The Sámi: 25 Years of Indigenous Authority in Norway

Abstract

This article explores the case of the Sámi in the Nordic countries, with a specific focus on the most extensive Sámi political system, that found in Norway. The Norwegian Sámi parliament is an indigenous parliament in a unitary and ‘state-friendly’ society. As will be seen, that is not an easy position to be in. While most of the Sámi are concentrated in the most northern part of Norway, the Sámi language has a general protection by law. The language has a particularly strong protection within the so-called management area of the Sámi language (which includes 10 out of 428 Norwegian municipalities). The territorial dimension and the strong emphasis upon the traditional Sámi settlement areas are at the core of the Sámi political project. Even so, the Sámi parliament covers the whole of Norway, and a Sámi can register to vote for the Sámi elections independently of where in Norway that person is living. The Sámi are thus an indigenous people, for whom the development of a new public space since the 1980s has as its core the question of ownership of land and water in the key Sámi areas, while the jurisdiction of the Sámi parliament extends not only over the traditional Sámi areas, but also over the whole territory of Norway. The article discusses how this non-territorial model came about and what it implies for the Sámi political project. What kind of boundaries or limits concerning Sámi self-determination and self-rule do we see after 25 years of a Sámi Parliament?

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank John Coakley for very helpful comments.

Notes

1. ‘The Sámi language’ is an oversimplification. In fact, there are four official Sámi languages in Norway, of which three are actively used. The different languages are to varying degrees under pressure. Altogether, there are 10 different Sámi languages in the 4 countries with a Sámi population (Todal, 2015).

2. ILO Convention No.169 is a legally binding international instrument, which deals specifically with the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. Today, it has been ratified by 20 countries. Norway was the first country to ratify the convention, in 1990.

3. Kveeni are immigrants from areas which currently are part of Finland or lie in the border zones between Sweden and Finland. They are defined by Norway as a national minority according to the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and Minority Language Charter.

4. In Norway and Sweden, reindeer husbandry may only be practised by Sámi, while in Finland there is no such rule. As a result of Protocol 3 in the Affiliation Agreement with the EU, Finland assumed responsibility for strengthening Sámi reindeer husbandry.

5. The watershed is also one of the main rivers for the North Atlantic wild salmon, which meant an alliance between the Sámi and conservationists who helped to provide extra support in the conflict.

6. Norges offentlige utredninger (Official Norwegian reports) (NOU) 1984:18 Om samenes rettsstilling.

7. NOU 1984:18 Om samenes rettsstilling, p. 18.

8. See Recommendation no. 79 (1986–1987) to the Odelsting (The Sámi Act) and Recommendation no. 147 (1987–1988) from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs concerning recommendations for a new Section 82 in the Constitution, alternatively an amendment of Section 98 or a new Section 110a (Sámi rights). In amendments to the Constitution carried out in 2014, the ‘Sámi paragraph’ was moved to Section 108 (Recommendation no. 187 (2013–2014) to the Storting).

9. Odelsting proposition no. 33 (1986–1987), pp. 55 and 68.

10. Sámi Act (1987), subsection 2–6, first paragraph.

11. Turnout in Sámi elections has declined in all three Scandinavian countries. It fell in Norway from 77.8% in 1989 to 66.9% in 2013, and in Sweden from 71.7% in 1993 to 54.4% in 2013. In Finland, the turnout was only 49.6% at the last election in 2011. These data suggest that Sámi parliaments in all three countries are struggling with legitimacy challenges—greatest in Finland and least in Norway (Berg-Nordlie, 2015; Josefsen, Søreng, & Selle, in press).

12. Sámediggi's working plan. Ground rules last revised on 31 December 2009, Section 1: ‘Sámediggi's highest body is the Sámediggi's plenary. The Sámediggi chooses from and among Sámediggi's representatives a Sámediggi Council and plenary leadership. The Sámediggi determines any other organisation in its business agenda.’

13. Planning and Building Act (2008), Subsections 5–4 and 8–4.

14. Odelsting proposition no. 43 (2008–2009) relating to the acquisition and extraction of mineral resources (the Mineral Act).

15. Odelsting proposition no. 72 (2004–2005), Annotation to Section 8; Kindergarten Act (2005), Sections 2, fourth paragraph and 8, third paragraph.

16. The Reindeer Herding Act (2007), Section 4, first paragraph states that: ‘The Sámi population has the right, based on immemorial usage, to practise reindeer husbandry within those parts of the counties of Finnmark, Troms, Nordland, North-Trøndelag, South-Trøndelag and Hedmark where Sámi reindeer herders of old have practised reindeer herding (the Sámi reindeer herding district).’ According to Section 9 of the Act, only persons of Sámi ancestry with the right to brand reindeer have the right to own reindeer, while according to Section 32 only persons of Sámi ancestry have the right to brand reindeer.

17. The basis of the established consultation procedures was prepared by an administrative working group with three members from the ministry of local government and regional development and two members from the Sámediggi who submitted a report with assessments and proposals for procedures in April 2005.

18. NOU 2007:13 Den nye sameretten. Utredning fra samerettsutvalget. See subsection 17.5.8.2.

19. Sámi Act (1989), Subsection 2–1, first paragraph, states that ‘The business of the Sámediggi is any matter that in the view of the parliament particularly affects the Sámi people’.

20. See Falch and Selle (2015), for a broader explanation and discussion of indigenous political rights according to international law.

21. Norway's voting statement says: ‘Norway considers that this declaration is to be understood within the framework of the UN Declaration on principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and cooperation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.' Sweden's voting statement is even more explicit: ‘The right to self-determination in Article 3 should not be construed as authorising or encouraging any action which dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States.'

22. The Sámediggi president Egil Olli (2007–2013) emphasised this in his lecture ‘Law and Justice—development of the Sámi community’ at the Norwegian Association of Lawyers conference on Security under the law on 9 December 2010.

23. Sámediggi President Sven-Roald Nystø (1997–2005) said this about the right to self-determination in the lecture ‘Sámediggi, democracy and governance’ held at the conference Politics: Aspects of Power and Democracy in Tromsø on 3–5 October 2002.

24. The challenge of defining a territory that is inclusive, homogeneous and compact (see Coakley, 2015) is particularly great in the case of the Norwegian Sámi.

25. Regional studies by Hooghe et al. (2010) have sought to measure self-governance and multi-level governance, providing a relevant basis for comparison among different periods and different political systems. The indicators used in the regionalisation studies can be adjusted to facilitate equivalent comparative studies of indigenous authority.

26. Report of the working group of the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion, the Ministry of Justice and the Sámediggi, delivered on 27 April 2007.

27. The Sámediggi's report on ILO Case 056/2013, and its report to ILO for the period from 1 June 2008 to 31 May 2013. See in particular subsection 4–11. See also Falch and Selle (2015) and Broderstad, Hernes, and Jenssen (2015) for a discussion of the extent to which the consultation scheme has worked as intended.

28. See Coakley's discussion in the introductory section (Coakley, 2015) about challenges related to the extent of being inclusive, homogeneous and compact.

29. Report to the Sámediggi on the Sámi language (2012). See also Åhrén (2008).