In May 2022, Talma Sami village sued the state as they want the exclusive right to allow hunting and fishing within their area. Earlier this year, the state submitted an opinion in the case, where they point to competing land uses.
According to a report commissioned by the state, both Sami and Finnish groups would have used the lands throughout history. It could be a problem for the Sami village as they refer to the claim of ancient times.
But the state’s report is wrong, according to the Sami village, which has taken the initiative to conduct its own study of the lands.
– We cannot see that there has been any significant competing land use before 1750, says Gudrun Norstedt, PhD in forest history.
“A detailed study”
In the investigation initiated by the Sámi village, Norstedt, together with Lars Östlund, professor of forest history, was hired to investigate the extent to which stakeholders other than the Sámi carried out competitive land use within the current area of the Sámi village above the cultivation limit before 1750.
– We have done a detailed study on land use in a way that no one else has done before, so that may explain why we arrived at more detailed geographical information, says Norstedt.
State report
Talma has, as SVT Sápmi reported earlier, long held that the report submitted by the state in the case, drawn up by four researchers at Luleå University of Technology, contains flaws. Their position is that the researchers’ geographical and temporal delimitation does not correspond to what is relevant in the case.
– It is important to keep in mind that the goal only applies to land that is under the disposal of the state and is managed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Property Agency, i.e. not private land and not common land.
Norstedt believes that, with the help of Luleå University’s references, they cannot see that competing land use has occurred within the areas to which the suit applies.
– In Luleå University’s report, they have chosen not to distinguish between the different areas, but only talk about the whole, such as the Talma Sami village area.
Norstedt hopes that more people will want to take part in the study.
– If you are from Lantalainen, you can get a lot out of this report as well. It contains a more detailed description of the villages’ land use than previously published so there is a lot of home building history.