Tiervâ!
Muu nommâ lii Lee Rodgers. Mun lam Eŋlandist meddâl, mut lam kuittâg aassâm Anarist perruinân, kálguinân já olgijdânguin jo kuhháá. Mun lam oppâm anarâšâi kulttuurist kálgustân, kii lii folklorist, já kielâpiervâlist, kost muu kaandah juuđijn peivikiäjust. Mun čálám já kuvviim párnáikiirjijd, vâi puávtáččim išediđ kielâiäláskittempargo. Mun čaallim já kovvejim vuossâmuš kirján “Muštottes uárree” eŋgâlâskielân já tot jurgâlui anarâškielân. Kirje muštâl nuorâ kaandâst Samâlist já suu fiäránijn Säämienâmist. Tast maŋa ulmuuh pivdii muu rähtiđ kiirjijd siämmái persovnijguin ucceeb párnái várás. Taah kirjeh láá meiddei kyevtikielâliih já täin láá fáárust mainâseh, lavluuh já tiivtah. Mainâsij siste lii máhdulâš kavnâđ já oppâđ sämikulttuurist já tave luándust já siämmást oppâđ meid numerijd já ton tagarijd tiäđuid.
Anarâškielâlâš oppâmateriaalij várás lii ain-uv stuorrâ tárbu já tot movtijditij muu rähtiđ täid nettisijđoid, moh vuáđuduveh Säämi käävci iveááigán. Nettisijđoh urruu lemin luándulâš jotkâ kirjijd já siämmást šiev mahđulâšvuotâ lasettiđ oppâmateriaalijd. Mist ij lah lamaš vala ohtâgin anarâškielâlâš nettisijđo párnái várás. Tääbbin párnááh pyehtih leikkušiđ já oppâđ uđđâ aašijd, mut ton lasseen tääbbin kávnojeh materiaaleh, maid vanhimeh já máttáátteijeeh pyehtih kevttiđ párnáiguin. Täin sijđoin meiddei ulmuuh já párnááh, kiäi eellim lii Sämikuávlu ulguubeln, uážžuh oppâđ Sämikuávlust já sämikultturist.
Takkâ tunjin, ko lah iällám tääbbin muu sijđoid keččâmin, já tuáivum ete puáđáh meiddei maassâd!
Hello!
Or tiervâ which is the Inari Saami way to greet someone. My name is Lee Rodgers. I am originally from England, now I live in Inari with my Inari Saami wife and two sons. The Saami are the indigenous people of Finland, who speak three different Saami languages. I learned about Inari Saami culture from my wife who is a folklorist and through the Inari Saami language nest that my two sons attended. I write and illustrate children’s books to help Inari Saami language revitalisation. I wrote and illustrated my first book ”The Forgetful Squirrel” in English and then it was translated into Inari Saami. The book tells the story of a young Inari Saami boy and his adventures in Lapland. I was then asked to make a series of books based on the same characters for younger children. These books are also bilingual and include stories songs and poems. Mixed into the stories are opportunities to learn about Inari Saami culture and nature, as well as numbers and other such concepts. There is still a need for more learning materials in the Inari Saami language and this inspired me to make these web pages based on the “8 seasons” of Lapland. The web pages seemed like a natural progression from the books at the same time giving a greater opportunity to expand the amount of learning materials available. There aren’t any web sites for Inari Saami children in their own language so I thought basing the web pages on my series of books would be a good opportunity to provide one. This way children can have fun while learning and at the same time it will hopefully provide materials for parents and teachers alike to share with their children. Also as with the books the web pages provide a chance for children from outside of the Inari Saami culture to learn more about it.
Another Inari Saami word would be takkâ, which means thank you. I would like to thank you for taking the time to look at this website and hopefully uáinimaid or until we meet again.