Use of some Sami epistemological concepts in the study of Sami religion Abstract for panel on Indigenous methodologies at the EASR 2007 conference Religion on the Borders: New Challenges in the Academic Study of Religion

For many indigenous scholars there is a challenge to design new research methodologies for the study of indigenous religious traditions of their people. Sami research can find inspiration in Sami philosophy and epistemology. This has been shown in J. Porsanger's doctoral dissertation about sources for the study of indigenous religion of the Eastern Sami people. The Sami epistemological concepts of the processes of comparison and generalisation (veardádallan and buohtastahttin) can be used to develop criteria for source criticism from within Sami culture, as well as for analysis of source material. Besides, a deep knowledge of an internal diversity of the Sami culture and religious traditions demands that source material is placed into its spatial, temporal and cultural context. This is a prerequisite for meaningful comparisons and generalizations, done on the basis of some Sami epistemological concepts. Based on Sami epistemology, Sami research can develop new perspectives and methodological solutions, which can be usable, applicable and modern, not least for the "Western" (non-indigenous) academic research.