This day marks the 1917 joint meeting of Northern and Southern Sámi people in Trondheim, Norway to share common concerns and find solutions. Sámi National Day was created during the proceedings of the 15th Sámi conference in Helsinki in 1992. The first Sámi National Day was observed on 6 February 1993, coinciding with the United Nations proclamation of the opening of the International Year of Indigenous People. The Sámi are indigenous to Sápmi, a large region across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and far northwestern Russia.