Sweden
's Sámi management
municipalities and their impact on
collective rights
Klara Lundgren
Human rights Bachelor thesis 15 credits Spring Semester 2020 Supervisor: Lena KarlbrinkAbstract
The Sámi are a marginalized group in Sweden, there are a lot of preconceptions of them as the indigenous group of Sweden, like most States that has indigenous groups living within their boarders, clashes with the majority population will occur. The Swedish State has created management municipalities to help the Sámi gain control over some specified collective rights. The Sámi has, for example, collective rights assigned to them specifically because they are a people who internationally and nationally are recognized as the indigenous people of Sweden. This thesis sets out to investigate what rights the Sámi have to use their language and language education in connection to the management municipalities, and if Sweden, as a state that holds itself so high concerning the rights of indigenous peoples and a guardian of human rights for all, actually grant the Sámi the rights they are entitled to. I will do so by using a qualitative method and content analysis method which will draw on a liberal theory of collective rights. The research will show, that Sweden has indeed established the management municipalities to maintain rights assigned to the Sámi, however it does not provide all rights reserved and in some cases it actually violates the rights for the indigenous population.
Keywords: Management municipalities, Language, Collective rights, Sámi, Representation, Consultation
Abbreviations
ICCPR = International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights SIC = Samiskt informationscentrum, Sámi Information Center
FCPNM = Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities CERD = Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
ICERD = International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CRD = Civil Rights Defenders
DO = Ombudsmannen mot Etnisk Diskriminering, Agency for ethnic discrimination
ILO 169 = International Labour Organizations Convention Nr. 169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention
Translations
Sámediggi = The Sámi parliament Jojk = Traditional singing
Doudji = Traditional handicrafts
Sieidi = Holy places in nature, places where you scarify to the gods Lapp = Derogatory term for a Sámi person
Table of content
Abstract ...1 Abbreviations...2 Translations...2 Table of content ...31. Introduction ...
4 1.1 Introduction...4 1.2 Previous Research...4 1.3 Research question...5 1.4 Research problem...61.5 Relevance to human rights...7
1.6 Delimitations...8
2. Method ...
82.1. Qualitative research ...8
2.2 Content analysis ...9
3. Theory ...
103.1 Background on the theory...10
3.2 A liberal theory of collective rights...11
4. Analysis ...
134.1 Historical background of the Sámi ...13
4.2 Collective rights ...16
4.3 Management Municipalities ...20
4.4 Language and Identity...23
4.5 International and national critique against Sweden...28
5. Conclusion ...
325.1 Discussions and findings ...32
5.2 Human Rights discussion ...32
5.3 Future research recommendations ...33
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction
This thesis aims to research Sámi management municipalities and if these municipality institutions are enough to recognize and honor the Sámi people's rights as the indigenous peoples of Sweden. This topic became interesting to me as I researched the Sámi peoples legal rights concerning language use and education within the Swedish State. The management municipalities are the ones who bear the legal burden to fulfill these rights. Even though the Sámi are allowed to use their language when being in contact with governmental institutions wherever they are in Sweden, it is the municipalities that has the duty and responsibility of providing elderly care in the Sámi languages, child care and to hire people with skills in the Sámi languages at the governmental institutions within their municipality.
1.2 Previous research
Previous research has touched upon many topics concerning the Sámi people, but the material that I have been drawn to during my sampling processes has had the focus on language use, the modernization process of the Swedish Sámi movement and self-determination.
In 2020 Kristina Belančić published a doctoral thesis concerning the rights of language use for Sámi children in the Swedish education system, her purpose was to research if the legal system supports the development of the pupils usage of the Sámi languages in their education but also in their everyday lives(Belančić, 2020:vi).
