The Sami in Finland

The Sami ("sapmelas" in Sami) are one of the indigenous peoples of Europe, just as the Inuit in Greenland. There are over 75 000 Sami. They have their own history, language, culture, livelihoods, way of life and identity. The Sami homeland ("Sapmi" in Sami) reaches from Central Norway and Sweden through the northernmost part of Finland and into the Kola Peninsula. Thus, Sapmi covers areas belonging to the states of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

Finnish Sami and the Sami region

The Sami Domicile Area in Finland
In Finland there are 6500 Sami of which 4 000 live within the Sami region bordered by Sweden, Norway and Russia. This Sami domicile area consists of the municipalities of Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjoki and the northern part of the municipality of Sodankylä. The area covers 35 000 km2, and includes a special region reserved for the Skolt Sami, who settled in Finland after the Second World War. Today, Sami constitute a third of the total population living in the Sami region. As recently as before the Second World War approximately half of the population were still Sami. Today, Sami are a majority in the municipality of Utsjoki, but a minority in the other areas. In recent years, Sami livelihoods, living and social conditions have approached those of the main population.

In older official records the ancestors of the Sami have been called Lapps. In Finland, the word Lapp meant persons who had their main income from traditional Sami sources of livelihood (reindeer herding, fishing and hunting) in an area which they permanently owned and for which they paid land taxes to the state. Those areas earlier owned by the Sami are now administered by the State of Finland as "public land" where all local people are entitled to herd reindeer, fish and hunt.

Sami history
The history of the Sami in Finland and the other Nordic Countries has usually been presented in a way that does not conform with the past of the people; emphasis has been put on the status of the main population and, consequently, the place of the Sami has been undervalued. Nevertheless, sufficient information on archaeology, biology and linguistics is available, and there are documents, literature and information on traditions to provide a genuine Sami history. Biologically, the Sami are a European indigenous population to which other populations have assimilated. The Sami and the Finns originally had a common language. By the beginning of the Christian Era, the Sami and the Finns had become two distinct groups in terms of language and living area. The Sami practised Fishing, hunting and small-scale reindeer herding in an area reaching from Lake Ladoga to the Arctic Ocean and from the White Sea to the Köli Ridge. According to Sami tradition, the Sami people have come about as a result of several settlement waves. The Samis - who where from the year 325 B.C. till the 12th century A.D. called "phinoi" in Greek and "fenni" in Latin - had communities of their own in which they developed their livelihood, religion, rnamentation, metal casting skills and trade. During this period, the different Sami languages differentiatied from each other.

Between 1251 and 1550, the bordering states of Norway, Russia (Novgorod) and Sweden made agreements on peace, borderlines and taxation rights in the Sami (Lapp) area. Finland was, at that time, part of Sweden and under the influence of the Catholic Church, and Lapland also became part of these. Swedish Lapland now extended all the way to the Arctic Ocean. The Skolt Sami of the Kola Peninsula fell under the control of the Orthodox Church and Russia (Novgorod). In terms of taxation, Russian rule covered all of Norwegian Lapland, Finnmark. The Czars of Moscow granted the Skolt Sami letters of protection for lands, waters and taxation on the basis of land registers and land ownership.

Under Swedish rule (1551-1808), the Sami, as citizens, were comparable to the peasants in terms of rights and duties. They made use of their main sources of income - reindeer herding, fishing and hunting - within the boundaries of their Lapp villages without building houses or cultivating the soil. The Lapps (Sami) were permanent owners of their lands, for which they paid the state "Lapp taxes". The basis for land-surveying in Lapland was a Lappish league". In 1602, the Lapps (Sami) were granted representation in the Diet, and the Swedish Crown was also "King of the Lapps of Norrland". The Lapps (Sami) were under the rule of the Swedish judicial system, administration and church. In 1751, in their mutual border agreement, Sweden and Norway prohibited the Lapps (Sarni) from "being owners of taxable land" in more than one country. From the end of Swedish rule to Finland's independence (1760-), the Sami, as citizens, had mainly duties. To start with, they were discharged from the Diet. In 1808, Russia conquered Finland which, however, kept her former judicial system. Over the following decades, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia fixed their state borders in the areas owned by the Lapp villages. In 1917 Finland became independent. Present legislation includes no Sami rights to land and waters, since, in the past 200 years no Government Bill for Sami rights has ever been submitted to the Finnish Parliament. The economic foundation of the Sami hunting culture was destroyed by wiping out the most important game animals - the beaver and the wild reindeer. As game decreased the Sami no longer used their land as actively as earlier, and, thus, their land taxes grew smaller and were altogether repealed in 1924.

