Depicting Sami Culture: John Andreas Savio (1903 - 1938)

In elementary school I had a class mate who wasn't very good at school, but we were friends and played together. Today I realize she also suffered from low selfesteem.
Her family was the only Sami family in our village. Her father was a wonderful skier. Her mother gentle and softspoken.
I remember we bought «skaller» (Sami shoes made of reindeer skin) with the help of her father. Those shoes were so light and wonderful to use in the snow! We were told the Sami themselves traditionally use dried grass in the shoes as isolation; we used at least two pairs of thick socks.

But my classmate never spoke about being a Sami.

John Andreas Savio is considered one of the greatest artists depicting Sami culture through his graphic work. He studied at Kunst – og Håndverkskolen in Oslo (The Art and Handcraft Academy). What a change for a young man who grew up in the wide open plains of Finnmarksvidda in the far north! His talent must have been exceptional for him to have been accepted at the school in Oslo.
Sadly this gifted artist lived as a poor man in the artist milieu in Oslo and died of tuberculosis, only 35 years old. He is represented at the Norwegian National Gallery in Oslo.

What happened to my friend during the last 40 years? Did she find a way to be openly proud of her heritage?

Note:
A Norwegian encyclopedia from 1980 estimates that 20000 Sami lived in Norway at that time, 10000 in Sweden, 3000 in Finland and 1800 in the Soviet Union.
From the beginning of the 1970's the Scandinavian Sami started to cooperate to protect their culture and interests and later contacted other groups like the Innuits and the Indians who also live in arctic or subarctic areas.