Indigenism and Cosmopolitanism: A Pan-Sami view of the Indigenous Perspective in Sami Culture and Research

Abstract

This article explores Sami cultural and literary research in a pan-Sami perspective, contextualizing it in relation to the emergence of similar research among other Indigenous peoples in the world, termed Indigenous methodology. The article summarizes the development within the field so far, arguing for stronger Sami participation in the international discourse on the role of Indigenous peoples within academia. Indigenous methodology is inspired by the development within postcolonial and decolonizing studies and places Indigenous peoples at the centre, while simultaneously seeking to Indigenize academia. The approach questions which values ought to guide research, and to what degree Indigenous peoples should expect research to have a transformative effect on society. What is the role and place of Indigenous peoples’ own values and worldviews in scholarship in general? The article underscores the importance of having developed Sami as an academic language, a great achievement in a world where more and more Indigenous languages are becoming extinct.