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Reindeer herders kept going under the Nazis | Brief letters

Reindeer coralled by Sami herders
Reindeer coralled by Sami herders. Photograph: In Pictures/Corbis via Getty Images

Patrick Barkham (Why the Cornish 500 matter, 21 March) criticises the government for withdrawing funding for the Cornish language and reports the Council of Europe’s disapproval of the BBC ignoring programming in Cornish. In this Nottingham radical bookshop, we have on our counter Deryvadow Party an Gemynwer, gans Karl Marx ha Frederick Engels in case any passing Cornish readers (or linguists) might be interested in challenging the nature of capitalist society.
Ross Bradshaw
Five Leaves Bookshop, Nottingham

• Apropos John Palmer’s letter (15 March), it is my understanding that Sami reindeer herders had free movement across the Norwegian border even during the second world war. In We Die Alone, David A Howarth’s telling of the story of Jan Baalstrud’s survival against the odds during the German occupation of Norway, free movement of the Sami across the Norwegian border was instrumental in saving Baalstrud’s life.
Katy Boocock
Inverness

• As a holder of Cineworld shares and a keen member of Picturehouse, I join those who condemn the company’s failure to pay all its staff a living and sustainable wage (Report, 22 March). The company’s reputation is built on its progressive ethos and its employment policy betrays its image and sabotages its successful brand.
Benedict Birnberg
London

• Having read your article on bike helmets (Heading for a fall, 22 March), I still don’t know whether to wear one or not, as I don’t know if car drivers will interpret my white hair as “experienced cyclist” or “wobbly old pensioner”. I should have asked the driver who hooted at me, after which I sprinted to catch him at the lights and hammer on his window.
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife

• I was pleased to read Jim Freeman’s letter about snow buntings (Letters, 22 March). It provided only the second sighting in my lifetime of the word anent.
Revd Philip Welsh
London

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