Samenes Nasjonaldag
The Sami National Day is the most important holiday for the Sami people, the indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The date commemorates the first Sami congress held in Trondheim in 1917. Celebrations include the singing of the Sami national anthem "Sami Soga Lella," the raising of the Sami flag with its circle of red, green, yellow, and blue, and the wearing of the gakti, the traditional Sami clothing. The Sami culture includes reindeer herding, joik (the traditional Sami form of singing that expresses identity and connection to the land), and the lavvu, the traditional Sami tent that has sheltered nomadic herders for centuries. The day is a declaration of identity and a reminder that the Sami are the original inhabitants of the north.
