“Supporting Reindeer Herding is a Waste of Money”
So said the daily leader in the national Swedish newspaper Expressen, which was translated into Norwegian and carried on the NRK Sami Radio network. The article argues that as only 200 of Sweden’s 20,000 Sami are reindeer herders. In comparing the Sami to the people of Gotland ‘who have lived there since the stone age’ and have had to accept the in migration of Swedes in modern times, the leader argues that giving subsidies to support reindeer husbandry is meaningless. Quoting figures from 2004, it stated that 108 herders earned 160,000 SEK (17,500 Euros), the leader stated that as herders were earning so little, they will only demand more from the state, which had allocated 71 Million SEK (7.6 M Euros) in 2007. The article concluded that although the Sami had been oppressed in the past, subsidising reindeer husbandry would not cure this injustice and that Sami cultural heritage would be better served by phasing reindeer herders out and letting the responsibility for Sami affairs pass to the Swedish Ministry of Culture.