Simultaneously, the Sami were removed from the land registers. Their rights were "forgotten", and they were depicted in literature in the same way as natives elsewhere during the colonial period. Settlers moved into the areas "unused" by the Sami, and they were granted certain rights to the lands and waters. Some Sami founded homesteads on their own land. By the 1980's, the lands and the waters of such homesteads were demarcated. On the basis of no known legal grounds, the state started to control the "public land" left outside the homesteads. The only cause shown was that the 'public lands" had always belonged to the state because they had never had an owner (res nullius). In a situation where the Supreme Court did not consider the state to be the owner of the lands, preservation areas were founded on these "public lands". Today, the state uses, conveys and rents "public land" and disallows the Sami to use it in many ways. After the Second World War, part of the lands of the Skolt Sami were ceded to the Soviet Union, and many Skolt Sami immigrated to Finland.

Sources of livelihood and land ownership

Sami culture is based on the divers and sustainable use of their territory in order fulfill the basic needs of the people. In their use of nature, the Sami have relied on knowledge, gathered over millennia, on tbe behaviour of nature and animals, and on the power to decide how nature is utilized. Reindeer herding, fishing and hunting as well as gathering nature's products and making handicraft are traditional Sami sources of livelihood. The usual way to provide a living is to practice a mixture of these activities, sometimes combined with small-scale agriculture. Culturally and economically, reindeer herding is the most important source of income for the Sami. Approximately 40 % of the Sami in the Sami region rely on these traditional livelihoods for their income. For an equal number of Sami, services are the main source of livelihood. Traditional handicrafts ("duodji" in Sami) and tourism are a source of additional income for many and are the main income for some Sami. employment enables the Sami to stay in their home region, and is, therefore, important for the Sami and Sami culture.
The Sami region is divided into private farm lands (10 %) and "public land" (90 %). On their private lands, the Sami practice agriculture, forestry and, to some extent, fishing. For reindeer herding, fishing and hunting, they use mostly "public land" outside their own farm lands. Finnish law does not grant the Sami any special rights to use "public land" when practicing their traditional livelihoods.
The Finnish reindeer herding region consists of the Sami region and certain areas to the south of it. Approximately 40 % (100 000) of all the reindeer live within the Sami region. Of these, Sami own 85 %. A reindeer belongs to the person whose earmark has been cut in its ears. The reindeer graze throughout the year in enclosed areas called reindeer herding districts which vary in size from 1000 to 5 000 km2.
The material foundation of the Sami culture is continually being destroyed in a judicially unclear situation. The Sami have repeatedly demanded that the state return the lands to the Sami, and the Finnish Parliament is now expecting a bill to be presented on the issue. Under these circumstances, the state allows for free economic competition and bars Sami from using areas and nature in the Sami region. Thus, Sami become estranged from their ancestors' lands and waters and from their use in the ways specific to Sami culture.

Sami language and mass communication
Language groups in the area inhabited by the Sami
(The Sami people 1990)
The Sami languages are related to Finnish. In Finland three Sami languages are spoken. About half of the Sami speak Sami as their first language. Of the Sami-speaking Sami, 70 % useNorth Sami, 15 % use Inari Sami and 15 % SkoltSami. A large number of Sami are illiterate in their mother tongue since the language has been taught in schools only recently. A Sami may use Sami with the authorities, especially within the Sami region. The SamiRadio station sends programmes daily in Sami. In Finland, a monthly periodical called Sapmelas is published in the North Sami language. The North Sami newspapers Min Aigi and Assu printed in Norway are also read by Sami in Finland.
Nature, its phenomena and beings can be described in Sami by a rich vocabulary that can also be used in scientific discourse.
Since 1992, Sami have had the right to use the Sami language both in speaking and writing with the authorities and to receive an answer in the same language. These linguistic rights, however, are based on translation and interpretation, and do not adequately secure the future of the language.

Religion and churches

The vast majority of Sami belong to the Lutheran Church, while the Skolt Sami belong to the Orthodox Church. Within the Sami region, Lutheran ceremonies and services such as baptisms, weddings and funerals are to be conducted in Sami whenever wished. In the Sami region, the church also has a Sami minister who officiates at services in Sami. According to the new Ecclesiastical Code, since the beginning of 1994 it has been possible to found a unilingual Sami or a bilingual Finnish-Sami parish within the Sami region.

Introduction in the Sami language

The offcial status of the Sami language in the comprehensive school system dates back to the 1980's. According to the present legislation, a Sami-speaking pupil within the Sami region is entitled to obtain bis or herprimary and secondary education in Sami. In addition, Sami can be studied in these levels as mother tongue or as an elective subject. There are approximately 600 pupils studying in Sami or studying Sami from Utsjoki to Helsinki. In 1994, Sami highs shool graduates took their mother tongue exam for the first time in Sami.
In Inari, there is a Sami educational centre that was founded in 1977 to fulfill a the special educational needs of the Sami region. The primary aim of this school is to maintain and develop Sami culture and the nature-based occupations of the area. Instruction at the school is given in Finnish or in Sami. The administration of the educational centre is dominated by Sami, and new teachers are to be proficient in Sami.

