Finnish Sámi: Is Tourism a Preservation of Indigenous Culture?

Abstract

The Sami “minority” of Finland is the smallest indigenous community of this specific Arctic group in Nordic countries. Finnish Sami constitute a cultural, linguistic and territorialized minority. Finland recognized Sami as a “people” in 1995, nevertheless without ratifying the ILO Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. Besides the fact that Finnish Sami Parliament (Saamelaiskäräjät) has been recognized since 1973, and the Sami linguistic rights have been established since 1982, Sami do not possess territorial rights, especially at economic level. One of the main economic sectors where Sami are active is tourism in Lapland. The debate among the defendants of indigenous rights but also among some Sami prominent leaders are today about the effectiveness of the tourism in the survival of Sami way of life and culture. While some observers denounce the folklorization process of “saminess” through exasperated touristic exploitation, others see in tourism the only way to prevent complete assimilation and fade-out. This chapter will explore the role of tourism in the preservation of Sami culture in Finnish context, by using a field research conducted in July–August 2018 in Inari, Ivalo and Rovaniemi.