Learning Objectives:

• Read and analyze We Stopped Forgetting: Stories From Sami Americans by Ellen Marie Jensen and other selected works from Sámi Americans

• Explore the genre of testimony and the role it plays in the Sámi context

Readings

Main Texts:

• Jensen, Ellen Marie. We Stopped Forgetting: Stories From Sami Americans. 2014.

• Reikki, Ron. My Ancestors Are Reindeer Herders and I Am Melting In Extinction: Saami-American Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Poetry. 2019.

Questions to Consider While Reading:

1. What do you consider to be testimony? How does it function as a literary genre?

2. What are the significances of the titles of these works?

We Stopped Forgetting: Stories From Sami Americans (2014)

My Ancestors Are Reindeer Herders and I am Melting in Extinction by Ron Riekki

Additional Materials

Suddenly Sámi by Ellen-Astri Lundby

• Documentary about a Sámi woman from Oslo who discovered she was Sámi as an adult and begins to connect with her family and Indigenous ancestry (This film is difficult to find online unfortunately, but I highly recommend it if you can find it as another example of a testimonial work)

Joikefeber (Yoik Fever) by Ellen-Astri Lundby

This documentary is about Ellen's daughter reconnecting to her Sámi heritage through Joik. (Again this is a bit difficult to find but is definetly worth a watch.)

Sámi Alphabet