Talk:Akka (spirit)

Lapp
The indigenous peoples of the far north of Scandinavia are often referred to as Lapps. However they themselves prefer to be called Sámi because that term is linguistically connected to the name they use for themselves and their territory.

The Sámi are an internationally recognized aboriginal people, who were converted to Christianity forcibly by invading peoples from farther south. These conquerors bestowed the name 'Lapplanders' upon the Sámi in much the same way that invading Europeans designated the peoples of North America 'Indians', instead of referring to them by the names they gave themselves. Because of this, many Sámi find the term "Lapplander" derogatory.

Because of this, I believe that, to the extent possible, Wikipedia entries should use the term Sámi instead of Lapp, Lappish or Lapplander. Many people use these terms without knowing their connotation or the objections that many Sámi have to them. However, I believe that using the term Sámi instead better serves Wikipedia's policies of a neutral point of view and civility. I believe that any difficulties arising out of the naming convention policy could be served though redirection and disambiguation (as is mostly already being done). Sweet byrd — Preceding undated comment added 16:57, 22 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Should we give Uksakka its own article, if only for the sake of removing it from the "Missing encyclopedic articles" list? Eyeball kid (talk) 01:27, 21 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Nice try Sweet byrd, but that would once again make us Lapps & Lapplanders even more invisible.
 * This since Lappish and Sami is NOT synonymous! (Though we share a common ancestry.)
 * As for this page, I do however agree the term used should be changed to Sami, and please add that 'Akka' simply mean grandmother and nothing else. 81.237.228.65 (talk) 13:57, 8 June 2023 (UTC)