The Lapps in Finland

Extract

The Lapps of Scandinavia constitute a small indigenous ethnic community divided between four states: Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Lapps used to depend on reindeer farming and lacked their own schools. Because of their low social status and the lack of governmental understanding for their cultural needs, most of the Finnish Lapps had been assimilated with the majority population. Only in recent years an effort has been made by the government to encourage the preservation of the Lapp language and the Lapp civilization. A Lapp parliament has been created and the Lapp Language Act makes it possible for the Lapps to communicate in their own language with the authorities. It is to be hoped that these measures will bring positive results in a situation where only few Lappish speaking people remain in Finland, many of them having difficulties finding a livelihood in their homeland, the northernmost part of Finland.