ILO Convention No. 169 and the governance of indigenous identity in Finland: recent developments

ABSTRACT

The Sami are often described as the only indigenous people of the European Union. They inhabit an area now known as, and claimed by, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola peninsula of Russia. Recent research recognises that the Sami in Sweden-Finland had a right to their lands and waters, comparable to ownership. Previously, others referred to the Sami as Lapps. In 1673 and 1695, King Carl XI approved the Settlement Bill of Lapland, which allowed non-Lapps to cross the border of Lapland to settle. This may be considered to be the beginning of colonisation, assimilation and integration. As is the case with other indigenous peoples around the globe, the Sami have been struggling for the recognition of their rights since colonisation. Discussion on indigenous Sami rights to land and waters have been going on for a long time in Finland, which is the focus of this article. Different stakeholders as well as international, national and local politics are involved when issues concerning indigenous Sami rights to use Northern lands for their traditional activities are discussed. In this context, the possible ratification of the ILO Convention 169 has been an important issue. Many of the challenges related to the ILO Convention No. 169 reflect the issues related to the subjects of the Convention or the right holders of the land rights. Currently, the question of ‘who is a Sami’ seems to be the most controversial issue.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous peoples
• Sami identity
• human rights
• ILO Convention No. 169

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Tanja Joona is working as a senior researcher at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland, Finland. Joona's research interests focus mainly on the Arctic region, with comparative legal and political aspects of indigenous Sámi society, and especially issues dealing with traditional livelihoods, international human rights law and identity questions in the context of justice and equality.

Notes

1 Joona Tanja and Joona Juha, The Historical Basis of Saami Land Rights in Finland and the Application of the ILO Convention No. 169 (Yearbook of Polar Law: Brill, Volume 3, 2011); Korpijaakko-Labba Kaisa, Saamelaisten oikeusasemasta Ruotsi-Suomessa : oikeushistoriallinen tutkimus Länsi-Pohjan Lapin maankäyttöoloista ja –oikeuksista ennen 1700-luvun puoliväliä. (Lapin korkeakoulun oikeustieteellisiä julkaisuja nr 3, Helsingfors 1989); Joona Juha, Ikimuistoinen oikeus – tutkimus Lapin alkuperäisistä maa- ja vesioikeuksista. (Erweko Oy, Juridica Lapponica 46, Oulu 2019).

2 Indigenous peoples of Northern Fennoscandia were previously called Lapps. Lapp is an old exonym. Historically, it is closely associated with the term Lapland (Lapponia in Latin), used for the area.

3 PeVM 13/2014 vp – HE 264/2014 vp. PERUSTUSLAKIVALIOKUNNAN MIETINTÖ 13/2014 vp.

Hallituksen esitys eduskunnalle itsenäisten maiden alkuperäis- ja heimokansoja koskevan yleissopimuksen hyväksymisestä sekä laeiksi yleissopimuksen lainsäädännön alaan kuuluvien määräysten voimaansaattamisesta ja Metsähallituksesta annetun lain muuttamisesta.

4 Government Bill (HE) 167/2014 vp. Hallituksen esitys eduskunnalle laeiksi saamelaiskäräjistä annetun lain ja rikoslain 40 luvun ja 11§:n muuttamisesta.

5 Draft Government Bill 18.6.2018, Hallituksen esitys eduskunnalle laeiksi saamelaiskäräjistä annetun lain ja rikoslain 40 luvun 11 §:n muuttamisesta, LUONNOS (Draft).

6 Laki Saamelaiskäräjistä (The Sàmi Act), 17.7.1995/974.

7 Veli-Pekka Lehtola, Sámi Professor: ‘In Finland the total number of Sami is well known, since all the Sami are marked into the electoral roll’, Interview in Lapin Kansa (local newspaper) 21.1.2016.

8 Sami Parliament Plan of Action and Finance 2016–2019.

9 One has to bear in mind that you are considered a reindeer herder even if you own just one reindeer, so in reality the figure is even lower for those get their main income from reindeer herding.

10 Statistics Finland 2019, ‘Hyvää saamelaisten kansallispäivää’. http://www.stat.fi/tietotrendit/blogit/2019/hyvaa-saamelaisten-kansallispaivaa.

11 Paul Pedersenl and Torill Nyseth, ‘Urban Sámi Identities in Scandinavia: Hybridities, Ambivalences and Cultural Innovation’, Acta Borealia 31, no. 2 (2014): 131–51.

