Wednesday

So now I’ve come as far as to write a Character description (actually wrote this in my notebook before I fell asleep last night but I count it as Wednesday material):

Name: Áile

Age: 14-16 years old (Goes to school)

Hair: Straight, dark and short (typical Sami)

Eye colour: Light Blue (Typical Sami, but also because she looks less mean this way. She’s not mean within


Height: 140cm-150cm (Samis are short)


Favourite colour: Red = Anger and passion.


Favourite food: Traditional Sami dishes (Reindeer meat)


Physical health: Excellent

Hobbies:
Driving snow scooter, hunting, herding reindeer, ice fishing, lasso, reindeer sleigh racing, helping out her family, making trouble at school and joiking (Traditional Sami singing – like indians).

Lives:
In northern Norway, Finnmark – in the east, closer to Kirkenes. She lives in a small village with mostly Sami inhabitants.

Lives with:
Her family - Her father, mother, grandmother, little brother and sister (Her grandfather used to live with them, but he passed away).


Character story:

Áile was born in a small Sami village in northern Norway, around year 1965. Her childhood has always been filled with discrimination and harassment by both the Norwegian government and other Sami because her family were not Christians (They also held pride in their culture, which was looked down upon)

The Norwegian Government wanted all Sami to learn Norwegian and forget their old language, stop joiking, and in all, suppress their own culture (“The Norwegianisation of the Sami”). They had to become Norwegians if they were to live in Norway, and all schools and books focused fully on this.

Many of the Sami got ashamed of their culture and family roots, and they looked down on other Sami who still held pride in it. An inner conflict submerged between the Sami, in addition to the discrimination bu the Norwegians and the government.

Áile is a young schoolgirl during these years and is experiencing it all. Her family is even worse into this, seeing as they are not Christians like most of the Sami.
Áile gets mean and makes a lot of trouble at school and at home. She is very unsure of herself and tries her best to keep up a mask.

She doesn’t fully understand why it’s like this, why she’s called all these horrible names and why she’s not allowed to use her own language at school. She’s not even allowed to sing the only way she knows song – through joik.


Psychological health: typical teenage problems + discrimination and harrassment = speaks for itself