Patrik Lantto and Ulf Mörkenstam has researched the impact on rights that are assigned to the Sámi by the Swedish State and the international community, they have researched the debate concerning the rights of the indigenous people on a national as well as the international level to understand the legal phenomenon of the unwillingness that the Swedish State has shown by not signing on to ILO 169, which is the International Labour Organizations Convention Nr. 169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, the impact of said unwillingness is of most interest to the authors as it highlights the struggles faced by the Sámi and the driving force for the mobilization of the Sámi movement in Sweden(Lantto, Mörkenstam, 2008: 27-28).
The ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities made the Swedish State move towards a new level of rights assigned to the national minorities of Sweden. The ratification meant that a new era of minority politics saw the light for the first time,
old laws concerning minorities stemming from the 1800s got redone and Swedens entrance into the European Union (1995) was one of the triggering factor for the new Swedish minority and language law that was adopted in the 2000s(Sjölin, Axelsson, (red.) 2005: 141).
What values a state has built its pillars of recognition and rights upon is of most importance. In Bo Anderssons article on the matter he researches the philosophical problematization of the concept of rights and justice and their impact on our indigenous population. He emphasizes the importance of how the Swedish State has handled the Sámi through history and what impact this have had on Sámi up until this day(Andersson et al, (red.) 2014:89-91).
Another study I found to be of impotence to my research was a study done by Joy Hendry, although not based on information collected from Sámi people, the information still strikes true connected to the research I have written above. Hendry presents the importance of knowing oneself through the cultural makers of ones indigenous identity, language poses an important factor to children and their identities. It helps them form an identity they can take pride in, but more importantly, makes them feel like they know who they truly are(Hendry, 2005:105-106).
In Hugh Beach's article we will come closer to learning about Sweden's application process of rights and how they are connected to identity for the Sámi people. Beach especially analyses the Swedish reindeer act and how the Sámi minority have been fractured into smaller fragments by the implementation of this act. He states the ripple effect the reindeer act has had on future generations and persons not belonging to the occupation of reindeer herding(Beach ,2007:1-5).
1.3 Research question and aim
My aim is to research how management municipalities within Sweden operate to fulfill their obligations to the human rights of the Sámi population, especially the rights to language and culture development. The Swedish minority law focuses on the municipalities responsibility of fulfilling the obligations set forth by the law; providing the Sámi with schools and childcare for their children and also elderly care for their elders to name a few duties. In order for the municipalities to fulfill their duties they have to host consultation meetings where the Sámi and the governmental institutions meet to discuss questions that concern them(SFS 2009:724). The municipalities and county government need to fulfill this duty to uphold the human rights standard that the Swedish State has signed onto. The Swedish State has signed onto and ratified the International Covenant of the Civil and Political Rights (here on out the ICCPR) as well as the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities (here on out the FCPNM) which states and clarifies the specified rights that minority groups hold within the states that has ratified these protocols.
Research question: Do Sámi management municipalities respect and uphold collective rights of the Sámi indigenous peoples?
This is the question I have set out to answer within this thesis. This could easily become a yes or no question but to be able to give such an answer I have to dissect my question into smaller sections. I have provided questions in the section below to make my research clearer and more understandable.
1.4 Research problem
My aim has been to present a clear and understandable analysis of the complex issue that the Sámi people face when claiming their rights within the Swedish State. My sub-questions therefor presents like this:
1. What is a management municipality? What does it mean for a municipality to be a managing one? In order to answer this question I have researched the Swedish minority and language law SFS 2009:724.
2. What is collective rights? Why do we have such a rights, considering that human rights mostly are focused on the individual rights of a person. To explain the answer to this question, I have used the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR) as well as Rhona K. Smiths book on International Human Rights.
3. What specified rights does the Sámi population have within the Swedish State? To answer this question I have researched the Swedish minority law. I have also research what covenants the Swedish State has ratified and their stance on Indigenous people's rights within their territory.
4. Do the management municipalities protect the collective rights of the Sámi? To answer this question I have analyzed a few different reports provided by the county government of Stockholm and Sámediggi, Diskriminerings Ombudsmannen as well as international critique against Swedens actions. I have also opted to seek out interviews done by media, particularly by the Sámi
information website called samer.se which is an information website run by Samiskt informationscentrum created by Sámediggi by order of the Swedish State(samer.se NY).
It is through these four questions that I will analyze my thesis with the help of my chosen theory, liberal and collective rights by Michel Seymour.
1.5 Relevance to human rights
There is no secret that the Sámi people are a group with many different human rights concerns connected to them. Sweden has, on multiple occasions, received stinging critique from the international community concerning their treatment of their indigenous subjects. I consider this to be of importance, because of Sweden's stance on indigenous communities on other states soil have been of nothing but supportive, yet the support for their own indigenous people have been less warm and more battered. But how is language connected to human rights? The importance that the Swedish State as well as the Sámi has applied to the usage of language for the group is of most importance. Sweden has ratified both the ICCPR as well as the FCPNM and the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(here on out ICERD) Sweden therefore has certain human rights standards to uphold for their minority and indigenous populations. In the ICCPR it states the following: "In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language"(Art 27 ICCPR).
The statement in article 27 makes it rather clear as to what length Sweden's duty to support their minority community needs to go. It is my aim to research to what length Sweden has gone to fulfill the duty towards their indigenous population and if the municipalities present enough support for the Sámi. What we need to note here is that Sweden has indeed made the claim that the Sámi people are the indigenous people of Sweden and therefor they are entitled to special rights, more importantly Sweden has gone around this issue of special rights by presenting the Sámi with the legal rights of a minority group which in it self is poses a problem for their rights as an indigenous people.
It does not seem proper to write a thesis regarding indigenous people without mentioning ILO:s Convention Nr. 169, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (here on out ILO 169). However, the Swedish State has time and again promised that they are working hard on investigating if and when they are able to ratify ILO 169. The investigation has been underway since 1989 and is still ongoing. The inquiries made by the State always reaches the same conclusion, which is, that the State needs more time to investigate. This has been an ongoing battle for the Sámi people because of the obstruction it causes to the progress of their collective rights. However, since the Swedish State does not provide the Sámi people with the ratification of ILO 169, I have opted to leave this out of my analysis. Although I feel the need to mention it because of its importance for the development of the human rights for the Sámi people in Sweden(Heikki, Poggats, NY sverigesradio.se , sametinget.se 2018).
1.6 Delimitations
There are multiple areas where I could have chosen to do my research, I have had multiple suggestions on research such as Australia or New Zealand's indigenous peoples, climate change and indigenous people. They are all good and valid suggestions which I could have research with joy. However, I chose to research management municipalities in connection to the Sámi peoples rights as a group and more specifically the right to develop and keep their languages and culture. Because of this I knew that the extent of information I could find might be limited. Thus presenting the delimitation of this thesis, in order to answer my question regarding whether or not the municipalities hold their end of the bargain, I had to concentrate on information regarding municipalities and Sámi presence within these municipalities, how governmental institutions work and if they consult with the Sámi in matters concerning them, all of which is prescribed by law.
2. Method
2.1 Qualitative research
Whit this thesis I have opted to use qualitative research mainly because of the vast number of laws, protocols and interviews I have found to be of interest for this specific topic. It is through the combination of the qualitative research as well as the direct content analysis method that I could get the clearest results from my questions. Since I have found that there is a knowledge gap concerning the Sámi people's situation in Sweden I wanted the research to be as informative as
possible while still holding an academic standard. Therefore my choice of leading my research with a qualitative method was clear. I wanted to gain an understanding of the complex situation that surrounds the Sámi peoples rights in Sweden. The system of municipalities, laws and other concerns taken on by the state. Hence, why I chose to do a qualitative research instead of quantitative because of its analytical nature which gives me tools understand the problems posed with these sort of questions, thus giving me the knowledge to analyze and explain what issues the Sámi people face in context to the Swedish Minority Law(Humphrey, NY dovetailapp.com).
