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Sámi Facts

• The Sámi define themselves as an Indigenous People, as stated in the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 169: “Peoples in independent countries who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonization or the establishment of present state boundaries.” The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.

The Deer that Reigns

A creation story related by Risten Lango, a Sami reindeer herder, tells of a white reindeer creating the world. The reindeer’s veins became rivers, its fur became forest, its stomach became the ocean, and its horns became mountains. For the Sami people of Scandinavia and Russia, reindeer is a staple. Some Sami herd reindeer; they rely on the animal extensively for food, tools, and clothing.

Legislating Gender Equality: Sara Larsson

In Saami Land, Women Are Encouraged to Become Lawyers— But Many Would Rather Be Reindeer Herders

I have been a member of the Swedish Saami Parliament since 2001. I am from the southern Saami area and from a traditional reindeer herding family. My father herds reindeer and I have a few of my own, but my father cares for them because I am too busy with my other work. Only a minority of the Saami people are reindeer herders now, but it is the traditional living of the Saami.

Today reindeer herding has become modernized and male-dominated.

The Saami Languages: the present and the future

The Saami languages are Fenno-Ugrian languages spoken from central Sweden and Mid-Southern Norway to the tip of the Kola Peninsula in Russia by 25,000-35,000 speakers. The number of ethnic Saami is probably nearly 100,000. There are no deep linguistic boundaries within the language area between neighbouring dialects, but ten Saami languages can be distinguished, six of which have written standards (see map on page 29).

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Beluga Whales

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is the system of knowledge gained by experience, observation, and analysis of natural events that is transmitted among members of a community In a subsistence economy, TEK is used to find, harvest, process, store, and sustain natural resources that are needed for food, clothing, and shelter. It also includes the ability to recognize, avoid, and get out of dangerous situations.

BRIEFLY NOTED: Saami Update

The Saami people are struggling to obtain rights to self-determination and management of natural resources. The land which the Saami traditionally occupy lies within the borders of four countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Russia. Reindeer herding and fishing, important sources of livelihood, are valuable factors in the perpetuation of the Saami culture and also lie within those borders.

Chernobyl Fallout: A Hard Rain for the Sami

At the end of April 1986, Swedish nuclear power authorities noted unusually high rates of radiation in routine measurements at a plant north of Sweden. They initially feared that a nuclear accident had occurred in one of Sweden's own 12 nuclear power stations.

Legal Strategies for Cultural Survival and Human Rights

Under the national laws and legal systems of the countries in which Indians live, it has been extremely difficult for them to find protection for their human rights. In light of such inadequacies, Indian nations have made efforts to establish an international personality in the courts and political assemblies of the world. Needless to say, their efforts to reassert their sovereignty in their homelands have met with considerable obstacles and opposition.

The Saami in a Shrinking World

In Europe's arctic periphery, one people straddles four nation-states. The traditional tracts of the Saami (formerly called "Lapps") dip south beyond central Norway and Sweden, and skim, across the arctic regions of Finland and the Kola peninsula of the USSR.

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