By Macy Moore
The Sami peoples are an indigenous group found across Scandinavia. They reside across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Russian Kola Peninsula. While descendants of the Sami live all across the world, only around 80,000 still exist in their ancestral lands today. The lands of the Sami–referred to as Sampi–is the span of area the Sami inhabit. Being derived from Nomadic culture, the group spans across many regions. Their Nomadic culture is centered around the migration patterns of reindeer across the lands. They follow the herding rhythm of these reindeer and hold nature and land at the center of their views.
Sami people protest for their rights.
While the Sami are indigenous to the area, the present nation states are often misaligned with the practices of the Sami throughout Scandinavia. The presence of two different groups in the same region has brought up conflicts within the region–especially targeted at those who call themselves Sami. For example, reindeer are subject to cruelty within the regions where the Sami reside. While they are sacred and important to the Sami culture, the same does not necessarily go for others who reside in these regions. Reindeer are often found shot or run over, which is hurtful to those whose migration patterns rely on the paths of these creatures.
Racism in general is present within the regions against the Sami people. The land of the Sami has been taken, sold and used for farming or development across Scandinavian countries, and the sacred land of the Sampi has lost the vastness that Sami ancestors had known. Oppression of the Sami language is present. While it is a dying language, it is also seemingly the grounds for violence against Sami in the region. In one instance, a girl was attacked for speaking in her native tongue on a public bus in Tromso, Norway. Sami have historically been forced to assimilate into Norwegian cultures through the use of boarding schools, taxed extensively by the Swedish government as early as the 17th century, and even banned from speaking their native language in their own homeland.
The Sami people have been oppressed as a culture within Scandinavia for quite some time. It is incredible that the voices of these indigenous peoples have not been heard for hundreds of years, and racism is still prevalent within society today. The voices of the Sami are not staying silent, and continue to ring across the world, demanding change.
Sami History : Sami Cultural Center of North America
Who are Europe’s indigenous peoples and what are their struggles? | Euronews answers