In May, Ran, Sirges, Unna Tjerusj and Baste Sami villages announced that they are suing the state. Before that, Talma Samiby gave the same message. And at least the southern Sami village of Vilhelmina is in line after applying for money from the Sami Fund for a legal process.
Renmarkskommittee: “Better law than the state”
But this may be just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Renmarkskommittee’s analysis, all ten forest Sami villages in Sweden also have the rights to hunting and fishing that the lawsuits are about. The land in question is today owned by Sveaskog.
– It is likely that the Sami villages that are on those lands could also assert a claim of ancient memory, i.e. a better right to hunting and fishing than the state and Sveaskog have, says Eric M Runesson, the committee’s chairman, to SR Sameradion.
Samebyn: “Would be exciting”
The government did not want to proceed with the investigation, but has said that the clearing land committee should be shut down. Instead, a new committee must be appointed with new directives. The government refers to the fact that the investigation’s conclusions have received a lot of criticism. Runesson’s interpretation of the announcement was that the government simply had difficulty accepting the fact that the Sami villages’ rights are so strong according to the law.
– It has proven to be politically difficult to accept this, he told SVT Sápmi in connection with the announcement from the government.
More lawsuits by the state may be relevant. Martin Lundgren, in the forest Sami village of Östra Kikkejaure, states in an interview with SR Sameradion that this sounds like an opportunity.
– Of course it would be exciting. I can imagine that there are those who are prepared to do it, he says.