On Sámi National Day, Saturday February 6th, we invite you to a book talk on the recent book: Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North. The book is part of the series New Directions in Scandinavian Studies, edited by Andy Nestingen and published by University of Washington Press, 2020. Join authors Coppélie Cocq and Thomas Dubois as they discuss their book.

Digital media—GIFs, films, TED Talks, tweets, and more—have become integral to daily life and, unsurprisingly, to Indigenous peoples' strategies for addressing the historical and ongoing effects of colonization. In Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North, DuBois and Cocq examine how Sámi people of Norway, Finland, and Sweden use media to advance a social, cultural, and political agenda anchored in notions of cultural continuity and self-determination. Beginning in the 1970s, Sámi have used Sámi-language media—including commercially produced musical recordings, feature and documentary films, books of literature and poetry, and magazines—to communicate a sense of identity both within the Sámi community and within broader Nordic and international arenas.

In more contemporary contexts—from YouTube music videos that combine rock and joik (a traditional Sámi musical genre) to Twitter hashtags that publicize protests against mining projects in Sámi lands—Sámi activists, artists, and cultural workers have used the media to undo layers of ignorance surrounding Sámi livelihoods and rights to self-determination. Downloadable songs, music festivals, films, videos, social media posts, images, and tweets are just some of the diverse media through which Sámi activists transform how Nordic majority populations view and understand Sámi minority communities and, more globally, how modern states regard and treat Indigenous populations.

Cost: Free; you must RSVP to receive the Zoom link