12 See more Poverty and Exclusion among Urban Children, Innocenti Digest (2003, March 14).

13 See for example: How do minorities differ from indigenous peoples? ‘Indigenous peoples are distinct ethnic communities who are the first inhabitants of a geographical region, and whose identities and cultures are inextricably linked to the land on which they live and the natural resources on which they depend.’ https://www.minorityrightscourse.org/mod/page/view.php?id=1591.

14 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Rights in Practice: A guide to ILO Convention No. 169. Programme to Promote ILO Convention No. 169 (PRO 169) (International Labour Standards Department, 2009).

15 Ibid.

16 ILO, Committee of Experts. Direct Request (CEACR) – adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006).

17 Ibid.

18 Sarivaara Erika, ‘Statuksettomat saamelaiset Paikantumisia saamelaisuuden rajoilla’ (Non-Status Sámi Locations within Sámi Borderlands) (PhD diss., Sámi Allaskuvla, DIEDUT 2/2012)

19 Act on Sámi Parliament, 17.7.1995/974.

20 Joona Tanja, ‘The Finnish Sámi Definition and Its Application’, in Indigenous Rights in Scandinavia, Autonomous Sami Law, ed. Christina Alard and Susann Skogvang (Juris Diversitas, Ashgate, 2015).

21 Finnish Constitution 11.6.1999/731.

22 Nickul Erkki, ‘Suomen saamelaiset vuonna 1962. Selostus Pohjoismaiden saamelaisneuvoston suorittamasta väestötutkimuksesta’ (Masters Thesis, Helsinki, 1968).

23 Ibid.

24 Act on Sami Delegation 1973 s 1 para 2.

25 The legal praxis from 2007 shows a decision for demand for rectification to the electoral board of the Finnish Sami Parliament. A person was asking for his right to be marked into the roll as his sister and brother had been. The electoral board declined his demand for rectification, because his approval ‘would be involuntary assimilation of indigenous peoples to the main population.’ Electoral board of the Sami Parliament of Finland. An excerpt of the minutes 17 April 2007.

26 (UNDRIP), 61st session, 13.9.20017.

27 Ministry of Justice, Reports and Statements 55/2013, 30.10.2013.

28 NRK Sapmi, 12.3.2015. Forsker: – Samene frykter at altfor mange blir med i samemanntallet. Translation: Researcher: – The Sami fear that too many can be enlisted in the Finnish Sami election roll. http://www.nrk.no/sapmi/1.12255983.

29 An interview of Anu Avaskari, an Inari-Sami and member of the Sami Parliament, who expresses her view on discrimination by the Sami themselves. Inarinsaamelainen: Pahinta on kun oma kansa syrjii. Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE). http://yle.fi/uutiset/inarinsaamelainen_pahinta_on_kun_oma_kansa_syrjii/6586220

30 Government Bill (HE) 167/2014 vp.

31 Different estimations can be found. For example, see at http://www.thefreelibrary.com; http://nordicway.com; www.samediggi.no; www.samediggi.se; www.samediggi.fi

32 Statistik sameröstlängden, http://www.sametinget.se/6434.

33 See more, for example, Torunn Pettersen and Margitt Brustad, ‘Same Sámi? A comparison of self-reported Sámi ethnicity measures in 1970 and 2003 in selected rural areas in northern Norway’, Ethnic and Racial Studies 38, no. 12 (2015): 2071–89.

34 Klemetti, Näkkäläjärvi, Chair of the Sámi Parliament: Saamelaismääritelmä on nyt saamelaisyhteisön odotusten mukainen. Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) (30 October 2013). http://yle.fi/uutiset/nakkalajarvi_saamelaismaaritelma_on_nyt_saamelaisyhteison_ odotusten_mukainen/690878

35 An interview by Tapani Leisti at the Finnish Broadcasting Company 8.10.2011 (YLE http://yle.fi/uutiset/khon_ uusi_tulkinta_saamelaisuudesta_kuohuttaa/5436701; Helsingin Sanomat ‘Minä olen saamelainen – ja minä myös’ (http://www.hs.fi/paivanlehti/sunnuntai/Min%C3%A4+olen+saamelainen++ja+min%C3%A4+my%C3%B6s/a1341032243214 1.7.2012).

