home | contact | search | The Sámi People   Presented at “The 4th Annual Meeting of the Permanent Forum For Indigenous Issues-may 2005, N.Y, USA “Our land is our life.” This expression reflects the situation of the Sámi, as well as that of many other indigenous people. However, now their lands and way of life are being severely threatened when reindeer herding Sámi in the southernmost part of the Sámi area in Sweden are being forced to defend themselves in destructive political and legal proceedings. As the aggressor, the Swedish nation-state controls both the juridical terms, the contents of the agenda and the level of the conflict. The Swedish government has been and still is surprisingly passive in this case. The Sámi are recognized as an indigenous people. Even the Swedish state has declared that the Sámi are indigenous people with its own history, customs, culture, and livelihood. Operating in the region of Sápmi (northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Kola Peninsula in Russia) long before the nation-state of Sweden was founded. Genetics, archeology, and linguistics have demonstrated that the Sámi are neither Germanic nor Nordic in origin; yet, their right to use pastures for reindeer husbandry is not protected. Lacking the specific form of written document required by courts, the Sámi are likely to loose their traditional winter grazing rights in these legal proceedings. The fate of the Sami will be decided in the courts In the beginning of 1990, 500 private landowners went to court claiming that the Sámi had no customary rights for winter grazing beyond Sámi villages in the community of Härjedalen and Dalarna. On February 21st 1996, the District Court of Sveg ruled that the Sámi had no customary rights for winter grazing. On the 15th February 2002 the Court of appeals ruled in the landowners’ favor and, the Supreme Court elected not to hear the case. (May 2004). This means that Swedish courts do not recognize the Sámis’ right to winter grazing. The Sámi customary rights to graze on private land as well as State owned land is confirmed in the legislation. Unfortunately the legislation does not clearly state geography boundary where these rights exist, and in case of conflict it is left up to the Sámi to prove their customary rights in the courts. The threat to the Sámi way of life is severe; In addition to legal processes, recent land exploitation, logging, etc, are encroaching even further on the age-old right of the Sámi people to graze with their reindeer. The result is a further reduction in the amount of grazing land available to their reindeers. The first big wave of settlers arrived in southernmost of reindeer herding areas of Sweden about 200 years ago. That is not very long ago, compared with the long historical presence of Sámi in the same region. Ever since the first reindeer herding law was established 1886 there has been conflicts about Sámi customary rights and ever since the Swedish state has not taken its responsibility to bring the conflict to an end. Escalating pressure on the Sámi Not only were the Sámi taken completely by surprise by legal proceedings, but they were also in absolutely no position to prepare for these proceedings. Their ability to finance a lawsuit was and continues to be extremely limited. For the landowners, the situation is completely different, as real estate insurance companies will cover their legal costs. Thus, for both legal and economic reasons, the conflict regarding Sámi grazing rights is not a fair one. Sadly, this is an example of how the Swedish establishment and the Swedish juridical system wage a kind of economic warfare. Traditionally, many Sámi have very little confidence in “the big Swedish society.” This lack of trust is amplified when the Sámi people feel that the Swedish state is practicing a form of legal ethnic genocide through its juridical system and court rulings. It is most likely that the reindeer herders will be forced to give up reindeer herding in areas where the forests are owned by private landowners. It is beyond the limits of reason to expect the Sámi villages to comply with the landowners’ tentative agreement; to pay excessively large payment liabilities, and to fulfill demands for retroactive remuneration. The landowners’ demand for a reserve fund for the payment of damages or a bank guarantee of several million kronor is just as impossible to comply with, since the Sámi villages are saddled with legal costs of ca. 17 million Swedish kronor (USD 2.4 million). In addition, the landowners are insisting on payment of 2.6 million Swedish kronor (USD 370,000) in interest charges. The petition from the Sámi to the landowners’ agent for a short-term deferment of interest payable was denied, without further discussion. Compensation to the landowners for supposed damages and all costs of legal processes for both parties ultimately has to be paid by the Sámi. Now that the negotiations have broken down, the landowners have submitted a document in which they urge private property owners to ban reindeer from their land. Threats of damages and police reports exist. Further, the landowner associations demand that the Sámi villages reduce the size of their reindeer herds. The practicing of reindeer herding has not changed significantly since early times. What has changed is the attitude and position of the private landowners which has lead to legal actions against the Sámi. As recently as 12th of May, the Swedish media reported that 170 landowners in northern Sweden had gotten together and formed a network opposed to reindeer husbandry. In order to keep reindeer-herding Sámi from their land for reindeer grazing, they have signed a number of manifestos and plan to file reports with the police if reindeer graze on their land. How long will this degradation be allowed to continue? Sweden was one of the standard bearers for ILO convention No.169 (International Labor Organizations Convention). However, when it was time for Sweden to sign the document, the government did not follow through on its intentions to protect its indigenous population. The laws that Sweden considered adequate to give the Sámi legal protection have shown to be nonexistent. On the other hand, a signature on the Convention would give the Sámi the international safeguards they require. Ownership is not the central issue here; rather, access to land and water is crucial. The inability to access land and water, which constitutes the basis for secure reindeer husbandry, means a decreased willingness to invest, primarily among ourselves, but among external collaborative partners as well. This is a destructive process, from both an economic and cultural perspective. For many Sámi, a good life means being able to pursue and preserve the traditional, daily work with reindeer, for which access to land and water is fundamental. This access is also a fundamental for the preservation of Sámi villages, as well as for the cultural survival of all Sámi, for whom culture is so closely intertwined with reindeer. It is altogether possible to be a successful reindeer keeper within the Sámi villages, but this has no value in Swedish society, and the rest of Sweden expresses disinterest and even contempt for what we do. The Sámi have the right to be guaranteed access to traditional grazing land. The Sámi have the right to feel proud of their origins and their livelihood. The Sámi have the right to demand that reindeer keepers and particularly their youth, who are just starting their reindeer keeper careers, be able to support themselves and their families. The Sámi have the right to demand the respect of the authorities and to not be made to feel invisible. The Sámi have the right to their history and future. For more information contact Anneli Jonsson – anneli @ idresameby.se Further Links Sámi Parliament Website     top