Research and Activism in Sámi Politics: The Ideas and Achievements of Karl Nickul towards Securing Governance for the Sámi

Abstract

Pacifist, land surveyor, friend of the Sámi people, scholar studying Sámi culture, Karl Nickul's (1900–1980) life work proves that the work of a public servant and researcher can be merged into a strong ethical stand to influence society. Nickul, an early initiator of Finland's peace movement, was by training and profession a land surveyor, who worked for the Finnish government making maps of Lapland and Petsamo in northern Finland in the 1920s and 1930s. Becoming acquainted with the Skolt Sámi, he began to study them and to take part in the official discussions about their status. With a project to preserve Skolt culture Nickul's paramount idea of Sámi governance began to grow. He actively pursued this idea after World War II through his activities in Sámi politics in Finland and in Sámi cooperative efforts in the Nordic countries. The dominant idea was that the Sámi culture was to be protected from outside pressures of settlement, and that the Sámi themselves should be allowed to determine their own identity and their own needs. The paper discusses and analyses Karl Nickul's personal development and involvement in various projects and activities to secure Sámi rights.

Keywords:

• Skolt Sámi
• Karl Nickul
• Sámi culture and politics
• Finland

The original Finnish version of this article was translated by Linna Weber Müller-Wille (Myriad Pursuits, St-Lambert, Québec, Canada) and edited by Ludger Müller-Wille (McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada).

Notes

1. Data in this article and on Nickul's views are based in large part on Nickul's personal papers that are housed in the National Archive in Helsinki. References to the archive (KNA) are only made in exceptional cases. For more detail on Nickul's biography cf. Lehtola, 2000a 2004.

2. See for instance the debate on K. M. Wallenius’ (1933) racist book concerning Skolt Sámi (Nickul, 1934a).

3. Public letter by Edvard Westermarck to the Society for the Promotion of Lapp Culture, 15 April 1937. KNA.

4. In the evaluation of Nickul's proposal reference was made to an example from the USA: there opponents to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 also referred to the point that Indians did not know how to look after their own affairs and that life on reservations turned Indians into communists (Henriksson, 1986, p. 183).

5. See Nickul's introduction at the meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Lapp Culture, 17 November 1953. LSS; Ruong, 1987), p. 137.

6. See Nickul's introduction at the meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Lapp Culture, 17 November 1953. LSS. Ruong (1987), p. 137) mentions that 27 presentations were given, which is also the number of presentations published in the book Sámiid dilit (Nickul, 1957). However, it does not include the presentation by John Nutti that Nickul mentions. One can assume that Nickul as the editor of the book knew the number of presentations and the ones that were left out.

7. See Nickul's presentation at the Geographical Society of Finland, 19 September 1958.

8. Karl Nickul to Governor Martti Miettunen. Letter draft, 12 December 1959. KNA.

9. Interview with Oula Näkkäläjärvi, Anár, 12 January 2000.