In 2009, Girja’s Sámi village, with the support of the Swedish Sámi Confederation, sued the state. It was about who should have concession rights for small game hunting and fishing in the Sami village’s areas.
The state claimed that it is they, in the form of landowners, who have the right to decide on hunting and fishing, while the Sami village only has the right to hunt and fish.
Girjas, for his part, claimed that the Sami village has a better right than the state to hunting and fishing, and that they should therefore alone have the right to lease it. It is a right that they believe accrues through the claim of ancient times, a legal right based on the fact that the land has been farmed for a long time.
After an eleven-year process, Girja’s Sámi village finally won against the state in the Supreme Court.