2.2 content analysis
Although I could have used other methods, the mixture of different material that I have found of interest for this thesis, made content analysis a better fit for my research. My theory focuses on the importance of recognition, the data and material that I have found shows multiple layers of this problem. It does not only present data collected by governmental institutions, it also presents emotions from Sámi people and government officials towards this complex issue. Hence my choice of qualitative research and content analysis method. Because of its analytical approach, content analysis does not only present the knowledge of the problem at hand but it also presents us with the opportunity to learn something about the issue, qualitative research gives me the tools that I need to understand the information and a way to present it to make a valid and informed conclusion about the Sámi peoples collective rights in Sweden(Hsieh, Shannon, 2005:1278). Although I have used interviews and surveys for some of my data collection, I have not done these myself, I have therefore opted to use direct content analysis, it helps me to understand and analyze the data through my theory. Direct content analysis uses existing theories or prior research to help detect and identify key concepts within categories found in the material analyzed. Open-ended questions are used and followed by questions that targets the key concepts of the categories found, this is done by coding the key elements to make patterns that later can be analyzed and form a conclusion(Hsieh, Shannon, 2005:1281). I have opted for direct content analysis which is one of three categories that Hsieh and Shannon describes in their article, Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis, I have used Hsieh and Shannons article to create a better understanding of this method and how to apply it to my own research(Hsieh, Shannon, 2005:1285-1286).
3. Theory
In Sweden we have a law that shifts the responsibility of education and legal obligations for the laws and rights concerning the Sámi from central state level to municipality level. What I mean is that although the state is and always will be the definite agency with responsible for the legal system to be applied, it has delegated the cardinal duty for these rights to be upheld by the Sámi management municipalities(SFS 2009:724). The theory that I have set out to use within this thesis supports the position of recognition, the Swedish State has to honor the rights set out for indigenous groups. I will be looking at the issue of collective rights and specifically the rights of language. I will be doing so by analyzing the material through Michel Seymour's theory of collective rights, which is an extension of the ideas from Will Kymlicka, Charles Taylor's and John Rawls about liberal theory, group rights and individual rights(Seymour, 2017:3-6).
3.1 Background on the theory
Michel Seymour has developed a theory of liberal collective rights, he has done so by drawing from three main authors and philosophers, as mentioned above but first foremost John Rawls's theory on political liberalism and the importance of recognizing and honoring the collective rights. Seymour has found especially Will Kymlicka's theory to be more focused on the individual persons rights rather than a collective group right. He also suggests and presses on the matter of liberalism as a matter that cannot only rely on the basis of respect and toleration, however it should rather be based upon the matter of recognition that should be based upon mutual appreciation for groups as well as individuals(Seymour, 2017:3).
Seymour has in his book explained the theory to stem from the political recognition of minorities and indigenous peoples, but for the sake of space I will only talk about indigenous peoples, who are not to be confused with minority groups. Seymour makes a moral justification to the claim that peoples need recognized collective rights through a multinational agreement. He states that John Rawls theory of political liberalism is the one closest to his own and that Rawls's theory poses a more generous framework for collective rights than one might think(Seymour, 2017:24-25).
