Yle Sapmi

Visiting Franco over 50 years ago: The extraordinary trip of a Sámi family

In the course of history, Sámi have ended up in a variety of places for the sake of promoting tourism. A family from Utsjoki, Finland, even visited Dictator Franco’s palace in 1965.
June 11, 2018

Hard to pass down oral traditions as a vast majority of the Finnish Sámi youth live outside the Sámi region

There is concern in northern Finland about how to transfer the Sámi cultural heritage to younger generations. 
May 30, 2018

«Why don’t they ask ordinary Sámi?»– Arctic railroad has an impact on many local people in northern Finland

The Arctic railroad has become a hot topic both in Finnish Sápmi – the Land of the Finnish Sámi – and elsewhere in Finland. Local people in the region of Inari see that the rail line will involve both threats and opportunities.
May 18, 2018

A look at the Finnish history of discrimination against minorities

Loss of language, structural discrimination and shame are common experiences for the Sámi, the Roma and the deaf.
May 15, 2018

Sámi young people realistic about the truth and reconciliation process in Finland

Last autumn, the Government of Finland decided to start preparing a reconciliation process dealing with Sámi issues. The process took its first steps on the 10th of February in Inari, when a seminar was held on what the reconciliation process has looked like in different parts of the world.
February 23, 2018

Sacred spring or a source of money? Controversy over water bottling plant in northern Finland

Once more, local people are planning to start a water bottling plant near Sulaoja Spring in Karigasniemi in the municipality of Utsjoki in Finland. Land protection authority Metsähallitus rejected the last application in May 2017.
January 22, 2018

Only sealskin from Greenland can be traded in Finland. “The ancient tradition may disappear," says Finnish seal hunter

The warm sealskin products are easy to sell in the cold conditions of the Arctic. The material would also be available in Finland, but, because of an EU ban against seal trade, only sealskin from Greenland can be traded.
December 28, 2017

Act on Sámi Parliament up for reform in Finland

The Sámi Parliament and the Parliament of Finland have started revising the Act on Sámi Parliament, after two years of waiting. “We Sámi have great expectations”, says parliament president Tiina Sanila-Aikio.
December 05, 2017

Fishing in great Lake Inari

According to Veikko Kiviniemi, a professional fisherman, Lake Inari in the northernmost Finland is a good lake to fish in, as there are not so many fishing restrictions in these state-owned waters.
November 29, 2017

Ballerina from Finnish National Ballet moved to an island in Inari – “You can live on dancing in Sápmi, too”

A few years ago, Auri Ahola left the Finnish National Ballet, moved away from Helsinki and settled in the northern Finnish town of Inari to study the local Sámi language.
November 27, 2017

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