“Too hot for the reindeer” – voicing Sámi children's visions of the future

Abstract

In this paper, we focus attention on the issue of the future by listening to the voices of Indigenous children in the far north of Sweden – the Sámi children. The overall aim of the study is to explore the meaning of Sámi children's visions of the future. The paricipants attend the same Sámi School, and they were of the age of 9–12 years. Data were collected with the aid of creative activity in the form of the production of drawings, combined with subsequent verbal comments. In the analysis of the drawings and verbal comments, three different themes crystallised: financial future, environmental changes and relations to the family and nature. The comprehensive understanding emerged as different cultural horizons – a pure Sámi culture horizon, a mixed horizon with a mixture of Sámi culture and Western modernity and a horizon that just holds Western modernity. The outcome of the study is discussed in relation to the tension between different cultures – the Sámi culture and that of western modernity. The importance of attending to the learners perspective is emphasised, and we argue that education for sustainable development should start in the life-worlds of the children.