Reindeer Blog

(Press release from the Saami Council) The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination criticizes Sweden for numerous forms of discrimination of the Saami people in unusually concrete and strong language, in particular with regard to the Saami people’s right to land. The United Nations has for several years condemned Sweden for not [...]

(Pic. Helsingin Sanomat) Three Sami reindeer herders from Nellim, in Northern FInland have just lost their case against the Finnish state forestry giant Metsahallitus in the Lapland District Court. The reindeer herders argued that the logging practices of Metsahallitus was destroying reindeer pastures – ground lichen and hanging tree lichen and were not only threatening [...]

Most office workers would not appreciate the ashes of somebody’s recently passed away family member or loved one being spread around their workspace. Sami reindeer herders in Sweden have decided to draw attention to the fact that it is becoming an increasingly common occurence in the mountains that they call their workplace, according to a [...]

(Map showing extent of one claim in Kvalsund – Wega Mining) At a public meeting in Kvalsund, northern Norway, a full frontal attack on reindeer husbandry was launched by one of the parliamentary representatives for Finnmark, Olav Gunnar Ballo. The meeting had been called to discuss the issue of mining in the region where the international mining company [...]

Sami reindeer herder Olav Mathis Eira was in London recently to make a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister. “Climate change is threatening our economy as reindeer herders. Because this is part of our traditional way of life, if the economy goes, probably the entire Sami culture would go with it.” The story was [...]

(Article from The Local 03052008)The Sweden Democrats have called for an end to privileges enjoyed by Sami reindeer herders at their annual party congress which began in Karlstad on Friday. The far-right Sweden Democrats gathered in the western Swedish town of Karlstad on Friday for their annual party congress. They were met by a large [...]

The Local, Sweden Two Sami reindeer herders were narrowly missed by a falling space rocket launched from the Esrange space station in northern Sweden in the beginning of April. Saarivuoma Sami village has demanded that safety be improved.”It was lucky that the rocket did not fall on our heads. Otherwise we wouldn’t be sitting here,” said [...]

(From CBC North, 03042008) This historical photo from an Iqaluit museum shows Saami with a reindeer on Baffin Island in the 1920s. (Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum)   A Saami woman from northern Norway has followed the travels of her ancestors to Nunavut, looking for what happened to hundreds of reindeer that were relocated from Norway to [...]

(from Aftenposten) Reindeer herding in northern Norway is under constant threat from development that’s encroaching on grazing areas. Now state officials say they’ll heed warnings that reindeer operations will die out within 50 years. “It’s a clear goal of this government to maintain today’s level of reindeer herding,” Ola T Heggem, state secretary in the [...]

(From Helsingin Sanomat, March 2, 2008) ”…It is not immediately apparent that Nellim is a place where the three most enduring disputes of northernmost Finnish Lapland converge: the conflict over the use of forests, disagreements over land ownership and the rights of the Sami people, and the dispute over reindeer husbandry. All of these are interlinked.  [...]