The Botnia Prize, established by the Oulu Writers’ Association, was awarded for the sixth time and is worth €15 000.
According to the jury, Lehtola’s non-fiction book sheds light on the subject from the inside, weaving together the author’s academic expertise and the Sámi culture of memory, the voices and experiences of the Sámi people.
According to the jury, the work tells both a story about Sámi history and the history of the North as a whole.
– It is also of international interest as it deals with the living past of the only indigenous people in the European Union,” the jury’s statement said.
Veli-Pekka Lehtola is a professor of Sami culture at the University of Oulu’s Giellagas Institute and he is from Inari. In her research work, Lehtola has extensively studied the history of the Sámi people and Lapland.
The Botnia Award, founded by the Oulu Writers’ Society, was awarded for the sixth time in Finland. The Botnia prize can be awarded to a work published by a commercial publishing house, the author of which lives in Northern Ostrobothnia or is from there.
The award ceremony will take place on Saturday at Kulttuuritalo Valvee in Oulu.