The Saami are the indigenous peopl e of the Arctic circle mainly in Scandanavia. The Saami of the Norwegian Arctic Circle who are the largest Saami group, are the people who form the basis of this case study. The information included is taken in the main
from published accounts of Saami ex.penence as confirmed by research advocates from the Saami community.
Saami , l ike Maori and Nisga' a have suffered from a prohibition against speaking their native language. Magga refers to a process of heavy-handed Norwegianisation, in
which the Saami language was formally prohibited35 . The Saami also suffered
economic discrimination. Having herded reindeer across the northern Artic circle for centuries, they found their paths obstructed. From 1 902, Magga states, it was stipulated by law that "land could only be sold to those who could speak or write Norwegian and who used it on a daily basis"( Magga, O.H. 1 993 :45). Jordan states that the policy of assimilation required more than being forbidden to speak Saami at school :
it was assu med that everyone was able to speak the dominant language. The children were not, for example, taught Norwegian. Yet the students were ex.pected to understand that language and the content of the curriculum-all presented in a foreign language. (Jordan, 1 988: 1 92)
Magga states that "While Norwegianisation measures were met with strong resistance, . . . the Government h ad at its disposal an arsenal of means which gradually became too powerful" ( 1 993 :45). Like other indigenous peoples, oppression did not necessarily lead to disappearance and like Maori and the Nisga' a, the Saami have been actively engaged in rebuilding an education that returns a cultural identity and respect for Saami to the fore.
The Norwegian educational system that incorporates Saami education, is largely a
public school system that provides compulsory education from the ages of 6 - 1 5
years.
A Saami' Education Council was appointed in 1 975 as an adv isory body for the Ministry of Church, Education and Research in matters concerning education and learning of the Saami population. The Counci l carries responsibility for the development of policies for S aami education and provides policy advice to the Sametinget. The work of the Saami Education Council is varied and as well as taking responsibility for the i mplementation of policy, includes the obligation to develop a
35
Between 1 898 and 1959
Saami curriculum on all levels in the educational system. To th is end, for example, a reference group was set up in 1 996 to discuss the issue of traditional knowledge in school curricula. The idea was that Saami cultural knowledge would be a legitimate part of the school cun'iculum for all Norwegian children, a far cry from the strict Norwegianisation pol icies of the past.
Two guiding principles for the Education Council are:
1 . the school must give the new generation of Saami the possibility to interact with the wider society;
2. at the same time and as part of this, the school must give the Saami the possibility both to conserve and further create their ethnic and cultural identity. (Keskitalo, 1985: t o, Haetta, 1 998 :2)
The Education Counci l is also charged with safeguarding and developing the Saami language. There are at least three distinct Saami languages spoken in Norway, the most prolific being the Northern Saami, but as well there are Lule Saamis and Southern Saamis, all of whom have their own language. The Saami Language Act was enacted in 1 99 1 as an amendment to the Saami Act of 1 987.
The Council safeguards and develops the Saami language by means of:
• bilingual administration;
• the development of different language terms
within the different subjects; and
• ensuring quality and status of the Saami language in education.
It also engages in the preparation of appropriate teaching materials for dissemination throughout the schools in Norway, with a focus on those where S aami children are most populous. The teaching materials are developed in Norther n Saami, Lule Saami and Southern Saami languages and in Norwegian.
The Council also safeguards the needs of Saami learners by maintaining oversight of Saami educational needs through conducting research as well as monitoring the situation in general . It engages in B ilingual SaamilNorwegian admi nistration to
support schools who need the direction. The model of bilingual administration acts as a guide for others to take up and follow, indicating that the Saami language is able to .
be used in schools as a curriculum subject and as a language of communication at the administrati ve level. The Counci l develops different language terms for all the different subjects of the curriculum and ensures the quality and status of the Saami language in education.
The Traditional Knowledge project undertaken prior to the incorporation of Saami knowledge i nto the Norwegian curriculum as a whole, was subject to international experience for similar projects. The experiences of Maori i n Aotearoa-New Zealand formed part of the ongoing critique of the proj ect so that modifications could be made where there w ere difficulties identified by other indigenous nations (see Durie, A. E., Lipka, & Keskitalo, 1 997). The priorities of the Saami Schools project were identified as "Teaching, learning and tradition" (Haetta, E. 1., 1 998, personal communication). Whi le childrens' learning was a priority, there was also a need to retain parents and village people as a resource group. Other goals of the project were that traditional knowledge should be connected with indigenous knowledge, and that features of that knowledge could be either across the curriculum or within the curriculum.
The Saami Education Council is part of the administrative body of the Sametinget, the Saami Parliament where it is able to work closely w ith the political arm of the Norwegian S aami and provide substantive recommendations for the Parliament to pass on to the Stortinget for full approval.
A 1 99 1 S aami Language Act passed as an amendment to the Saami Act of 1 987, allowed for the recognition of language and cultural rights for the Saami. The Saami language has official status, giving it the force of law to be used as the language of communication and a language of study within the education system across Norway. One procedural rider on the implementation of this law is that there must be more than ten students w ishing to enrol before the courses receive funding. Like Maori and like Nisga' a, the Saami see the return of the language as i ntrinsically connected to a Saami cultural identity. Also familiar are the procedural constraints after having wl)n the validation of their cultural heritage and its place in education. Children with
Saami at home find that the Saami language system works reasonably well, that the demand for teachers fluent in Saami is the main problem in that case. Two other groups are seen who need extra help.
• Children not living in Saamisk, while grandparents might have the l anguage,
the parents do not and want it back. There is not a satisfactory model for that group as yet.
• Ethnic Norwegians l i ving where Saami is the main l anguage. Saami language
is compulsory for those Norwegians. In Kautokeino all pupils have Saami as a subject, for example. Norwegians are expected to become bilingual but are not i f they do not master Saamisk.
Because of these factors there is a strong effort to implement pre-school policies and see them used actively (P.c. Astra Balto, 1 995). A College of Education has been established in Kautokeino for the purpose of meeting the shortcomings of teacher education to meet Saami educational needs. There is a one-year course for qual i fied teachers already in schools to enable them to meet the situation in schools. There is some consideration given to using elders in schools. The College of Education trains three levels of teachers, Pre-School, Primary and Further training for qualified teachers. Lecturers at the College engage in programmes of research to further their subjects (ibid).