Narrative tradition, handicraft and art

People, nature, events, beliefs and teachings have been a central part of the yoik chants, tales and stories of Sami societyfrom tbe remote past to the present day. According to a Norwegian proverb, the Sami even count their relatives as far as to the 18th generation. Traditional Sami visual arts are closely connected to the ancient rock paintings. Sami ornamentation, clothing and handicrafts have combined traditions and old-time beliefs of Scandinavian and eastern populations of the Viking Age into a special Sami tradition. The cultural heritage kept up by the Sami brings originality into today's Sami literature, handicrafts, visual arts, music and theatre. In 1994, the Sami Parliament was for the first time able to decide independently how the appropriation grantedfor the improvement of Sami culture was to be distributed.
Traditional Sami handicraft consists of woodwork, bonework, antlerwork, peltwork and leatherwork as well as pearl and tin thread embroidery, lace weaving and other textile work. Products are made both for everyday use and for sale. The men's and women's national dress and their decorations express the cultural variations of the different areas.
The written Sami language originated in 1619. Sami poems were published already in 1673 in Schefferus' work "Lapponia". The last century saw the birth of Sami literature written in Sami.
Yoiking can be characterized as chanting based on a special vocal technique. In a yoik, the melody, rhythm and scanty words are used to describe or "sing" a person, an animal, an event etc. Traditional yoik chanting has lately been modernized into instrumental music. too.

National identity and international co-operation

The Sami have traditionally been united by their family, language, religion, dwellingsystem and livelihoods. Duringpastdecades, co-operation between the Sami has extended to the whole of Finland as well as to the neighbouring countries.

Sami people dressed in traditional costume
A Sami's national dress links him or her with a certain area. The national anthem common to all the Sami is called "The Song of the Sami Family"', written by Isak Saba in 1906. The anthem ends with words "The land of the Sami to the Sami". Since 1986, the Sami have also had a common flag. It has the bright colours of the national dress and depicts the halos of the sun and the moon, Sami have traditionally considered themselves the daughters and sons of the sun. The national day is the 6th of February.
The Sami of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia have a co-operative body called tbe Sami Council. It has its Secretariat in Utsjoki. In addition, the Sami participate in the work of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, WClP. As an indigenous people, they also take part in tbe co-operation between states and autonomies within the Nordic Council, the co-operation on the Euro-Arctic Region of Barents and the work of the UN Human Rights Committee.

Administrative-political position

Since 1973, Sami have elected a representative body, a Sami Parliament, from amongst themselves. Its20 representatives are elected every four years. The purpose of the Sami Parliament is to attend to the rights and interests of the Sami by presenting initiatives and proposals and by preparing opinions to the authorities.
According to the Constitution, since 1991, the Sami have been heard in the Finnish Parliament on matters especially concerning them. The Sami are the only indigenous people in Finland to have such a right.
On the municipal, regional and state level, the Sami have the same political and administrative status as other citizens. They are not in a special position that would allow them to make decisions on matters concerning their language, culture, and social and economic situation. The social and economic organizations and societies of the Sami themselves usually work unofficially and have little influence. The Sami Parliament has neither power to determine matters that are of importance to the Sami, nor adequate resources to influence such decisions when they are being made.

Recent judicial development

The Sami have rights to land, waters and traditional sources of livelihood that Finnish law does not recognize. The Sami consider themselves the real owners of the 'public land ', which may, according to the Constitutional Committee of the Finnish Parliament, also be true. In legislation, however, the matter remains unsolved. In the case of other citizens, such questions on rights have been settled through a law. Thus, the property of the Sami is not protected as well as that of other citizens. The political administrative position of the Sami undermines their chances of maintaining and developing their language and culture in a way that would guarantee the survival of their identity and way of life. In the present situation, the rights of the Sami as an indigenous people are not fully realized in conformity with international human rights agreements.
Therefore, the Finnish Parliament required in 1993 that the future of the Sami language and culture be secured through cultural autonomy. Here, the term culture also includes the traditional usage of areas.
In 1994, a new Constitutional Amendment was presented to the Finnish Parliament by the Government. It would guarantee the Sami as an indigenous people the right to maintain and develop their language and culture. In addition, the Parliament is discussing whether an amendment granting the Sami autonomy in matters concerning their language and culture in the Sami region should be included in the Constitution. The Sami Parliament would be the autonomous body of the Sami, but it would still not have decision making power. So far, the Government has not started to draft a Bill on the rights of the Sami to land, water and traditional livelihoods. State committees have, with no result, recommended in 1952, 1973 and 1990 that these matters be settled through a law.

Published August 2000, © 1995 - 2004, Virtual Finland, Produced by: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland