The Sami National Day
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February 6 is the Sami National Day, a day that is common to all Sami in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia. It was celebrated for the first time in 1993, and over the years its importance has increased. The Sami National Day is not an official holiday like the Norwegian National Day. It is nevertheless common for kindergartens, schools and other institutions to mark the day, often with Sami food and Sami cultural experiences. February 6 was adopted as the Sami National Day by the Sami Conference in 1992. The day is comemorates the first Sami national meeting held in the Methodist Church in Trondheim in 1917. This was the first time that the Sami people gathered to work on common Sami issues across state borders. Some also call the national day "Sami people's day". This concept has come about partly as a result of poor translation, and partly because the concept of a "national day" is perceived by some as controversial. However, the Sami Conference assumed that the Sami are one people - ie a nation, and that the use of the concept of nation thus does not presuppose a separate state. Both the Sami Council and the three Sami parliaments officially use the term «national day». See more about the Sami National Day in our animated film by clicking the link below: