The newly drafted Swedish constitution has declared that the Saami are no longer an ethnic minority but a fully-fledged people. Read the full story

Last week saw the Sami people of the Nordic nations and their Russian counterparts come together to observe Sami People’s Day. Read the full story

An international conference held in Nuuk has sought to understand why so many young men in the circumpolar region take their own lives. Read the full story

Saami people have claimed that a proposal by a Canadian company for gold-mining in Sweden’s northeast violates their UN-recognised human rights and will threaten their traditional lifestyle. SIKUnews reports that the Vancouver-based mining organisation Blackstone Ventures Inc has announced that it has ambitions to start test-drilling in the region used by the Saami. Blackstone has also revealed plans to begin mining the area, something which Saami claim has not been agreed to by locals. Read the full story

A government appointed work group has declared that the indigenous Sami population of Sweden should be granted further freedom to undertake activities other than their traditional reindeer herding, as reported in The Local last week. Read the full story

The Saami parliament (Samediggi) governing the indigenous Saami people in Norway, decided not to approve the new mining law which Norwegian legislators passed  earlier this year, according to the Saami news source, The Barents Observer. Egil Olli, President of the Saami parliament, stated that the assembly strongly opposes any application for mineral exploration in the Finnmark region. Read the full story

A problem has risen over the use of traditional Saami cultural symbols in the Finnish tourism industry. After a Saami Council meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland, the Nordic indigenous group passed a resolution calling for a ban on improper or demeaning use of their symbols. They also want the Finnish government to require permits for any tourist organisation to use a Saami icon. Read the full story