The Anthem
Sámi soga lávlla, song of the Sámi people, originated in 1906 as poem by Isak Mikel Saba (1875-1921) of Nesseby, Norway. Saba was the first Sámi to be elected to the Stortinget (Norwegian Parliament). The poem was later set to music by Norwegian composer Arne Sørli (1904-1969). Translated into many languages, the anthem is traditionally sung on Sámi National Day, February 6th. My English translation with an arrangement by Seattle composer Beth Kollé was published 2018 in the Daughters of Norway songbook, and is sung at lodges in the Puget Sound area on occasion. To my ears, the anthem is like a Laestadian hymn, rather lugubrious and slow. The pain of colonization requires a minor key.
Listen to a choral version below, followed by a solo rendition, and a silent slideshow about the history of the flag and anthem.
Listen to Elin Kåven’s version below, and read her excellent blog about the anthem on her website.
The slideshow below has no sound; it accompanied a live Zoom presentation and singalong during the Covid shutdown in 2022.
The Flag
A detailed history of the flag can be found in the Wikipedia entry. Here are some local highlights.
In Seattle, the Swedish Club has flown the Sámi flag since 2012 or earlier (nobody seems to remember when it was installed!).
On May 17, 2013 the flag made its debut at the Syttende Mai parade in Seattle, carried by Sámi Americans, with visiting Sámi scholar Bård Berg serving as Grand Marshal.
In 2016, Dalai and I brought one and encountered several more Sámi flags at Oceti Sakowin during the Standing Rock protests. Here one we pose with Sámi scholar Øyvind Ravna, who included us in his book From Little Bighorn to Standing Rock.
In 2018, the National Nordic Museum was gifted a flag from Pacific Sámi Searvi that it is occasionally displayed in honor of visiting speakers. On permanent display in the exhibits upstairs, however, is this wonderful photo of Martin Rimpi, taken sometime in the 1970s. (It is particularly wonderful when he is recognized by visiting relatives!)
Making us see double on February 6, 2019 while attending the Sámi Day celebrations in Stockholm, the security camera on our front porch in Seattle captured the flag that has flown there since 2012.
In February, 2020, the board of the Leif Erickson Lodge (the oldest Sons of Norway lodge in Washington), voted to install the Sámi flag following a heartwarming reception to my talk “Sápmi to Seattle.” The installation was accomplished with ceremony at their first post-Covid lockdown in-person members’ meeting in August 2022, by visiting Sámi politician Sandra Andersen Eira (shown here with Ken Workman of the Duwamish Tribe, Lori Ann Reinhall of the Norwegian American, and myself).
Seattle Sámi 