About this website
This website is the online version of the traveling multi-media exhibition “Ságastallamin – Telling the story of Arctic Indigenous languages”.
Language Map
More than 40 Indigenous languages are spoken in the Arctic. View an updated map on linguistic diversity in the region.
The Sámi Languages
The Sámi languages are spoken in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. UNESCO regards all the languages as endangered, but revitalization efforts are taking place in several of them.
Arctic Languages
An introduction to the Indigenous languages spoken in the Arctic
01 Ságastallamin – Telling the story of Arctic Indigenous languages
Ságastallamin comes from North Sámi, and it means having a conversation. This exhibition tells the story of the Indigenous languages spoken in the Arctic region, their past, present, and hope for revitalization in the future.
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02 UN International Year of Indigenous Languages
The 2019 United Nation’s International Year of Indigenous Languages is an important event to raise awareness about the diversity of Indigenous languages spoken around the world
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03 Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ languages
There is a great diversity of Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ languages, but historical and present-day marginalization has threatened many languages’ vitality. Today, Indigenous Peoples around the circumpolar Arctic are working to teach and revitalize their languages.
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04 Language – the key to knowledge and well-being
Indigenous languages support traditional livelihoods and life ways that contribute to Indigenous Peoples’ health, cultural vitality and overall well-being.
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05 The vitality of Arctic Indigenous languages today
Arctic Indigenous languages vary in levels of vitality. Some Arctic Indigenous languages are withering away as their last native speakers age, while others are spoken on the radio and taught at universities.
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06 Empowerment leads to revitalization
All language rights today are the result of Indigenous communities’ hard work to sustain their languages, cultures, and identities. As the world begins to recognize the importance of Indigenous languages, opportunities for language revitalization are becoming a reality.
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Language Revitalization
Practical examples of language revitalization taking place around the circumpolar Arctic
Inuvialuit Cultural Centre Pitquhiit-Pitqusiit in Inuvik, Canada
Language and teaching resources for Inuvialuit
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Ya Ne Dah Ah School in Chickaloon, Alaska
Teaching a sense of identity
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Institute of the Peoples of the North in St. Petersburg, Russia
Almost a century of Indigenous linguistic and cultural studies
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Nomadic schools in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia
Education for children on the move
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GiellaLT in Tromsø, Norway
Indigenous language technology for modern society
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The Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino, Norway
High-level education in Sámi, for the Sámi
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Urban Unangax culture camp in Anchorage, Alaska
Language learning and cultural activities for the whole family
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Pinnguaq Association in northern Canada
Online learning tackles long distances and low budgets
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