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13-11-2008

The Saami Language Prize to Utsjoki and Umeå

This year, the Nordic Saami Language Prize was shared between the Saami association Sámi Siida in Utsjoki and the teacher of Ume Saami Henrik Barruk. The language prize, which is worth 12500 Euros, is awarded biennially to individuals or organisations that have done valuable work to promote the Saami language.

For years, the association Sámi Siida has been making every effort to promote the Saami language in the Utsjoki municipality. Moreover, the association has always prioritised the Saami language in its daily work. For example, in the activities aimed at children and young people, only the Saami language is used.

The Ume Saami language

In Sweden, the Ume Saami language is dying out. Henrik Barruk has worked for twenty years to vitalise the language. He has taught the Ume Saami language for many years. He has also, inter alia, documented the language, produced texts, vocabularies and described conjugation patterns to be used in the process of teaching Ume Saami.

The prize, which this year was awarded in Finland, was funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice. The prize was handed over by the Minister of Justice Tuija Brax, in connection with a meeting of the ministers responsible for Saami issues and the chairmen of the Sametings (the Saami parliaments).

Edited by Tarja Terävä tarja.terava@nifin.helsinki

The Ministry of Justice/The Saami Language Prize (in Finnish and Swedish)
Gollegiella – The Nordic Saami Language Prize (in Finnish and Swedish)