Like Other Kids, Yet Different: Sámi Children in Swedish Children’s Film

There are five national minorities in Sweden of which the indigenous Sámi is one. Historically, the Sámi peoples have been oppressed by the Swedish authorities. In this chapter, the representations of Sámi children in five children’s films are examined through close reading. The films span a period of almost 60 years: Sampo Lappelill (‘Sampo the Little Lapp Boy’ 1949), Bortom dag och natt (‘Beyond Day and Night’ 1988), Misa mi (‘Misa Mine’ 2003), Siv Sleeps Astray (2016), and Cloudboy (2017). Three themes emerge, namely nature and the nature child, animals and children in close connection, and growth through traditional knowledge and/or magic. The animals project the protagonists’ relationship with their mothers or trigger the protagonists to explore their fantasy or heritage. Puppies, bear cubs, and wolf cubs represent childhood, while growth includes being old enough to go to school, to learn from the older generations, to stand up for what is right and for oneself, or to find one’s own voice. The representations of Sámi children range from representations through the Swedish gaze, tinged with Romantic ideas, or ethnic prejudice, to contemporary, rather vague representations. The growing Sámi film industry provides opportunities for the Sámi to tell their own stories.