Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives

In this chapter, we give a brief outline of the South Saami people's historical, linguistic and political position as a so-called minority within the Saami minority in Fennoscandia. One of the research questions asked in the book is how the past has been incorporated into modern South Saami self-understanding and how the past is actively used to shape contemporary society. In this volume as a whole, we aim to promote research that sheds light on the complexity and development of the South Saami communities. Part II focuses on the socio-linguistic aspects of the modern South Saami language. Part III analyses and discusses key historical and archaeological issues relating to prehistory and historic research questions within the South Saami sphere. Part IV will focus on the extent to which and how the South Saami people and South Saami affairs are represented, and to what extent and how the South Saami voices take part in the public general discourse. Part V discusses some contemporary policies in Norway. Questions of how land disputes and the South Saami use of history, culture and traditions play a role in the identity processes and the struggle for the South Saami land is one aspect examined in this chapter, in addition to negotiations between indigenous groups and majority societies.