The Oppression of The Sami and the Broader Fight to Preserve an Ecocentric Identity Across the Globe

After the Industrial revolution in the 1800s, many countries worldwide participated in colonial empire-building to expand their own economic growth and sphere of influence at the expense of indigenous peoples. An anthropocentric ideology defined as centering humanity over nature and also prioritizing the exploitation of resources to benefit humankind fuels the capitalist apparatuses that drove colonialism throughout history; These apparatuses with anthropocentric roots continue to serve colonial gains today. These gains come in the form of revenue and economic benefit by oppressing the Sami People using the Nordic Model.

The Nordic Model a system used by Sweden, Finland, and Norway, may contain socialist values including merging with Nordic countries' welfare systems, but its economic apparatus is capitalist. This points away from the assumption that the Nordic countries are just “socialist” in every capacity. Furthermore, the idea that these countries utilize a capitalist economic model can be used as a launching point to understand the anthropocentric side of the crisis which opposes the Sami view. Their viewpoint is rooted in ecocentrism, which is ideologically opposed to anthropocentrism in that ecocentrists do not prioritize humans over nature; and believe in a positive mutual coexistence between humans and nature perpetuated by the intrinsic value of all nature. This ideological difference is embedded in the Sami identity, who as a people believe in the overarching importance of the environment while using agriculture and reindeer herding as a method of survival.

Background

The Sami people are an indigenous group native to the upper regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. They speak three distinctive finno-urgic languages that fall under the Uralic language family. In addition, their ethnic origin is obscure, and to provide clarity, Researchers have linked them to Paleo-Siberian peoples and even to individuals who derived from central Europe(Britannica). Despite unclear origins on an ethnic basis, Scientists do know that the Sami are descendants of Nomadic peoples who have inhabited Scandinavian lands for thousands of years. Nomadic traditions that have passed down many generations of Sami live on today in the form of reindeer herding and fishing as a core part of their culture(Britannica).

The central parts of the Sami culture that were previously mentioned, have historically been under threat from the Nordic countries imposing attempts to assimilate the Sami, as well as use their ancestral homeland, The Sampi, for economic expansion through mining and logging initiatives. These efforts impede the livelihood of the Sami living across all Nordic countries and the Kola Peninsula. Their land was being colonized from the 19th to the 20th Century and their identity and cultural practices were almost erased because of exploitative government efforts. Despite these colonial efforts, According to the North American Sami Cultural Center, From 1850-1935 the Sami arrived in migrations to the United States and were able to blend into an immigrant-dominated society and create a cultural sanctum that has evolved into a movement to reclaim Sami identity by reconnecting Sami living in America to their relatives in the Sampi.

New Colonial Initiatives Facing the Sami Today

Unfortunately, Back in their homeland, the Sami lands in 2015 were to be used for the Kallack Iron mine. A mine that was established by Beowulf Mining, a British-based mineral exploration company that looked to generate revenue by exploiting the resources of the land near the small northern Swedish town of Jokkmokk in Norrbotten County. The Swedish Subsidiary Beowulf Mines AB has applied for an exploitation concession for the Kallak north iron ore deposit. It is an area noted by the company to contain 118.5 million tons of resources yet to be exploited. The Mining Company has also announced a study that intends to justify the mining of the area with an exploitative permit if the mining is done for the public interest.(Forss, CulturalSurvival.org)

However, the Jokkmok municipal board concluded that the permit for exploitation is would violate sections 3, 4, and 6 of Sweden's environmental code because even the mitigated mining measures that the Swedish mining subsidiary did propose, the reindeer population within the area would be adversely affected as the mine would lay on a crucial spring and a railroad to support it would eliminate reindeer grazing patches. Jonas Vannar, A vice chairman and reindeer herder of Sirges Sameby, one of the reindeer herding communities affected by the mine states “the grazing pastures for the reindeer have already grown smaller… its hard to say when a point of no return is reached. But with this mine, I personally fear that it will affect my survival as a reindeer herder”(Forss, CulturalSurvival.org ). Vannar says this as he fears many reindeer herders' livelihoods who depend on the reindeer and reindeer migration are endangered by the mine. The herding Community of Jahkagasska Tjiellde will also be negatively affected as the mine railroad will cut off reindeer migration routes that are necessary for reindeer herding.

