<p>Dear Forum,<br></p>
<p>I have chosen to not dignify Professor Sammallahti’s attacks on the integrity of my research and my character in this forum or anywhere else for that matter. I stand by my research as one of many truths. If anyone on this list is interested in hearing my perspective, I will welcome direct and respectful questions and inquiries.</p>
<div>I am a mother of three young children and therefore respectfully ask that people keep this in mind when contacting me by phone or when waiting for an email response from me. I look forward to constructive dialogue on the meaningful and beneficial issues of our research and work in the fields of pedagogy and sociolinguistics.</div>
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<div>Best regards</div>
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<div>Erika Katjaana Sarivaara<span style="FONT-FAMILY:'Calibri','sans-serif';FONT-SIZE:11pt"><br><br><br></span><br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">2013/5/7 Pekka Sammallahti <span dir="ltr"><;<a href="mailto:pekka.sammallahti@oulu.fi" target="_blank">pekka.sammallahti@oulu.fi</a>></span><br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;MARGIN:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;PADDING-LEFT:1ex" class="gmail_quote">Dear receivers,<br><br>While I strongly disapprove of sending this circular by people who seem to be unaware of what is going on on the ethnic and ethnopolitical scene in Finland, let me make known that a detailed review of Sarivaara's thesis will be presented.<br>
<br>Let me also make it known that Sarivaara has been a leading figure in the fight against Saami self-determination in Finland and that her thesis is constantly used as a weapon in this fight. It is thus appropriate to treat it also as a political document and deal with its inadequacies and absurdities such as "non-status Saami" by the way of ironic humor.<br>
<br>Pekka Sammallahti<br>PhD, Professor emeritus of Saami Language<br><br><br>Quoting Scheller Elisabeth <<a href="mailto:elisabeth.scheller@uit.no" target="_blank">elisabeth.scheller@uit.no</a>>:<br><br>
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<div class="im">Dear Erika Sarivaara, members of the URA-list, and other research colleagues<br><br></div>Over the last couple of weeks, we have been made familiar with the content of some discussions on Prof. Pekka Sammallahti's Facebook site concerning Dr. Erika Sarivaara and her PhD thesis Statuksettomat saamelaiset <<a href="http://brage.bibsys.no/samall/bitstream/URN:NBN:no-bibsys_brage_30768/1/erikanettiversio18%206.pdf" target="_blank">http://brage.bibsys.no/<u></u>samall/bitstream/URN:NBN:no-<u></u>bibsys_brage_30768/1/<u></u>erikanettiversio18%206.pdf</a>> Paikantumisia saamelaisuuden rajoilla<<a href="http://brage.bibsys.no/samall/bitstream/URN:NBN:no-bibsys_brage_30768/1/erikanettiversio18%206.pdf" target="_blank">http://brage.bibsys.<u></u>no/samall/bitstream/URN:NBN:<u></u>no-bibsys_brage_30768/1/<u></u>erikanettiversio18%206.pdf</a>> (2012). In general, Sammallahti's site is none of our business and way beyond our interest. However, the current discussions of Sarivaara and her work signal such a striking absence of common decency that we find it necessary to point out the following:
<div class="im"><br><br>In case anyone forgot: Sarivaara's thesis has been evaluated by a scientific commitee of competent people in her field of research, and it was accepted. Obviously, Sammallahti and some of his Facebook friends find some aspects of Sarivaara's thesis problematic. That is not problematic at all. What is problematic though, is their totally disrespectful way of making fun of Sarivaara and her research in a semiofficial forum on the Internet. Even her mental health has been called into question.<br>
<br>In fact, the comments on Prof. Sammallahti's Facebook site say nothing at all about Erika Sarivaara. What they do say, is that some people who find themselves in front of the research field they pursue, seem to lack: 1) social media competence, and 2) basic understanding of research ethics.<br>
<br>In the future, we hope that the important questions that our colleague raises in her thesis will be discussed in the professional, scientific, and, last but not least, respectful way that Sarivaara, like any other researcher, deserves.<br>
<br>Thanks.<br><br>With kind regards,<br><br>Elisabeth Scheller<br>PhD Student in Saami sociolinguistics<br>University of Tromsø<br></div><a href="mailto:elisabeth.scheller@uit.no" target="_blank">elisabeth.scheller@uit.no</a><<u></u>mailto:<a href="mailto:elisabeth.scheller@uit.no" target="_blank">elisabeth.scheller@uit.<u></u>no</a>>
<div class="im"><br><br>Åse Mette Johansen<br>PhD Student in Nordic languages<br>University of Tromsø<br></div><a href="mailto:ase.mette.johansen@uit.no" target="_blank">ase.mette.johansen@uit.no</a><<u></u>mailto:<a href="mailto:ase.mette.johansen@uit.no" target="_blank">ase.mette.johansen@uit.<u></u>no</a>><br>
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