After a brief introduction focusing on the linguistic Situation in the previously multilingual northern part of Norway in general, the present paper takes äs itspoint ofdeparture the sociolinguistical Situation in one particular village in the coastal region inhabited by so-called "Sea Samis." The linguistic development ofthe village since the turn ofthe Century is described äs a case of language shift, in which the language ofthe dominating group, Norwegian, has gradually been taken over by the dominated group. The last part of the paper attempts to explain the development described.