David Corson's article about the Sami Language Act provides valuable insight about the social problems faced by the Sami today. Cultural assimilation in the past and the demands of the present times add pressure to the Samis to forsake their traditional lifestyles in order to integrate themselves to the modern world. High levels of unemployment and the pressure of maintaining their cultural identity in the modern world contribute to their anxiety and emotional disorders.
Unemployment: Unemployment (above 20%) is the leading social problem for Sami communities. This problem particularly affects older people who are less educated. As the need for traditional sources of employment such as reindeer herding has declined, large-scale adult re-training programs have begun. However, these programs have enjoyed moderated success, since they threaten the cultural interests and family livelihoods of people who are used to traditional customs.
Single Mothers: The number of unmarried mothers is unusually high, which is partly due to the established Sami customs of having children at an early age.
Shortage of teachers: There is a high demand in Norway for educated bilingual and bicultural Sami. However, this creates another problem for Sami culture: high job turnover. Although many Sami teachers are graduating each year, the wide choice of jobs available for them, in bureaucracies, policy agencies and politics means that relatively few of them enter teaching.
Sami cultural identity: The maintenance of Sami cultural identity is a central concern inside and outside the Sami community. Recently, a revitalization of Sami identity and culture followed the building of modern towns on the ruins of war. Sami people now prefer to describe themselves as Sami first, and only second as citizens of Norway. A new image of Sami person has developed, integrating the modern world into the traditional culture to make the Sami more self-confident and secure in their identity. However, today pressure to sustain identity is mainly coming from language, and less from traditional activies.
Bibliography:
Corson, David. “Norway’s Sami Language Act: Emancipatory Implications for the World’s Aboriginal Peoples." Language in Society 24 (1995): 493-514.
