(PressFire.no): The Sami Council has sent a letter to game developer Square Enix where they demand that Sami-inspired items of clothing be removed from “Final Fantasy XIV”.
It was last December that Square Enix released a new outfit that could be purchased in the game.
The outfit is clearly inspired by Sami folk costumes, and is called “Far Northern Attire” in the game – “far north” outfit, that is.
– This is not about sensitivity or whether the presentation is appropriate. These elements are Sami culture’s assets and Square Enix has violated our rights, says president of the Sami Council, Áslat Holmberg, in a press release.
The Sami Council refers to an agreement entered into between the Nordic countries’ Sami Parliament, the Sami Council and Disneywhere it appears that the Sami view their collective and individual culture, including aesthetic elements, music, language, stories, history and other traditional cultural expressions as “assets belonging to the Sami”.
The agreement with Disney requests that the culture be respected and that a committee from the Sámi Council made sure that the representation in the film “Frozen 2” was done correctly, that the filmmakers had to make a version with Sámi speech, that they credited the Sámi in the subtitles and that representatives of the Sámi got come to the world premiere in the USA.
– Our cultural intellectual works are not theoretical. They are protected under intellectual property laws, which are generally harmonized worldwide. Square Enix as a media company is very aware of such laws and has no excuse for this obvious violation of Sami cultural property, says Holmberg further.
The Sami Council says that Square Enix has allowed 41 million players to dress up as Sami and thus dress in Sami identity without being allowed to do so. This, the Sami Council says, is helping to break down Sami culture.
– The Sami Council hopes that this situation will promote the discussion around the rights indigenous people have to their cultural assets and we look forward to a productive dialogue with all industries.
This article is written by our satire consultant Segata Satiro, and therefore only bamboo.
