Saami Circle North America

08/26/2026

Join us in Hancock, Michigan, at the Finnish American Heritage Center for the opening of our exhibit on Thursday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m. featuring Erika Larsen's beautiful photos from Sápmi and portraits of families of the Alaskan Reindeer Project plus artifacts from the collection of Saami Circle North America. Hope to see you there!

08/10/2026

We are so pleased to share two of our exhibits at the Finlandia Art Gallery at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock, MI, 8/27 - 9/23/2026. An opening reception will be held 7-8:30 EDT on Tuesday, August 27.
Featured are beautiful photographs by Erika Larsen and portraits of Sami Herders in Alaska. We hope to see many of you there!!

08/02/2026

It is with great sadness we have learned of the passing of Pearl Johnson in Anchorage, Alaska. Pearl was an important member of the board of the Sami Cultural Center of North America for many years and contributed so much to the understanding of the Alaskan reindeer story. She traveled with us and attended many North American Sami events and will be missed as a dear friend.

07/15/2026

We are wondering if anyone might be traveling from Duluth to Hancock, MI in the next couple of weeks and would have room to transport an art exhibit to the Finnish Heritage Center. The exhibit includes several boxes of the photographs of Erika Larsen. PM or email [email protected] if you could help us out. Giitu!

06/29/2026

The Sámi Cultural Center of North America at UMD has a new page! 🎉 We'd sure appreciate if you'd head over and give their page a like and follow them to stay up to date on the collection, programming, events, and more!
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591131526777

06/27/2026

We were happy to participate in this great event with a version of our Sami Reindeer People of Alaska! Note the Sámi flags in some of the photos!

06/27/2026

Some interesting classes coming up. Check them out!

06/24/2026

We are so excited to introduce our new name – Saami Circle North America. Please continue to use the email [email protected] to contact us. We will keep you posted about new opportunities and adventures as we continue this journey of educating about Sámi history and culture and the North American Sami community.

The Sami Cultural Center is now located at the Kathryn A. Martin Library at the University of Minnesota Duluth where over 380,00 Sámi related library items are available for local checkout or through interlibrary loan. Use this link to explore the collection.

https://primo.lib.umn.edu/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01UMN_INST:DULUTH&collectionId=81985440340001701&lang=en

01/28/2026

Please join us for a Sámi Day Celebration!
February 6, 2026 12:00 pm (CST)
Zoom https://calendar.d.umn.edu/event/103198-sami-national-day-celebration

All are welcome!

About the Film
(38min) Directed by Kiersten Dunbar Chace | A beautiful documentary/love story that illuminates the life of Sami American artist Solveig Arneng Johnson, whose body of artwork captures her love of Norway, family and natural surroundings. Born in 1925 in the Arctic town of Kirkenes, Norway, Solveig reflects on life during the throes of World War II, her indigenous Sami identity, art studies, immigrating to America (Duluth, Minnesota) and the love of her life.

01/26/2026

The National Nordic Museum is hosting their annual Sámi Film Festival on February 6 & 7. There is also a virtual film festival February 6 - 13. More information can be found at

The annual Sámi Film Festival celebrates the rich storytelling traditions of the Sámi, an Indigenous people of the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia.