City Sámi gather in Helsinki for National Day

Pirita Näkkäläjärvi feels she is a member of the Sámi community

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By Tomi Tyysteri
     
      Today’s [Sunday February 6th] Sámi National Day will be celebrated in many other places than just the Sámi area in Northern Finland's Lapland, and even in Helsinki.
      Measured by population figure alone, the biggest party could conceivably be arranged in Helsinki, as there are nearly one thousand Sámi living in the capital city. In Utsjoki, which has long held the title of the most Sámi municipality in the country, they now number only 600-700.
      One Sámi who will celebrate the National Day in Helsinki is Pirita Näkkäläjärvi, who has lived down south for six years. Näkkäläjärvi, 26, spent her first 17 years in Inari, studied in Wales and London before Helsinki, and has also worked in the Philippines. Now her studies at the Helsinki School of Economics are almost complete, and she has a job at a London investment bank lined up for the summer. Therefore, she has good reason to call herself a City Sámi.
     
Although her studies have taken Näkkäläjärvi to many places around the world, her roots are extremely important to her. She is an active member of the City Sámi organisation that brings together Sámi who live in the Helsinki metropolitan region.
      "I definitely have some sort of tribal identity that influences everything everywhere. When I was in the Philippines, I simply had to seek out an indigenous tribe that I then spent time with", she recounts.
     
Ever since last autumn, Näkkäläjärvi has been part of a team that has planned youth activities for the City Sámi of the Helsinki metropolitan region.
      "Now there are around 30 active people in our organisation. When we meet, we speak in Sámi and discuss other themes that are common to us. Many of us feel strong ties to the Sámi community, even though we do not live up north", Näkkäläjärvi emphasises.
      She is also pleased that a growing number of young Sámi adults dare to reveal their heritage more and more openly these days. Interest in the language has also grown so much that a Sámi language class has already been formed in the Helsinki region.
      "We are now enjoying the fruits of what our older generations fought for in their day."
     
Many young Sámi who move elsewhere to study return to their native land once they graduate. Despite her close ties to her home, Näkkäläjärvi herself is not keen on the idea.
      "I still remember the colour of nearly every couch in the homes of Inari. It would be great if we could peek into each other’s apartments in Helsinki as well if we wanted to, but on the other hand, I also value the anonymity down here quite a lot", she says.
      Näkkäläjärvi accepts the role she has received as a type of ambassador of Sámi affairs. In the summer, she will switch her residence from Helsinki to London, where she will most likely need to correct even more false conceptions regarding the Sámi than those held in Southern Finland.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.2.2005

More on this subject:
 Sámi National Day added to almanac only last year
 FACTFILE: The only indigenous Nordic people

TOMI TYYSTERI / Helsingin Sanomat
tomi.tyysteri@hs.fi