“Too hot for the reindeer” – voicing Sámi children's visions of the future

In this paper, we focus attention on the issue of the future by listening to the voices of Indigenous children in the far north of Sweden – the Sámi children. The overall aim of the study is to explore the meaning of Sámi children's visions of the future. The paricipants attend the same Sámi School, and they were of the age of 9–12 years. Data were collected with the aid of creative activity in the form of the production of drawings, combined with subsequent verbal comments. In the analysis of the drawings and verbal comments, three different themes crystallised: financial future, environmental changes and relations to the family and nature. The comprehensive understanding emerged as different cultural horizons – a pure Sámi culture horizon, a mixed horizon with a mixture of Sámi culture and Western modernity and a horizon that just holds Western modernity. The outcome of the study is discussed in relation to the tension between different cultures – the Sámi culture and that of western modernity. The importance of attending to the learners perspective is emphasised, and we argue that education for sustainable development should start in the life-worlds of the children. Keywords: visions of the futureeducation for sustainable developmentSámi childrenphenomenology Acknowledgements We would like to thank the children at the Sámi School in Jokkmokk who participated in this study. Without their help, we would not have had the opportunity to share their voices with the world. We also thank teachers and staff at the school for their willingness to be part of this study. Colleagues around the world and Sámi people from northern Sweden have helped us with comments on our article during the writing process – thank you. Finally, we give thanks to our financial supporters – STINT, the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education and Luleå University of Technology in Sweden.