Transcript The Sámi People: Today`s Issues

The Sámi People: Today’s Issues
Land and water rights
• ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous
and Tribal Peoples in Independent States,
which Norway (the only Nordic country to
do so) ratified in 1990, guarantees land &
water rights.
• 96% of Finnmark (Northern Norway) is
now state-owned and now the Sámi are
asking for the rights to this land.
Will they get their rights?
• But public opinion on
this issue is running
over 80% against the
Sámi, as we see in
this poll: “Should the
Sámi get the right to
the land and water
through the new
Finnmark law?”
Visibility in local press
Invitation to join Sámi electorate
• Mailed to all
Norwegians 3/2005
• Criteria: A) Speak
Sámi, or B) Have
parents/grandparents/
great-grandparents
who speak Sámi, or
C) Be the child of
someone in the
electorate
Status of Sámi electorate in
Norway
• Currently 11,000 registered voters
• Estimated 80,000 to 90,000 potential
voters
• Registered voters can vote in Sámi
parliamentary elections
The Sámi and the EU
• Some Sámi are for joining the EU because they
hope for better protections for minorities, but
many share Norwegian fears about losing
fisheries
Iver Jåks
“Silently The
Thought Turns”
• in wood, reindeer
antlers and reindeer
leather
• natural weathering
and decay
But what happens when…?
• A culture that is accustomed to using
natural materials is introduced to
technological artifacts?
– Traditional Sámi artifacts were simply
discarded in nature when they could no longer
be used
– One can’t do the same thing with
snowmobiles
– No cultural context for dealing with modern
trash
Challenges to Sámi
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Environmental degradation
Climate change
Lack of traditional employment
Health/mental health issues
Endangerment of language
Struggle for identity
Environmental degradation
• 1986 Chernobyl
– 30,000 contaminated reindeer slaughtered,
grazing areas still contaminated
– similar future disasters are a great concern
– Arctic environment is very vulnerable and
slow to recover
• Mining, oil & gas exploration, represent
similar threats
• Building of roads, cottages, etc.
Climate change
• Very minor climate change will disrupt
fishing and reindeer environments and
destroy those traditional undertakings
• Climate change on this magnitude is
predicted to take place within a century,
and some changes are already apparent
Lack of traditional
employment
• Reindeer herding is popular, all boys want
to do it, but there is not enough for all of
them
• Men are less likely to finish school
because they want to pursue herding
• Women are more likely to work at paid
jobs
• High unemployment in Sámi areas
Health/mental health issues
• Unemployment and stigmatization
contribute to mental health problems
• Suicide rate is high
• Teenage pregnancy rate is high
• Special social services are available for
Sámi at UiTromsø
Endangerment of language
• Not all North Sámi agree about this, but some
think that the Sámi themselves are too
complacent
• Too much exposure to Norwegian: TV plays a
major role
– Even in Sámi-speaking areas, where there are Sámi
schools, virtually all of TV (and thus everything “cool”)
is in Norwegian
• Teenage mothers are immature and do not care
enough about language preservation
• Lack of well-trained teachers with native
command of Sámi and lots of turnover
Struggle for identity
• Even siblings within a family will differ in
identifying themselves as Sámi or
Norwegian
• Sámi who move out of traditional Sámi
areas are often stigmatized
• Sometimes people who grew up as
Norwegian realize later that they are Sámi