Borders, citizenship and change: the case of the Sami people, 1751–2008

Abstract

The Sami, an indigenous people in north-western Europe, today faces the challenge of having their territory, Sápmi, partitioned among four nation states; Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Whereas borders and citizenship are generally used to defend cultures, interests and territories, separating those who belong from those who do not, this perspective does not include how a non-dominant indigenous people such as the Sami is affected by the partitioning of their territory. Initially, when the first borders were established, the states showed respect and consideration for the Sami and their rights, but during the following centuries, more and more restrictions were being placed on the trans-border movement of the Sami people. In this process, the Sami also had to become citizens in one of the states, and even though the process of changing citizenship remained relatively uncomplicated up until the early twentieth century, the partitioning of the Sami into separate national arenas caused divisions within the people. This article focuses on how the establishment of state borders partitioning Sápmi and the enforced citizenship in the states affected the Sami, and how they acted in response to this development.

Keywords:

• Sami people
• citizenship
• political borders

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Patricia K. Wood for planting the idea for the article, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Notes

1. Up until the 1960s, the Sami were officially referred to as Lapps, an originally Finnish term that they themselves perceived as derogatory.