ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines important information for understanding the empirical data presented in subsequent chapters: the research field and the researcher. The chapter contextualizes the Sápmi nation and the Sámi as indigenous people in order to position Sámi sport. The chapter further positions the researcher by presenting his background within a social constructivist paradigm. The chapter presents some empirical considerations based on a division of Sámi contexts and cultures, particularly in regard to core Sámi areas and more peripheral areas including Sámi in cities. It pinpoints how Sámi sport clubs are members of several civil societies that relate to the formal institutions of the Sámi Parliament and the Norwegian state. The chapter further stresses how the double affiliation of Sámi sport clubs has implications for the analysis of Indigenous nation-building in Sápmi. In considering the Sámi sport organization and its affiliates, the author questions whether the analysis can comprise only the Sámi sport organization.
