Digital media-GIFs, films, TED Talks, tweets, and more-have become
integral to daily life and, unsurprisingly, to Indigenous people's
strategies for addressing the historical and ongoing effects of
colonization. In Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North,
Thomas DuBois and Coppélie 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.
