We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sami Americans

What if you thought you knew about your family's roots and there was more to the story? What if your real ethnicity was kept hidden due to prejudice, immigration and assimilation? Ellen Marie Jensen traverses this territory in "We Stopped Forgetting Stories from Sámi Americans".
During the immigration period of 1880-1940 an unknown number of Sámi people (the indigenous people of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia) left Sápmi (Samiland; "Lapland") for North America alongside Nordic peoples. It has been estimated that there are at least 30,000 descendants of Sámi immigrants in North America, and most of them are unaware of their Indigenous ancestry. The storytellers in this book give moving accounts of the history of their ancestors, the often fortuitous events that led them to discover their heritage, and tell their own life stories of cultural revitalization. They have consciously chosen to stop forgetting their lesser known and sometimes silenced Sámi ancestry by identifying with a cultural birthright. Further, their stories demonstrate a heartfelt commitment to both historical and contemporary Sápmi and the Indigenous world in their lives.

1118326181
We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sami Americans

What if you thought you knew about your family's roots and there was more to the story? What if your real ethnicity was kept hidden due to prejudice, immigration and assimilation? Ellen Marie Jensen traverses this territory in "We Stopped Forgetting Stories from Sámi Americans".
During the immigration period of 1880-1940 an unknown number of Sámi people (the indigenous people of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia) left Sápmi (Samiland; "Lapland") for North America alongside Nordic peoples. It has been estimated that there are at least 30,000 descendants of Sámi immigrants in North America, and most of them are unaware of their Indigenous ancestry. The storytellers in this book give moving accounts of the history of their ancestors, the often fortuitous events that led them to discover their heritage, and tell their own life stories of cultural revitalization. They have consciously chosen to stop forgetting their lesser known and sometimes silenced Sámi ancestry by identifying with a cultural birthright. Further, their stories demonstrate a heartfelt commitment to both historical and contemporary Sápmi and the Indigenous world in their lives.

4.99 In Stock
We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sami Americans

We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sami Americans

by Ellen Marie Jensen
We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sami Americans

We Stopped Forgetting: Stories from Sami Americans

by Ellen Marie Jensen

eBook

$4.99 

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers

LEND ME® See Details

Overview

What if you thought you knew about your family's roots and there was more to the story? What if your real ethnicity was kept hidden due to prejudice, immigration and assimilation? Ellen Marie Jensen traverses this territory in "We Stopped Forgetting Stories from Sámi Americans".
During the immigration period of 1880-1940 an unknown number of Sámi people (the indigenous people of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia) left Sápmi (Samiland; "Lapland") for North America alongside Nordic peoples. It has been estimated that there are at least 30,000 descendants of Sámi immigrants in North America, and most of them are unaware of their Indigenous ancestry. The storytellers in this book give moving accounts of the history of their ancestors, the often fortuitous events that led them to discover their heritage, and tell their own life stories of cultural revitalization. They have consciously chosen to stop forgetting their lesser known and sometimes silenced Sámi ancestry by identifying with a cultural birthright. Further, their stories demonstrate a heartfelt commitment to both historical and contemporary Sápmi and the Indigenous world in their lives.


Product Details

BN ID: 2940045590877
Publisher: Lagadus
Publication date: 12/05/2013
Sold by: Smashwords
Format: eBook
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Ellen Marie Jensen
Was born and raised in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota (USA.) The child of a coastal Sámi immigrant from Finnmark, she has returned to live in the land of her ancestors where she is actively engaged in the Sámi society. She has attained a Master's in Indigenous Studies at the University of Tromsø and also studied Literature and Culture (English), with a focus on Indigenous literature. Having recently taught English at the Sámi language immersion school in Deatnu/Tana, Ellen Marie currently lives with her two children in Tromsø, where she is a freelance writer, translator, and editor. She is also continuing graduate studies at the University of Tromsø with an emphasis in Sámi and Indigenous Literature and Culture.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews