Norway – With the Southern Sami name for Trondheim, on February 6 the Sami people celebrate 100 years since the Sami held their first national congress in Tråante – Trondheim. 

The congress was an important event in Sami history. It gathered the Sami across national boundaries for the first time to discuss and shed light on common issues and challenges. It was Sami women who both took the initiative and managed proceedings. Elsa Laula Renberg was behind the idea and realization of the meeting, which gathered over one hundred participants. The committee envisaged both political and practical education and debate. 

In many ways the congress was the beginning of the Sami consciousness, and February 6 was later chosen as the date of the Sami National Day and is the same for the Sami in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. 

The main event will take place in Trondheim in the anniversary week 5th-12th February, with the participation of both the Norwegian royal couple and Sami authorities from the entire Nordic region. The four countries’ Sami parliaments will meet in Trondheim, both individually and as a joint Nordic Sami parliament. But there will also be events in several other places in the country with the aim of presenting the «breadth of the Sami culture, language, commerce and history.

Issue Date: 06.02.2017
Designer: Astrid Båhl
Illustrator: Saemien Sijte
Printer: Joh. Enschedé Security Print
Process: Offset