Presentation of the BOAZU project at the annual meeting of the Association of Swedish Sámi (RSR) 3-5 June 2019 Stockholm
The association of Swedish Sámi
The association of Swedish sámi is established in 1950 and is one of the oldest sámi organisations in Scandinavia. Elsa Laula initiated the first Sámi meeting on the 6 of February 1917, that day is now celebrated as the national day of Sápmi. The agenda on this meeting was settlement issues, the reindeer grazing law and the sámi school issue. The meeting pressed for the need for a common sámi organization, and it was the start for the association of Swedish Sámi. The association was officially formed in 1950 at Samernas Folkhögskola in Jokkmokk. The lead man behind the association was the sámi priest Gustaf Park, who was also elected as the national organization’s first chairman.
The association is today a joint organization where 44 of Sweden’s 51 Sami villages and 16 of Sweden’s joint associations are members. The main agenda has not changed during the last 100 year, the focus is to protect the lands, strengthen the rights of reindeer herding and the right for sámi child’s to get sámi language and culture education in the schools. The association promotes modern sámi economic, social, legal, administrative and cultural interests, with particular regard to the reindeer herding and the continuation and healthy development of its binary estates.
The annual meetings is the highest decision-making body. In addition to about 90 representatives for Sámi villages and joint associations, the country meetings convene a large number of interested sámi, representatives of the Swedish government, authorities and the media. Issues addressed during the country meetings are issues that reflect the current situation of the Sami and reindeer industry. In recent years, issues such as public health, the right to hunting and fishing, the climate and the Sami land use, customary rights and business development have been discussed. The country meetings are arranged in different places each year. In 2019, the annual meeting was situated in Stockholm, and was hosted by the sami peoples living in
Stockholm and their local sámi association.
Presentation of the BOAZU project
It was announced that there was 6. stands by the entrance to the venue, and each stand was shortly presented. The organizer presented our stand as follows. A Sami village-initiated research project that intends to analyse how the “ bit by bit” effects of pasture losses and social change affect the reindeer husbandry, and thereby the future of young reindeer herders.
The reindeer is dependent on the access to seasonally-based pastures and the reindeer herders encounter many challenges through this. Climate change, predators, exploitation of pastures are just a few examples of factors that have a negative effect on the economic potential of reindeer herding, and thereby on the reindeer herders. The Sami villages have different geographical and social conditions, but the common is that the reindeer is the starting point for reindeer herding. Sami villages have been subjected to severe exploitation and natural pastures and migration routes are unusable. Other Sami villages may have a lesser degree of physical exploitation, but a higher predator pressure or more human disturbances through, for example, outdoor tourism or smallgame hunting. Through a collaboration between reindeer herders from different Sami villages and researchers from Sweden, Norway, Finland and France, a multidisciplinary participatory-action research program can be implemented. The research project is based on the needs of reindeer herding and intends to bring together local Sami reindeer herding knowledge and scientific knowledge from various specializations, social sciences, economics, biology, etc. to create new knowledge about the “bit by bit” effects. Through an increased understanding of the effects of “bit by bit” influence, it will be possible to propose measures to counteract them. It will also be possible to create local, regional and national scenarios for how the future reindeer husbandry may look, with or without relevant measures.
What are the needs in the sámi society
The sámi parliament president and the chairman of Malå sameby discussed the need to focus on internal conflicts within the sami villages. Gudrun Kuhmonen board member of the association of Swedish sámi and the MP for the Green party of the Swedish government are introduced to the BOAZU project.
The MPs need to learn more about the reindeer herding and the sami society in general. The sámi reindeer herding villages and the sámi society with its businesses, school and local culture and sports associations needs to define and own their future. Research collaboration, where the sámi people own the projects, is one way to go forward. This demands that relevant research issues are defined by the sámi, not by the researchers.
What are the needs in the sámi society
What will the future bring Sámi languages are must be strengthened, and the Norwegian Sámi parliament has models that could be implemented in Sweden. There is a need to learn from each other locally, regionally and in the national level. The sámi people are divided in 4 countries, and in the future, the borders for sámi language and culture will be eliminated.
Strengthened cultural identity and a new urban sámi generation are creating new music and modern sámi art.
The planed workshop in Jokkmokk mid-October 2019 will be a platform where the sámi reindeer herders, culture and music associations, education institutions and interested politicians can meet. Thru the guidance of experienced facilitators using participatory action research methods the workshop will develop
a social research plan where the actors, sámi reindeer herders and the sámi society defines and owns the research project.