ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights aspects of the arbevierru (tradition) and arbediehtu (traditional knowledge) that are in everyday use in Sámi life and language. The Sami language has been classified as part of the Finno-Ugric language group. There are nine Sami language groups, and while some are closely connected to each other, others are more separate. The Sami language is still the mother tongue for many Samis, and it is in the language that traditional knowledge is saved. In many projects concerning traditional knowledge, the retransmission of knowledge is part of the self-determination process. A great deal of literature has been published focusing on Sami traditional knowledge, viewing the concept of traditional knowledge from different perspectives and disciplines. Common to all of these studies is that, to some extent, they consider arbediehtu a part of Sami society’s self-sufficiency, or as the term is used today, continuity to the present day.
