ABSTRACT
The Sami are the only indigenous people living in the European continent. Today, the Sami inhabit the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula, an area that is called Sapmi, the Sami land. The Sami languages belong to the Finno-Ugric language family. Today, the Sami are recognized as indigenous peoples and their linguistic and cultural rights are secured in the constitutions of Norway, Finland and Sweden. Each country has its own Sami Parliament with elected members and civil servants. In 1994, Sami cultural heritage came under the administration of Sami kulturmuitoraddi, the Sami Cultural Heritage Council, a management body organized under the Sami Parliament. To progress the debate on the repatriation of material culture from museum collections to the Sami museums in the Nordic countries, it is necessary to clarify the history, nature and situation of the objects and collections. Repatriation has not been an issue of great currency in Scandinavian countries.
