The Reindeer Grazing Act (later the Reindeer Husbandry Act) already in 1886 divided the Sami population into reindeer-herding Sami and non-reindeer-herding Sami. Where several rights, including hunting and fishing, accrued to the reindeer-herding Sami in the Sami villages.
The issue is highly topical as the Sámi Parliament must now submit its proposal to the plains committee. For the chairman of the board of the Sámi Parliament, Håkan Jonsson, it is a matter of the heart that all Sámi should have the same rights and that all Sámi should be allowed to belong to Sámi villages, regardless of whether they own reindeer or not. Which becomes clear in the board’s proposal to the Renmark Committee – which wants to open up the Sami villages to more members.
– The Sámi who are today outside the Sámi villages have no opportunity to maintain their tradition and culture, this means that a large part of the Sámi people lose their culture due to Swedish legislation, he says in 15 minutes from Sápmi.
“We see big problems”
But a large majority of Sami villagers are against the proposal. The pastures are decreasing due to mining, hydropower and wind power. The reindeer herders are a minority both within Sápmi and in all other contexts. There is a strong concern about what will happen if the Sami villages are opened up to more people.
– The board has not communicated enough with the Sámi, especially with the reindeer industry about this issue. Then the proposals will be bad and not realistic. We see major problems with the proposal, says Lars Miguel Utsi, chairman of Guovssonásti.
He continues:
– The proposal has no barriers. It says nothing about how the reindeer husbandry should be protected and taken care of. The rights that current members have must be shared freely with new members, and that goes against Sweden’s constitution in terms of property protection.
Håkan Jonsson understands that there is concern that reindeer herding Sami people end up in the minority in the Sami village.
– You are always afraid of change, but this fear you have is not justified.
Then a solution must be reached
How then to arrive at a solution? Dialogue is the key word, says Jonsson.
– The most important thing is to talk to each other and we try to have a dialogue, but I don’t think we will ever fully agree.
But Utsi believes that the dialogue was too poor.
– The board has not contacted us. I have not heard that the party or the Sami villages received any requests after the last plenum, he says.
See this week’s 15 minutes from Sápmi on Saturday at 16:40 in SVT2. Or on SVT Play.