36 Members of the Finnish Sami Parliament, Mr Pentti Valle, Mrs Anu Avaskari and Mr Antti Sujala, have publicly expressed their dissenting opinion to the majority decisions of the Finnish Sami Parliament concerning the preparation of the new Sami Act of Finland, and especially the Sami definition. YLE Saame 27.6.2014. Saamelaiskäräjät hyväksyi saamelaiskäräjälain ja saamelaismääritelmän kompromissiratkaisun. http://yle.fi/ uutiset/saamelaiskarajat_hyvaksyi_saamelaiskarajalain_ja_saamelaismaaritelman_kompromissiratkaisun/7325294.

37 An excerpt of the minutes 17 April 2007 Dno 113/D.m.3.1.; see also ‘Saminess belongs to me’, Luoteis-Lappi 28.8.2014. The legal praxis from 2007 shows a decision for the demand for rectification to the electoral board of the Finnish Sami Parliament. A person was asking for his right to be marked into the roll as his sister and brother had been. The electoral board declined his demand for rectification, because his approval ‘would be involuntary assimilation of indigenous peoples to the main population’.

38 Arto Enojärvi, Sami only in neighbouring country, Norway, Luoteis-Lappi 28.8.2014.

39 Sarivaara Erika, News now Finland, Frozen: Sámi Parliament Vote Exposes Deep Divisions on Identity and Rights 27.9.2018. https://newsnowfinland.fi/politics/frozen-sami-parliament-vote-exposes-deep-divisions-on-identity-and-rights.

40 Statement for the Electoral board of the Sami Parliament 22 December 2011 by Heikki J. Hyvärinen.

41 Sami Parliament minutes 31.5.2011.

42 Sarivaara Erika, News Now Finland, Frozen: Sámi Parliament vote exposes deep divisions on identity and rights 27.9.2018. https://newsnowfinland.fi/politics/frozen-sami-parliament-vote-exposes-deep-divisions-on-identity-and-rights.

43 Sarivaara, Erika, Statuksettomat saamelaiset Paikantumisia saamelaisuuden rajoilla (Non-Status Sámi Locations within Sámi Borderlands) (Phd diss., Sámi Allaskuvla, DIEDUT 2/2012).

44 See legal practice from the Human Rights Committee: Ivan Kitok v. Sweden, Communication No. 197/1985, CCPR/C/33/D/197/1985 (1988); Sandra Lovelace v. Canada, Communication No. R.6/24, U.N. Doc. Supp. No. 40 (A/36/40) at 166 (1981).

45 At the moment 23 ratifications, mainly in South and Latin America. From the Nordic countries, Denmark and Norway have ratified the Convention.

46 Bengtson Bertil, ‘Reforming Swedish Sami Legislation: A Survey of the Arguments’, in Indigenous Rights in Scandinavia, Autonomous Sámi Law, ed. Christina Allard and Susann Skogvang (Ashgate Publishing, 2015).

47 YLE Sapmi 8.12.2014 Ratifiointiehdotuksen selitysosa epäilyttää kansanedustajia. http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/sapmi/ilo_169_ratifiointiehdotuksen_selitysosa_epailyttaa_kansanedustajia/7674739. 8.12.2014.

48 Saamelaiskäräjien toimintasuunnitelma. Saamelaiskäräjien vuoden 2019 toimintasuunnitelma on kunnianhimoinen. At https://www.samediggi.fi/category/uutiset/.2019.

49 Juuso Anni-Kristiina, ‘Truth and Reconciliation Process Concerning Sami Issues Report on Hearings’. Prime Minister’s Office 12.7.2018, http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-287-684-3.

50 Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3–14 June 1992.

51 Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi et al. represented by the Saami Arvuut Organization, Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2950/2017, Distr.: General* 1 February 2019; Tiina Sanila-Aikio (represented by counsel, Mr. Martin Scheinin) Views adopted by the Committee under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2668/2015, Distr.: General* 1 February 2019.

52 Supreme Administrative Court, KHO – saamelaiskäräjien vaalilautakunnan vaaliluettelosta poistamat henkilöt on palautettava luetteloon (Those removed from the electorall roll have to be returned into the roll) 1.8.2019, https://www.kho.fi/fi/index/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/2019/08/kho-saamelaiskarajienvaalilautakunnanvaaliluettelostapoistamathenkilotonpalautettavaluetteloon_0.html.