Enduring Languages Project

Inari Sami -- an endangered language Inari Sami is a language spoken by the Inari Sami community in Finland. The language is currently spoken by approximately three hundred individuals and the fact that most of them are old makes it difficult for the language to be preserved. While there are several Sami communities and several Sami languages, Inari is the only one that is spoken only in Finland.

The fact that children and young adults express little to no interest in learning the language makes it possible for someone to acknowledge the likeliness that the language is going to disappear in the near future. One of the main reasons why individuals today are not interested in learning Inari Sami (even if they belong to communities that have traditionally spoken this language) is that they associate very little benefits with learning or speaking it.

From their point-of-view, this language is obsolete and the efforts required to learn it can be used for other activities -- activities that are more likely to generate benefits. Individuals fail to acknowledge one of the most important facts associated with learning the language: it holds a great deal of information concerning the Inari Sami community and it is even likely to hold information that has no correspondent in Finnish.

Many would be inclined to believe that individuals from the Inari Sami community have translated most information from Inari Sami into Finnish and that the group's language is thus obsolete in the present, taking into account that it appears to have nothing that could assist the contemporary society in experiencing progress. The present-day world promotes values like globalization and material values, this making it difficult for many individuals to concentrate on other matters.

In their struggle to get actively involved in the globalization process, some people abandon their cultural values and adopt values from other cultures in hope that this would improve their lives. This leads to situations like the one in the Inari Sami community, as most young individuals within it direct their attention toward matters other than the group's indigenous language.

Language is an essential concept in this community, taking into account that it is one of the factors enabling Inari Sami individuals to focus on their traditional connection to the natural world. By visiting the Sami museum in Finland, one is probable to learn more concerning the Inari Sami community's strength and its dedication to preserve its values. In the face of globalization however, individuals no longer have time to focus on matters such as disappearing languages, as these respective matters have nothing to do with concepts that actually interest.