Lapps and Sámis have been studied much and there has been an abundance of research material and analytical descriptions written in the last centuries. The Inari Sámi culture and lifestyle has not really been completely studied on the whole at all. Some traits are described as part of general, broad investigations of the Sámi people or dealt with allusively, incidentally. Inari is described in many travel accounts and descriptions but even then, when referring to Sámis, they are all put into one bunch. Such writers are e.g. Jacob Fellman, M.A. Castrén, Antti Hämäläinen and Ilmari Hustich. The Inari Sámis do not seem to have been a very interesting research subject. The Skolts have been studied more. There are numerous studies that deal only with the Skolts. It is also usual that in research work dealing with the Sámis in general, there is an additional chapter about the Skolts, but none concerning the Inari Sámi.

Research dealing exclusively with the Inari Sámi surely does exist, but all of them study or describe the language. Some fields in which the Inari Sámi are included within a broader range of study are anthropology, history and music.

1. Works Investigating the Inari Sámi

Elisa Lönnrot: Ueber den Enare-Lappischen Dialekt (1854). The book is about the conjugation and inflection of verbs and nouns as well as samples of the language and a glossary.

A. V. Koskimies’ and T. I. Itkonen’s work concerns the storytelling traditions in Inari Lappish folklore (1918). Koskimies collected the material for the book in 1886.

Frans Äimä studied the phonetics of Inari Sámi in his work Phonetik und Lautlehre des Inarilappischen I-II (1918). He also collected a glossary with as many 10,000 words. Älmä’s glossary serves as the basis for Erkki Itkonen’s dictionary Inarilappisches Wörterbuch I-IV. Edited by Raija Bartens and Lea Laitinen (1986-1991).

Erkki Itkonen: Samples of the Inari Sámi language – Aanaarkiela čájttuzeh (1992). A text anthology, edited by Lea Laitinen.

Pekka Sammallahti – Matti Morottaja: An Inari Sámi dictionary, Säämi-suomâ sänikirje (1993).

Anja Akujärvi: The Morottaja Family (1998).

Irja Jefremoff: Varriistâllâm – The Yearly Migrations of the Inari Sámi (2001).

Pekka Sammallahti has made a manuscript for a work dealing with Inari Sámi phonetics.

Marja-Liisa Olthuis: Inarinsaamelaiset lajinnimet. Lintujen ja sienten kansannimitysten historiaa ja oppitekoisten uudisnimien muodostuksen metodiikkaa (2007). (a thesis on Inari Sámi names for bird and mushroom species)

Marja-Liisa Olthuis has made an Inari Sámi dictionary and grammar photocopied for assessment.

Annika Pasanen is preparing her thesis on the revitalization of the Inari Sámi.

2. Works and articles in which the Inari Sámi language or culture is handled as part of a broader context.

A. Andelin: Kertomus Utsjoen pitäjästä (1858). A narrative about the Utsjoki parish.

Armas Launis: Lappische Juoigos-Melodien (1908). Lappish yoik melodies.

A. W. Granit: Anteckningar om geografiska benämningar i Enare lappmark (1912). Notes on Geographical names in Inari.

J. E. Rosberg: Lappi (1911) and Lapplynne (1922). Geographical research.

Samuli Paulaharja: Taka-Lappia (1927). Backwoods Lapland.

Erkki Itkonen: Der ostlappische Vokalismus vom qualitativen Standpunkt aus mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Inari- und Skoltlapischen. (1939). Phonetics.

T. I. Itkonen: Suomen lappalaiset vuoteen 1945 I-II (1948). Anthropology.

Tuomo Itkonen: Inari. A memory of churches and herders in Inari (1952). Reprint 1981.

Mikko Korhonen: Die Konjugation im Lappischen 1-2, (1967, 1974), An introduction to the history of language of Lapland (1981).

Raija Bartens: Inarinlapin, merilapin ja luulajanlapin kaasussyntaksi (1972), Synthetic and analytical constructions in local expressions in Lapland (1978).

Juhani Lehtiranta: Yhteissaamelainen sanasto (1989). A collective vocabulary of Sámi languages.

Veli-Pekka Lehtola: Saamelaiset - Historia, yhteiskunta, taide.(1997). The Sámi – History, Society, Art.

Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction (1998).

Voitto Viinanen: Inarin rajahistoria I (2002). A History of Borders in Inari I.

Voitto Viinanen: Inarin rajahistoria II (2006). A History of Borders in Inari II.

Ilmari Mattus has written an extensive book on place names dealing with not only Inari Sámi names, but also Northern and Skolt Sámi and Finnish place names. The book is in manuscript form.

Marko Jouste has studied Inari Sámi yoik. His thesis on North Sámi yoik in Inari is in the final stages.

Matti Morottaja

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