In the far north of the continent lives the Sami people[1]. Present for millennia in a territory called Sápmi[2], their population is estimated today to be between 75,000 and 82,000, unevenly distributed among the countries. The largest Sami population is currently found in northern Norway, with approximately 55,000 individuals. Next come Sweden (approximately 20,000), Finland (approximately 2,000), and Russia (approximately 2,000). ---- Sápmi (in dark gray) is a territory shared between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
Wikimedia/Rogper
Essentially nomadic[3], the Sami saw their territory drastically reduced when state borders were imposed upon them, beginning in 1545 when King Gustav Vasa I decided to annex the territories-which he considered deserted-in the north of his kingdom, and again in 1595 with the Treaty of Teusina, which defined the borders between Russia and Sweden, disregarding the peoples inhabiting the lands concerned. The Sami, who lived primarily from reindeer herding, faced a new problem: their transhumance, which had previously taken place throughout the entire Sápmi region, was now halted at the borders of the various states. The siidas (traditional Sami lands) were now crossed by state boundaries that made no exceptions for the indigenous population[4].
Forced Assimilation
From the mid-17th century onward, mining of natural resources in Sápmi began on the orders of the Swedish crown. Many Sami were enslaved, as Sweden did not recognize their citizenship. Territorial expansion strategies included taxing the Sami population, sometimes by three states simultaneously; introducing the concept of individual private property; granting land to settlers; and restricting access to property based on ethnicity. Christian missions also intensified: baptisms increased, and Sami were burned at the stake for witchcraft when they refused to abandon their pantheon. These colonial incursions continued with the same intensity until the 19th century. It was at this time that assimilation policies began to emerge.
The various states did not adopt the same policies for integrating the Sami. Norway viewed assimilation as the cornerstone of its fornorskningspolitikken ("Norwegianization") policy from 1851 to 1959. Its aim was to make the indigenous population into "good Norwegians," with fluency in Norwegian and a Norwegian surname being mandatory for obtaining land in Finnmark. Sweden, on the other hand, implemented a segregationist policy, leading to the creation of a racial research institute in the early 20th century[5]. Finland combined assimilation and acculturation, notably due to earlier colonization (Finnish settlers having spread into these regions as early as the late 14th century), but also because Finnish and Sami languages belong to the same language family. Acculturation was thus more gradual, but more insidious.
A Sami family in Norway around 1900.
Wikimedia
While all states outlawed Sami languages and cultures, populations began to rebel in various regions of Sápmi. One of these first uprisings took place in Guovdageaidnu (Norway) in 1852, where herders turned against the authorities. They killed the grocer-accused of profiting from the Sami population, then suffering from rampant alcoholism, by selling them alcohol-as well as the village policeman. The consequences of this revolt were severe: in addition to a resurgence of Norwegianization and the imprisonment of the rebels, the two leaders of the movement, Aslak Hætla and Mons Sombdy, were beheaded. Their skulls were sent to Oslo to enrich the university's anatomical collections[6]. The causes of this uprising were numerous, but the end of the free movement of reindeer for seasonal transhumance between Norway and Finland in the same year was one of them[7].
Badge "Cájet Sámi Vuoinna!" ("Show your Sámi spirit!").
Wikimedia/Paasikivi
While this spontaneous uprising resonated within the Sámi community, it would still be almost a century before they could bring their demands to the international level. However, Infor lif eller död? Sanningsord i de Lappska förhållandena[8]was published in 1904 and was the work of the Sámi activist Elsa Laula Renberg.
This pamphlet denounces Swedish and Norwegian assimilationist policies, colonization, resource appropriation, and more broadly, the oppression suffered by the Sami. Renberg was instrumental in establishing the first Sami feminist circles (with the Brurskanken samiske kvindeforening[9]in 1910) and the first Sami council in 1917. The date of this first council, February 6, has since become a day celebrating Sami identity.
Recognition of Sami Self-Determination
In 1952, the Sámiráddi, the Sami Council, was founded. This NGO, now headquartered in Káráshjohka, Norway, is composed of representatives from nine Sami organizations in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia[10]. The council's goal is the recognition of the Sami and the promotion of their cultures and languages. In 1975, the Sámiráddi joined the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1974-1996), providing it with an international platform to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by the Sámi alongside other indigenous peoples. The 1970s were a period of both increased visibility and struggle: it was during this time that Sámi language education began, allowing young people to reconnect with their linguistic identity after centuries of glottophobic colonialism. The acronym CSV, for Cohkke Sámiid Vuitui ("Sámi, unite for victory"), also emerged and would go on to gain widespread popularity[11]. The works of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää-known by his Sámi name Áilu-resonated with these struggles through the joik (traditional Sámi song), to which he brought a new life. Among the Sami representatives of the late 20th century, Ailu was one of the most important figures, both artistically and as an activist. He was the first representative of the Sami people at the creation of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and the first to recognize the Sami as an indigenous people. This decade was also marked by one of the most significant struggles for Sami unity and the defense of their territory: the opposition to the construction of the Alta hydroelectric dam in Norway.