3.2 A liberal theory of collective rights
This theory is built upon the notion that political liberalism indeed is compatible with the moral claims of both peoples and persons. Political recognition is key here, both in the sense of recognizing the individual person as well as the recognition of the collective group. The basis of recognizing a collective can be translated into a principle of toleration, not only for the sake of toleration but to politically recognize a group as autonomous within the state itself. This theory indeed makes the rights of individual as well as collective rights important. The system needs to have room for the toleration and recognition of both sets of political agents. Seymour argues for the endorsement of political liberalism because off the political conception of peoples, the weight is put on peoples in a political sense and not metaphysical. I have mentioned the significance of an institutional identity earlier in this theory section, why this is substantial is because of the role it plays for the political understanding of the autonomy of a group. Seymour notes that although these institutions are made to be understood in a political sense, it does not imply that the institution is of a governmental type. The significance is to be of the elements that brings a group together, for example language, shared history, shared cultural markers and so on. The Sámi share an institutional identity, they have a common flag, share cultural markers and history, this categorizes them to have an institutional identity. Furthermore, when peoples have become understood as a group that embody common characters through the passage of time, not to say that they are incapsulated, shielded from outer influence. But they, like any other group, face crossroads and pressure from outer forces or peoples, Seymour argues that this is the time that the majority or international community need to show these groups the political respect they are entitled to. This however is not to say that these sorts of groups can disrespect or violate other peoples autonomy. It merely means that there has to be a mutual respect of recognition between peoples and persons and persons and peoples. There has to be an understanding that a group of peoples does not survive without the collective. Individuals make an active choice to be part of a group of people. For example, a lot of Sámi people who identify themselves as Sámi today might not have grown up with the culture or language. The will of connecting to an origin belonging to kin before this person becomes a choice and therefore should be respected. However, this poses other legal problems but the philosophical idea of this issue still stands. A person makes an active choice to be a part of a group of people or it makes an active choice to not be part of said group. This has to be respected nevertheless, and in its path forms a collective will to survive as a group(Seymour, 2017:263-266).
Seymour poses yet another important factor to his account, and that is the factor of a person to be able to identify with multiple identities. A Sámi person might identify as both Sámi and Swedish at the same time. This cannot be used to their disadvantage to say that if the person identifies with the majority society, that the person should not have the opportunity to be politically recognized as part of the Sámi and therefore should not be able to claim the special rights assigned to such a group of peoples. The significance here, and also why I made the choice of using this theory for my thesis, is because of the importance Seymour lays upon the notion of a multination State. Seymour has extended John Rawls's theory of The Law of Peoples and he has done so by adding on Political Liberalism to this theory. Complex societies is of key here, although Seymour states that this idea of a complex society does not equal moral relativism. He argues that the main obstacles for the institutionalization of collective rights is no longer valid. The worries of chaos contributed by the implementations of collective rights where indigenous peoples make demands upon demands are in Seymours opinion a smokescreen. It does not hold any critical value. Once the smoke disappears it will show that the demands claimed can be legally granted and is not so unattainable as opponents of this right has worried(Seymour, 2017:268-269).
While stating clearly that this is a theoretical book, Seymour expresses that it does take part in the political struggle that the issue with minority majority nationalism creates and through the acknowledgment of this issue seeks to find a balance between the two, he also states that it is an illusory approach to think that we can transcend the reality of removing majority minority nationalism. Thus, making this theory an attempt of facing the reality and finding a way to work around the issue to create a balanced relationship of political recognition for nation-states to transcend into a multination-state. The grasp that some countries hold on the nation-state model shows that they are not willing to implement collective rights because it challenges the nationalistic idea of how a nation should operate through their political philosophies. Seymour uses Germany, France, Britain and the United States as examples to make this point clear, he argues that nationalism has always been an important aspect of their political philosophies. This is the reason why we detect such resistance from philosophers residing in these States, they never explicitly discuss the issues of collective rights because it cannot even be fathomed. Seymour makes the conclusion that this is why we see such a resistance and nervousness when discussing the collective rights of indigenous people. He goes on to argue that the problem lies within the idea that ethical individualism cannot be questioned. It cannot pose a threat towards others because we all are
entitled to it, thus it becomes a form of nationalism and by posing collective rights as something that can challenge the rights of the individual, thinkers draws the line too quickly on this matter and it becomes an uncomfortable topic to discuss for many. He argues that the axiological pluralism on which his theory is based upon is designed to fix this error that other theories has not solved. He indeed keeps the individual rights, but instead of making collective rights fit the box of individualism he makes it a new box so they can work together(Seymour, 2017:270-272).
4
. Analysis
4.1 Historical background of the Sámi
The Swedish State have driven a harsh line of politics towards their indigenous population for a long time, therefor I have come to the conclusion that the history of the Sámi are of significant meaning, hence this rather lengthy section of the history of colonization and settlement politics driven by the Swedish crown.
