Facts: Meetings for Sami people around the country
The next dialogue meeting with the Truth Commission for the Sami people is in Gothenburg on September 20. There, Sámi can ask questions about the commission’s work and express an interest in giving evidence. Afterwards, meetings are held in Norrbotten (Arjeplog, Jokkmokk and Gällivare), in Västerbotten (Saxnäs) and in Dalarna (Idre).
During 2024, meetings will be held in Lycksele and Dorotea, Västerbotten. Exact dates are updated on the website.
Testimonies can be given in one’s native language, and over the phone or video call. Notification must be made by February 15 at the latest. Written stories can be submitted until April 15, 2024.
So far, around 130 testimonies have been submitted.
Those who give testimonies are offered support talks with a counselor on three occasions afterwards, as the testimonies can arouse repressed feelings.
Source: The Truth Commission for the Sami People
This summer, testimonies began to be collected by the Truth Commission for the Sami people. It is a government investigation that will get to the bottom of the Swedish policy that has made it difficult for the Sami for several centuries and that still has effects today.
— We are extremely worried. The green transition is a false transition, says Helena Partapuoli, reindeer herder in the Sami village of Laevas in Norrbotten.
– It is sad that even the green transition, which would be something positive, is instead a threat to the future, says Helena Partapuoli.
As far back as the time of Gustav Vasa, it appears that the “Lapplands” were owned by the Sami, and the oldest document that is believed to describe the Sami is from the year 98 AD.
How it happened when the state and others seized the area is unclear, and something that the truth commission will investigate.
Reindeer pastures are decreasing
Today, the Sami villages have the right to let their reindeer graze in the mountains and forests, but the areas are constantly being nibbled at the edges. Despite criticism from the United Nations, the state permits mining and modern forestry has caused 70 percent of the lichen lands to disappear in the last 60 years, and continues to decline.
Without lichen pasture and large lands, it is no longer possible to conduct reindeer husbandry in the traditional Sami way, that is, by following the reindeer wherever they go to look for pasture at different times of the year. If traditional reindeer herding were to disappear, it would affect the entire Sami people, even those who are not reindeer herders, believes Helena Partapuoli.
— Then the Sami culture will only remain as a fragment. Reindeer herding is an important part of Sami society, and affects language, health and the other industries. Everything is connected.
In 2021, the Church of Sweden made an official apology for historical abuse. Now these are being reviewed again in a state truth commission together with other violations committed by the state and other actors.
That image is shared by Marie B Hagsgård, expert on the indigenous Sami people and member of the commission. Among the testimonies she has collected, the land issue is highlighted as the biggest problem.
“The traditional Sami reindeer herding means that the Sami retain the traditional knowledge of animals and nature – how to use nature without consuming it,” she says.
Misunderstanding
Worldviews clash all the time when the Sami discuss the land issue with people from the majority community, Helena Partapuoli emphasizes.
— They think we are only defending our ownership. But it’s not like that at all. These are our grandchildren’s lands and the lands of the reindeer. We must manage the world so that the people who come after us have something to live on.
Helena Partapuoli highlights the environmental problems that many mines cause with the release of toxic metals and dust. Instead of quick solutions to the climate crisis, she sees society slowing down and consumption decreasing.
Endangered languages
The language is another issue that is raised by many Sámi before the truth commission. Sweden is significantly worse at providing mother tongue education to its minorities than many other countries in Europe, according to Marie B Hagsgård.
Marie B Hagsgård is a lawyer and expert on the rights of national minorities. She has worked with the indigenous Sami people for 25 years.
— It also threatens Sami culture. Their language reflects the view of life with animals, nature and man in a holistic approach.
Dark history
Several Sami languages are at risk of extinction. It has historical reasons. In the past, the majority of Sami were forbidden to speak their mother tongue in school. Many began to be ashamed of their origins, changed to Swedish names, stopped speaking Sami and ended up in a state of identitylessness.
Other things that the state has caused are racial biological investigations with skull measurements and nude photographs. Relatives’ graves were exhumed and skulls ranked by “stage of development” compared to other peoples.
The state also forcibly relocated Sami people from the lands they had held for as long as anyone can remember. Families and friends were torn apart. Other Sámi were forced to move to make room for the forcibly displaced.
“The trauma from this lives on,” says Marie B Hagsgård.