Israel Ruong (1903 Arjeplog, Sweden −1986) was a Swedish-Sámi linguist, politician and professor of Sámi languages and culture at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Israel Ruong spoke Pite Sámi as his mother tongue. His parents were catechists, who lived on the shores of Lake Labbas in the Sámi village of . His parents and a number of his siblings succumbed to the Spanish flu that rampaged through Arjeplog in 1920. His upbringing in Harrok is described in detail in his article "Harrok-ett samiskt nybygge i Pite Lappmark", which was published in the Festschrift for Asbjørn Nesheim entitled Kultur på karrig jord : festskrift til Asbjørn Nesheim.He received his training to become a teacher in Luleå, after which he went on to work as a teacher in the nomad school in Jukkasjärvi. In 1943, he