Holistic Worldview

In the Sámi worldview, people, nature and language are not seen as separate. The word ‘Sápmi’ refers not only to Sámiland but also to a Sámi as an individual, the Sámi as a people, and the Sámi language. The Sámi language reflects a deep and thorough knowledge of the surrounding nature, both animate and inanimate, and a close and very specific interaction between humans and nature. The natural, cultural, social and linguistic environments form a holistic entity, a concept of environment that must be considered as a whole, because its elements are interdependent.