The history of the Sámi people begins approximately at 10.000 B.C in what we today call Scandinavia. Small groups of hunter gatherer's started settling in the northern parts of Finland and the Kola Peninsula. The first settlement of Sámi in Sweden is dated to 8000 B.C and in the year 98 A.C the roman historian Tacitus wrights about a people he calls Fenni that lives in the northern parts of Scandinavia, they are hunters and dress in clothes made from animal hide. The Islandic viking tales describe how the vikings deals in trading with the Sámi and this is dated to be around 900 A.C. In the year 1300, the Swedish king starts the colonization of territories north of what we today call Hälsingland(a Swedish province). This is also when Sápmi becomes interesting for the Swedish crown because of its wild game and natural resource. It is also during the 1300 or 1328 to be exact that the Swedish King starts to collect taxes from the Sámi. Although the colonization of Sápmi is underway during this time, the people who move to inhabit the territory of the northern most parts of Hälsingland are not allowed to disturb or cause problems for the Sámi or their labour, whether it is their reindeers, hunting or other forms of occupation. In the year 1340 the settlers are granted rights to inhabit and colonize Sápmi, this is legalized by the King himself, it is also know that the Sámi starts to loose more of their territories inhabited since 10.000 B.C. Time moves on and in 1442 the Danish king establishes a new law, which includes the Sámi people of Sweden as well as the Swedish people, this new law controls the rights to fishing and hunting. King Kristoffer decides that the rights will only be reserved for persons owning land, which the Sámi did not do during this
time because of their nomadic lifestyle. Time moving forward will include more and more infringes on the Sámi people and their territory. However almost a hundred years later, in 1543 the Swedish King Gustav Vasa verifies the Sámi peoples right to hunting and fishing in the connected territories where they live and have lived through generations(samer.se NY).
The 1600s will give the Sámi more troubles, silver, gold and iron-ore will be found within their territories, other natural resources will become of greater value which will force the Sámi to move out of the way, settlers are allowed to forcefully expel any Sámi person entering their parish, the christening of the Sámi will become yet another violation on their self-determination. The Church believes that the Shamans are connected to Satan through their drums, Jojk is forbidden because of the belief that the one who jojks can talk to Satan through their singing, Sieidi's are destroyed to cut the bonds between the Sámi and their religion. Many Sámi people are condemned to death for sacrificing or praying to their gods. Drums are burnt on stakes all throughout the northern parts of Sweden and an increasingly harsher assimilation politics is now forced upon the Sámi(Kroik, NY samer.se).
During the 1800s the Sámi become more exotified, they are being displayed in human Zoos, their rights are infringed even more and to be considered a 'true' Sámi you should wear traditional clothes, own reindeers and be nomadic, thus expelling many persons from their Sámi heritage. The 1900s brings even more trouble for the Sámi. The nomadic schools for children are created, this is where language and the "lapp ska vara lapp" politics is at its worst. The children who have parents that are nomadic and work with reindeers are collected and moved to special schools called nomadic schools, the children who went to these schools did not know how to speak Swedish but the lectures where all taught in Swedish. The children of Sámi parents that lived in fixed locations who did not own reindeers where also moved to specific schools, they where never taught together with the Swedish children, and the level of education where not as high since children of Sámi parents where believed to not have the same intellect as a Swedish child. The children where not allowed to use their own language during their time in the boarding-schools and where beaten if they did so, this has created the issue we see today. Many Sámi people do not have the ability to express themselves in their own language, many do not even have the basic skills in their language and many do not even know their Sámi heritage. Because of the strict politics that was driven during the 1900s many decided to hide their cultural background to forget old pains and not let their children have to go through the same pain they went through as children. In 1992 the Swedish
government decided to give the Sámi people their own governmental institution(Sámediggi), although governmental, the state is fast in clarifying that this is not a question of an institution that gives the Sámi the right to self-determination. With one hand they give the Sámi people this institution and with the other hand they take away the right to the hunting and fishing right within their territories. The 1900s is a tumultuous time that is riddled by multiple violations and court cases(samer.se NY).