The Battle of Alta
In 1968, the Norwegian Water and Electricity Agency planned the construction of a dam, which would have submerged the Sami village of Máze. Initial resistance arose, leading to a revision of the project. However, it still resulted in the displacement of populations, the disruption of reindeer migrations, and the end of wild salmon fishing. After exhausting all administrative appeals and in response to a visit by the Norwegian Minister of the Environment[12], who disregarded the remarks of the Sami people present at the site, the first acts of civil disobedience occurred. Two actions took place simultaneously in the autumn of 1979: one group blocked access to the machinery at the construction site, while another began a hunger strike in front of the parliament building. These two actions had no effect and led to an escalation until January 1981, when more than a thousand activists chained themselves to the machinery at the dam site before being violently removed by the Norwegian police. The following year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government and upheld the permit to build the dam, rendering all forms of resistance deployed up to that point obsolete.
The first official Sami flag was recognized and unveiled on August 15, 1986, at the 13th Nordic Sami Conference in Åre, Sweden.
Although ultimately unsuccessful, the opposition to the Alta Dam was a cornerstone of Sami recognition over the past century. The Sameloven, or Sami Law, was passed by the Norwegian parliament in 1987 in response to this massive mobilization. It allows the Sami to live with their languages, cultures, and according to their nomadic way of life. This law was expanded in 2005 with the Finnmarksloven, or Finnmark Law, which grants the Sami collective ownership of their lands, including their resources. Similar legislation has been enacted in other Fennoscandian countries (1992 in Sweden and 1995 in Finland).
A struggle that continues today
While Sami handicrafts are now sold to tourists in Sápmi without having been made by Sami artisans, and their territory remains threatened (by the Gállok mining project, for example), the indigenous communities are doing everything they can to share their struggles and demands. Recently, the United Nations ruled in favor of the Sami communities, judging that Finland had violated their rights by authorizing mining in Sápmi. Here and there, educational centers, universities, and schools offer courses in Sami languages and on indigenous culture, their rights, their history, and their future.
However, the politicization of Sami communities is still a work in progress. Institutionally, only the Finnish Communist Party (SKP) celebrates Sami resistance, but the issue remains a minority topic, even within political circles. The SKP campaigns for Finland to ratify Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization, bringing the question of the self-determination of indigenous peoples to the forefront of the political agenda. In the Nordic region, only Norway ratified it in 1990. The Finnish Left Alliance regularly advocates for a review of the rights granted to the Sami, but primarily emphasizes "reconciliation." Social media has helped to highlight the struggles waged by the Sami, particularly in Norway and Finland. A segment of young people is discovering the oppression these communities still endure today and is becoming aware of a persistent state neocolonialism.
The traditional activities of the Sami were once fishing and reindeer herding, but today only a minority of the 85,000 Sami still make a living from them.
Harvey Barrison
While libertarian ideas are a recent introduction in Finland and more broadly in the Nordic region, some Sami representatives, such as Áslat Holmberg, incorporate them into discussions about the future of Sápmi and the current causes of the marginalization of its indigenous people. To quote Holmberg, "The state is currently the main enemy of Sami communities. Not parliament, ministers, or other institutions, no, the very idea of the state. The nation-state tries to act continually in the interest of the people, but this means constant growth. It also means the appropriation of natural resources. If the state doesn't help us, do we really need it?"[13]Holmberg continues this article by emphasizing the cultural and material dispossession to which the Sami have been subjected since the beginning of the colonization of their territories. Áilu will draw a parallel between the material and cultural dispossession of the Sami (as well as their acculturation) and the fate suffered-and which continues to be suffered-by other Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, particularly the Inuit. While victories are to be celebrated, the road to self-determination is still long in Sápmi. Everywhere, always, solidarity with oppressed peoples! Cájet Sámi Vuoinna!
Rudy (UCL Caen)
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[1]Formerly called "Lapps," this term is now considered particularly pejorative. The preferred name is "Sami" or "Same," a French adaptation of their endonym, "Sámi."
[2]As with their name, their territory was renamed "Lapland," a pejorative term still used today in many languages.
[3]This was not always the case. Nomadism seems to have begun in the early 15th century, during the first Scandinavian colonial incursions.
[4]A siida is an area in which a group of herding families graze reindeer. Siidas are delimited by natural features (hills, rivers, etc.). Originally, a siida was a shared hunting ground.
[5]See Amanda Kernell's film Sameblod (2016) on this subject, as well as on forced assimilation.
[6]The skulls were not returned to the families until 1997.
[7]Despite Finland and Norway's membership in the Schengen Area, reindeer herding between the two countries remains prohibited today by this 1852 law. A similar law was passed in 1889 between Sweden and Finland.
[8]"Are we facing life or death? Some truths about the situation in Sápmi"
[9]"Brurskanken Sami Women's Association."
[10]Sami groups from Russia joined the organization in 1992.
[11]Other meanings have been attributed to this acronym, all related to the defense of Indigenous rights.
[12]A visit in extremely poor taste, as the minister arrived wearing traditional Sami clothing, an act perceived as insulting and degrading by Indigenous representatives.
[13]Tuija Sorjanen, "Saamelaisaktivisti Aslak Holmbergin ihanneyhteiskunnassa saamelaiset siidat päättäisivät asioistaan itse eivätkä maksaisi veroja", Lapin Kansa, January 13, 2018.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Peuple-same-Histoire-et-luttes-du-dernier-peuple-autochtone-d-Europe
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Link: (en) France, UCL AL #369 - History - Sami People: History and Struggles of Europe's Last Indigenous People (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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