Arctic Peoples

By Clive Tesar

Saami in Sweden are demanding that the Swedish government improve protection for traditional Saami reindeer herding territories. The Saami are making the demand in the face of increasing pressures on traditional Saami lands for mining and wind-power developments.

We are at a crisis point in Saami areas whereby the last unexploited Saami areas are being claimed by a mining and wind-power boom,

says Malin Brännström, lawyer for the Swedish Saami Association.

The state has a responsibility to ensure that Saami rights are protected. But the state is currently making it easier and easier for resource projects to go ahead, with no consideration being given to the impacts on traditional Saami livelihoods, such as reindeer herding.

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Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat in collaboration with Elonmerkki and the Saami Council are proud to announce that the documentary “Last Yoik in Saami Forests?” now is available on DVD and for download. The DVDs will be distributed to interested Universities in the Arctic Region and/or with a special interest in Arctic Indigenous Issues.

To get a copy for use at your University, contact us at ips@arcticpeoples.org, and specify the format (NTSC for North America, PAL for Europe/Russia). For individual requests for a copy of the DVD we ask you to contact the producer at www.elonmerkki.net.

If you just want to see it online, and maybe download a compressed copy of it for your iPod, continue reading…

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by Clive Tesar
An influential audience of Arctic diplomats, Indigenous Leaders, and NGOs was treated to a viewing of the new Saami film “Last Yoik in Saami Forests?”. The film was screened at a meeting of the Arctic Council in Narvik, Norway, in Saami traditional territory. It chronicles clashes between Saami reindeer herders, determined to preserve their traditional economy and culture, and the forestry company that threatens them.

The activities of the Finnish state forestry company in the Inari region of Finland have reached the point where centuries-old Saami reindeer herding activities are at the point of collapse. The logging company operating in the region, supported by the Finnish government, has been cutting down old growth forests that provide critical habitat and forage for reindeer. This is despite an ongoing process to settle Saami land rights in the region.
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by Clive Tesar & Gunn-Britt Retter 

The Saami Council has given its annual book prize to the author of a children’s novel that contains some decidedly grown-up ideas. Elle Marja Vars was presented with the prize at a ceremony during the Saami Council ’s meeting in Unjárga / Nesseby, in Saami traditional territory in northern Norway.

Vars’ book (pictured here with the author) translates as “The World’s Laziest Man”. The book describes a man who lives simply, and only ever takes and uses as much as he needs. People from the Finnmark area, which is home to many Saami, are often described as lazy by people in southern Norway. Vars gently examines this idea, showing that her character is not really lazy, but a man who lives according to traditional values, who lives sustainably and leaves little impact on the land.

This is Vars’ second Saami Council book prize, as she also won in the category of ‘children and youth books’ two years ago.

The Saami Parliament in Norway has released the first public version of a Saami “spell checker” and other proofing tools. This is a milestone in Saami computing history, and is part of various different efforts to ensure that indigenous languages can be used with modern computer technology. Microsoft has been developing some of its programs in indigenous languages, including Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, and a Greenlandic spell checker has already been developed.

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by Clive Tesar

The United States Government is beginning to show signs that it understands the seriousness of climate change. A new Bill in the United States Senate backs an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. The Bill, sponsored by Senator Boxer, has attracted the support of democratic presidential hopefuls Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama.

A senior Senate staff official told a visiting delegation of Arctic Leaders,

We hope to be in a position to do something very aggressive on global warming when we have a new President. However, we still have a lot of difficult people, including two senators from Alaska who won’t agree.

The Arctic Leaders have been visiting Senators’ offices in Washington DC, for the past three days to persuade the Senators to back urgent action on climate change. The Leaders have stressed that they are not backing any particular Bill, or any particular US political party, but simply want to see the United States take any action that will start to stabilize temperatures in the Arctic.
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by Clive Tesar

Arctic leaders touring the United States with their eyewitness messages of climate change shared their stories with local Indigenous Peoples yesterday. The exchange came during a tour stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The audience at a public meeting in a Presbyterian church included local Anishnabe people, and also some descendants of Saami people who had come to hear Saami Council Vice President Olav Mathis Eira.

Clyde Belcourt, a local Anishnabe elder, spoke of the local impacts of climate change that Indigenous Peoples in Minnesota are seeing. He mentioned a drop in water levels that is affecting the spawning beds of local fish such as walleye. Even more importantly, the low water levels are threatening the habitat of the wild rice, a traditional crop that is not only economically important to local people, but also has great cultural significance. Read the rest of this entry »

by Clive Tesar

Arctic Leaders were given a standing ovation today after bringing their observations of climate change to a public meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas. The event, at the Clinton School of Public Service, was the first of several taking place across the United States in the next week.

The leaders were introduced by a local celebrity, Minnie Jean Brown. Brown was one of the students known as “the little Rock 9″, a group of black students who were the first in the state to defy racial segregation in schools. She recognized the similarity between the rights Arctic Peoples are fighting for, and her own fight for rights years ago.
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by Clive Tesar

New Swedish legislation gives back to the Saami more control over their traditional occupation of reindeer herding. The law, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, hands over authority for a variety of reindeer herding activities to the Saami Parliament of Sweden. The new authorities include setting of local borders, and some subsidy and compensation programs affecting reindeer herders.

Mattias Åhrén, head of the Human Rights Section of the Saami Council says,

“This is certainly a step in the right direction, increasing Saami self-determination. Still, the issues handed over are not the most critical ones. Swedish authorities still retain control over the issues most pressing to reindeer husbandry.”

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by Clive Tesar

A United Nations declaration affirming the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples has been set aside for further consultation. The declaration, which has been in negotiation for more than 20 years, was delayed after a resolution put forward by Namibia was backed by other African countries. Of the Arctic states, Canada and Russia voted in favour of Namibia’s resolution, while the United States abstained. Finland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, spoke against it, calling the move a “groundless delay”. Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden all joined Finland in voting against the delay.

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