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

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

Finland’s indigenous people, the Sami, are expressing a growing concern that their traditional way of life may soon disappear, reports IPS.

According to Martin Scheinin, who is a professor of international law at the Abo Academy in Turku, the constitutional rights of the Sami are being ignored by sections of the state administration.

“They keep treating the Samis as a linguistic minority,” Prof. Scheinin said.

As the Sami are accorded a status in the Finnish Constitution as indigenous people, they have the right to elect their own parliament.

“The difficulty facing us is that we are facing comprehensive and complete assimilation all the time,” said Pekka Aikio, former president of the Sami Parliament.

There are approximately 8,000 Sami in Finland and a total of 100,000 Sami in Sweden, Norway, Finland and other parts of Northern Europe.

The Sami traditionally gain their livelihood through the herding of reindeer but more and more Sami are turning away from this practice and living like other Finns.

According to Prof. Scheinin, problems over land use is one of the main threats to the Sami way of life, with the government itself often responsible for deforestation of areas used for pasture by the Sami who have no land rights of their own.

“Nobody knows how the government got this land or from whom they bought it. They simply took it,” said Prof. Scheinin.

Finland’s indigenous people, the Sami, are expressing a growing concern that their traditional way of life may soon disappear, reports IPS.

According to Martin Scheinin, who is a professor of international law at the Åbo Academy in Turku, the constitutional rights of the Sami are being ignored by sections of the state administration.

“They keep treating the Samis as a linguistic minority,” Prof. Scheinin said.

As the Sami are accorded a status in the Finnish Constitution as indigenous people, they have the right to elect their own parliament.

“The difficulty facing us is that we are facing comprehensive and complete assimilation all the time,” said Pekka Aikio, former president of the Sami Parliament.

There are approximately 8,000 Sami in Finland and a total of 100,000 Sami in Sweden, Norway, Finland and other parts of Northern Europe.

The Sami traditionally gain their livelihood through the herding of reindeer but more and more Sami are turning away from this practice and living like other Finns.

According to Prof. Scheinin, problems over land use is one of the main threats to the Sami way of life, with the government itself often responsible for deforestation of areas used for pasture by the Sami who have no land rights of their own.

“Nobody knows how the government got this land, from whom they bought it. They simply took it,” said Prof. Scheinin.