The Sami villages Vilhelmina Norra and Vilhelmina Södra report Vilhelmina municipality to the Discrimination Ombudsman, DO. It is about the municipality’s advisory response to the Renmarkskommittee’s partial report, where there are both factual errors and racist wording, according to the Sami villages.
– The municipality has overstepped and does not stick to the truth, says Mathias Blind, chairman of Vilhelmina Södra Samiby.
Impeding development
The text describes reindeer husbandry as an obstacle to the development of wind and hydropower as well as to tourism. It is something that both Sami villages strongly distance themselves from.
– In the municipality there are two well-developed mountains with lift systems, and neither we nor Vilhelmina norra have said anything negative about making hydropower more efficient, says Blind.
Municipal council chairman Andreas Eliasson (S) does not want to comment on specific matters in the text, but awaits a response from DO.
– I welcome and look forward to what the discrimination ombudsman comes to. I don’t want to discuss individual excerpts until I know what the statement will be, but I have heard the criticism and fully understand.
Racist language
In a joint statement, the two Sámi villages write that “We believe that this is discriminatory and that politicians cannot express themselves with outdated and racist views regarding us Sámi and our livelihood, the reindeer herding”.
The Sami villagers also believe that the text is written from a clear “us and them” perspective, which contributes to polarization in the municipality.
– They write that the common man is afraid, but I wonder who the “common man” is? We also live in this municipality, says Mathias Blind.
Andreas Eliasson understands the criticism but emphasizes that the text is not written from a racist point of view.
– There are no intentions to be racist. There is no such underlying purpose, he says.