 for Skolt Sámi, are responsible for practical language work. During the project, Sámi Giellagáldu and the Sámi parliaments will work together to strengthen and develop the Sámi languages in such a way that the individual needs, challenges and resources of each language group will taken into account.

Tasks of Sámi Giellagáldu

The tasks of the centre include, for example, language planning, language development terminology work, standardisation, and a place name service. The language personnel provide guidance and advice in issues relating to the use of the Sámi languages and prepare issues pertaining to languages in which they work for the decision of the language divisions. The language divisions give recommendations in issues relating to the use of the Sámi languages, such as standardisation and new terminology. More detailed information about Sámi Giellagáldu and current information about the activities of the vocational and resource centre, new terminology and standardisations can be found on the website of Sámi Giellagáldu at www.giella.org. Sámi Giellagáldu also has a FB page at www.facebook.com/SamiGiellagaldu through which you can submit questions relating to the use of the Sámi languages. The page also provides information about the activities of Sámi Giellagáldu. You can also send queries regarding language issues to info(at)giellagaldu.com or call Sámi Giellagáldu’s language personnel direct.