Sami Reindeer Herders Protest in Stockholm
Earlier this year, the conflict between Sami reindeer herders in Sweden and the Norwegian state boiled over several times, with harsh words and protests that were covered in the Norwegian and Swedish media, and the reindeerblog. A major protest is planned for this Friday, 23 November, that is designed to draw attention to the fact that the Norwegian state in 2005, chose to no longer renew the border conventions that had existed between Norway and Sweden over grazing rights, and as a result is in breach of the landmark international treaty, the Lapp Codicil, which was signed in 1751. The Chair of Saarivuoma Saami village Mr. Per-Anders Nutti stated,
This is totally unreal. We cannot live with a state that terrorizes and hunts us, in spite of the fact that we are on our own lands that we have lived on and cultivated for thousands of years – long before there was a Norwegian state…We have to draw attention to this matter. We cannot fight against a hostile state, on our own. This is why we are going to Stockholm now, to show our intentions and hand over protest letters to both the Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Norwegian Embassy.
The Saarivuoma Sameby have planned a protest in Stockholm for Friday, and it will feature speeches by Per Anders Nutti, Mayor of the Sameby, Sami politicians, reindeer herders and researchers, including Hugh Beach of Uppsala University.
Visit the Saarivuoma Website here
Download the press release and event programme (Swedish) here
Download the press release (English) here
Coverage in Dagbladet (Norway)
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Posted: November 21st, 2007 under Reindeer, Sapmi, Sweden.
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