ARCUS Student Award | 1st Annual Award

1st Annual ARCUS Award for Arctic Research Excellence

Submitted by:

Scott Forrest

Author:

S. Forrest

Title:

Territoriality and State-Sami Relations

Affiliation:

University of Northern British Colombia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

The Sami are the indigenous people of Fennoscandia. The practice of reindeer herding is central to the Sami way of life, often regarded as the defining feature of Sami culture. The Sami exhibit a very different form of territorial organization (flexible and overlapping) than the modern or 'Western' systems of the European states (fixed and exclusive) which colonized them. Contradictions between these two conceptions of territoriality have been a defining feature of state-Sami relations in the following ways:

  1. Nordic states viewed the Sami as nomadic, and thus having no ownership of their land.
  2. Reindeer herding was viewed as an illegitimate or backwards form of economic activity, resulting in the privileging of 'modern' forms of land use at the expense of traditional Sami activities.
  3. Where states did feel an impulse to 'protect' the Sami way of life, they viewed nomadic pastoralism as economically inviable, prompting systems of administration which increased state regulation of herding.

These conflicts lie at the root of the issues which the Sami are struggling with today: rights to land and resources, self-government, and autonomy over reindeer herding management. Recognizing the importance of different conceptions of territoriality is necessary for a just settlement of these matters.