I focus on the South Saami language at school and in society. Against the backdrop of colonization of the Saami and a long trend of assimilation by means of schooling, for example, I explore how teachers, coordinators, artists, and others display acts of decoloniality; they seek to take responsibility for and challenge the current educational situation.
As an insider researcher/practitioner, I explore a collaborative approach to the production of knowledge and describe the process of Indigenous efflorescence, a global trend in which Indigenous peoples reclaim, revitalize, and restore their continuous use of land, space, and language.
South Saami is remerging from invisibility. Although unexpected to many, given the history of assimilation, to the practitioners of efflorescence involved in the process, this emergence comes not as a surprise but as a hard-earned result of the struggle. Although much work remains, hope is reawakened when conscious hard work and persistent labour bear fruit.
Dr David Kroik is an Associate Professor of South Saami at Nord University. He defended his Ph.D. thesis in language teaching and learning in early 2023. His areas of expertise include language teaching and learning, linguistic landscape studies, language reclamation and revitalization and collaborative approaches to knowledge production in Indigenous settings. David also has a background in research on the South Saami grammar, meaning that he has a broad academic knowledge around South Saami. He is an adult learner of the South Saami language himself and is dedicated to helping others reclaim and learn their South Saami language.