Furthermore, reindeer herding as an indigenous right is not truly protected by Swedish Law nor by future initiatives of the Swedish Government. For example, despite Sweden’s signing of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they have not signed the International Labour Organization Convention 169 which is a legally binding instrument designed to uphold and protect the rights of indigenous people. The Council of the Saami, a voluntary Sami organization met in 2013 at the Declarations of the Saami Conference, 2 years before the Kallak mine proposal, and stated in Section 5 “that calls for a moratorium on further resource extraction in the Sampi until states with Saami populations have acknowledged and demarcated the Sammi peoples traditional territory., and put a regulatory framework in place that includes satisfactory mineral strategies, mineral legislation, and other policies securing respect for Saami human rights”(The Sami Council). Sweden has not recognized this declaration UN human rights experts still urge the Swedish government not to license the establishment of open pit mines like Kallak, on rightful Sami lands. Sweden also released a proposal stating the government intends to increase its mineral extraction by allowing the number of mines to be raised from 16 to 47 by 2030(Forss, CulturalSurvival.org), an anthropocentric decision that could yield further serious implications for the survival of the Sami and reindeer herding populations.

How You Can Help:

The Sami face racial discrimination and exploitation in Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula constantly. Time after time through the Declaration of the Saami Conferences they have voiced their need to be treated with respect and dignity and to call upon the Nation States with Sami populations to protect their rights, yet time after time governments have failed to do so. Their identity is at risk of being engulfed by anthropocentric capitalist apparatuses that are embedded within the economic model of Scandinavia. The United Nations, according to unirc.org has emphasized a call to arms in the form of a social media campaign against discrimination, prejudice, and anti-tolerance. They want you to join them and use the hashtag: #FightRacism to help end the oppressive plight of minority and indigenous peoples worldwide, including the Sami.

Besides Social Media, you can also help by educating yourself on the plight of the Sami and why it is so important to preserve their ecocentric cultural identity. Because this fight has broader implications; to combat climate change. Anthropocentrism as an ideology embedded within so many economies and cultures in many countries lays the foundation necessary to destroy the planet. We, in our common humanity, can unite to fight the destruction of mother earth by always questioning apparatuses and by adopting an ecocentric view that we are not superior to nature and its inhabitants. Shifting everyone in the world to an ecocentric view is nearly impossible, as corporate greed is a severely corrupting force. My goal within this article is not to dismay you, the reader, but to inspire you to give back to our planet and advocate for the preservation of indigenous and minority identities whose ecocentric values and culture are crucial to our survival.

This can be done by

Learning more at the https://www.samiculturalcenter.org/sami-history-and-culture/sami-history/

And the https://www.saamicouncil.net/en/home

And to understand ecocentrism: https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/statement-ecocentrism/

Work Cited

Admin, M. A. H. B. (2020, November 23). Why Ecocentrism is the key pathway to sustainability. MAHB. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/statement-ecocentrism/

Author Alec Fprss. (2015, December 1). A new era of exploitation? mining Sami lands in Sweden. Cultural Survival. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/new-era-exploitation-mining-sami-lands-sweden

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Anthropocentrism. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/anthropocentrism

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Anthropocentrism. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/anthropocentrism

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Nordiceditor. (2021, March 22). The fight of indigenous people in the Nordic countries. United Nations Western Europe. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://unric.org/en/the-fight-of-indigenous-people-in-the-nordic-countries/

Sami history. Sami History : Sami Cultural Center of North America. (n.d.). Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.samiculturalcenter.org/sami-history-and-culture/sami-history/

Sweden: Open pit mine will endanger indigenous lands and the environment – UN experts. OHCHR. (2022, February 10). Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/02/sweden-open-pit-mine-will-endanger-indigenous-lands-and-environment-un