Border Crossings, Pathfinders and New Visions: The Role of Sámi Literature in Contemporary Society

In this article, I will consider some of the current issues and concerns in contemporary Sámi literature. I view them as border crossings particularly because it seems that at least in certain ways, Sámi literature is on crossroads faced with some tough and serious issues. I suggest that we need to perceive Sámi writers as pathfinders who can, through their writing, guide us in considering what are the paths that the Sámi need to take today in order to have an active cultural connection in the future. Moreover, what is urgently needed in Sámi society is reclaiming Sámi values and vision for contemporary contexts in a meaningful way. In this process, Sámi writers have also a central role as they are the ones who constantly weave the past, present and future into a fabric that gives us the meanings we need to stay grounded in who we are

Alter-Native Nations and Narrations: The World of DeWitt Clinton Duncan (Too-qua-stee), Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) and E. Pauline Johnson

In this essay, the ways in which the concept of nationhood is reinforced and negotiated in Native American writing and oral tradition is examined. As among other nations, Indigenous literature, both oral and written, plays a significant role in negotiating Indigenous nationhood, which, in the late nineteenth century, has already been severely shattered by colonialism. This literary oriented essay includes a poem by Cherokee DeWitt Clinton Duncan (Too-qua-stee) called "A Dead Nation" (1899), a short story by Wahpeton Sioux Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) called4 A War Maiden" (1906) and a short story by Mohawk E. Pauline Johnson called "My Mother" (1913)

Border Crossings, Pathfinders and New Visions:The Role of Sámi Literature in Contemporary Society

In this article, I will consider some of the current issues and concerns in contemporary Sámi literature. I view them as border crossings particularly because it seems that at least in certain ways, Sámi literature is on crossroads faced with some tough and serious issues. I suggest that we need to perceive Sámi writers as pathfinders who can, through their writing, guide us in considering what are the paths that the Sámi need to take today in order to have an active cultural connection in the future. Moreover, what is urgently needed in Sámi society is reclaiming Sámi values and vision for contemporary contexts in a meaningful way. In this process, Sámi writers have also a central role as they are the ones who constantly weave the past, present and future into a fabric that gives us the meanings we need to stay grounded in who we are