Source: Ságat , article by Berit Marie P.E. Eira and  Inger Marie Gaup Eira

Reindeer-herding parents in Finnmark county, Norway, have reached out, distraught, after learning that starting this school year, reindeer-herding youth are no longer being granted permission to participate in herding activities or the crucial spring migration season. 

The discussion centered on state-owned Sami upper secondary schools in Karasjok and Kautokeino. 

Previously, schools provided study days and "næringspermisjonsdager"—special allowances aligned with the spring migration period. These have now been removed. Instead, schools have scheduled exams during what used to be the spring break—an interval traditionally set aside to enable students to join in reindeer-herding work.

One reindeer-herding youth expressed their despair poignantly—underlining how these changes disrupt not only educational schedules but also cultural traditions and livelihood.

This isn’t merely an administrative decision—it highlights a deeper issue: the erosion of accommodations for culturally rooted activities in Sami communities. By dropping permissions tied to reindeer-herding schedules, the schools may unintentionally be contributing to the continuation of "fornorsking" (assimilation into Norwegian norms)—a process historically aimed at eroding Sami language, identity, and traditional ways of life.

Read original text here: Ságat

Photo: Illustrasjonsbilde fra kalvemerking i Røssåga-Toven. by Stein Tage Domaas/Statsforvalt