Who Is Sami? A Case Study on the Implementation of Indigenous Rights in Sweden

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the practical complications that arise in implementing indigenous rights, in particular in deciding who belongs to indigenous groups and as such whom indigenous rights are accorded to. This was achieved through a case study of the indigenous population in Sweden, the Sami, who have faced centuries of assimilation, intensifying with the start of the nation-building project in Sweden in the 18th century. One of the issues indigenous peoples face is how to base their rights claims on cultural specificity, when their cultures have been repressed to such an extent through out history that it is quite difficult to prove they even exist. This is an important contradiction, as an integral aspect of the legitimization of indigenous groups is to show that they have retained a continuity of existence and identity that links them to the communities, tribes or nations of their past. The current research focuses around interviews conducted with Sami politicians in the Sami parliament, a governmental institution in Kiruna, as well as Sami rights activists and scholars. During the research the question of “Who is Sami?” was a focal point, which allowed me to delve into several aspects of cultural revitalization, legal implications of setting boundaries for self-identification, and political maneuvers within the Sami parliament.