The years after the 2000s is better but still deficient, the first Sámi language law goes into effect, the Sámi are now allowed by law to use their language when they are in contact with government officials or other institutions that are governmental driven. This law also gives the Sámi rights to have their children in Sámi driven schools and elderly care in their own language. In 2007 the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is voted to pass, this declaration is only a recommendation. Although a recommendation it states that the Sámi people should have a special right to their ancestral lands and territories. In 2010 the Swedish government imposes a new law concerning minority languages(SFS 2009:724)(samer.se NY).
The history professor Lars Elenius lifts the Swedish church as a contributory factor to the loss of language the Sámi people has faced throughout history. He builds the argument on Swedens idea of a uniform and nationalistic landscape that has been so distinguished throughout history and how it has affected indigenous identities. The history has had a great effect on the Sámi peoples rights to their cultural heritage. Because of the harsh assimilation politics that was carried out against the population there has been a rapid loss of bilingual persons within the Sámi community. Bilingualism was seen as something bad needed to be fostered out, which resulted in that many bilingual persons chose to keep quiet about their knowledge in Sámi and for some even their Sámi identity. Therefor the minority law anchors in a historical context that we cannot disregard. The national identity within the nation state of Sweden has had its effects on the Sámi population, the idea that Sweden is a state with a common institutional identity with a shared cultural belonging could not be further from the truth, but historically it is how Sweden has handled the multinationally amongst its subjects. The contributory factor of the historical context in which the Swedish politics has handled its citizens membership of different minority groups becomes apparent even in the policies of todays minority law. The idea of a uniformed Sweden where the hegemony of a people is still seen as an ideal in many ways(Sköld, Axelsson(red.) 2005:143-144).
Elenius has contributed the historical factors to the minority law to four different time periods and their appurtenant description. Between 1330-1870 the linguistic perspective was challenged by religious factors that wanted to provide a uniformed linguistic of the people to take the word of god. The time between 1870-1950 formed a conformist-nationalistic politics for language, this time is colored by a Swedish hegemony. This is where the assimilation of the Sámi takes a new turn and becomes stronger in a political sense where the Sámi should now be Swedish in a linguistic matter. From the 1960 up until 1999 Sweden takes a new identity in their linguistic politics that develops more liberal nationalistic tendencies. The Sámi languages gains a political recognition resulting in changes in the school reform of the Sámi children. The state makes the effort to take a step towards linguistic rights for the Children and their parents.
Then comes the post-nationalistic era that starts with the year 2000 and forward to today. This era is colored by the entrance of the European Union and the effects this has had on its member States. The international recognition of the five minorities within Sweden is one of the key factors to the development of the political recognition of special human rights of the Sámi people(Sköld, Axelsson (red.) 2005:146-154).
4.2 Collective Rights
Collective rights has a difficult ring to it, human rights have become defined as a right that a person as an individual own and have the right to uphold. Collective rights are harder to define because of their focus on the individual in connection to their cultural group, hence putting the focus on the group and not so much the separate individuals within the group. There have been numerous discussions on this matter, many because of the implication that group rights enable harsh or cruel cultural traits and thus making it possible to be passed as legal in the eye of the state. In Rhona K. Smiths book on international human rights she has written a chapter on minority rights, in this chapter she presents a definition on the meaning of the word minority decided by the UN, they have described the meaning of the word like this:
"a group of citizens of a State constituting a numerical minority and in a non-dominant position in that State, endowed with ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics which differ from those of the majority of the population, having a sense of solidarity with one another, motivated, if only implicitly, by a collective will to survive and whose aim is to achieve equality with the majority
This definition is what will color all claims that can be made by a group. It is through this definition that the legality of a group becomes apparent. States should bow to the weight of this definition if they have ratified conventions like the ICCPR. Sweden who has both ratified ICCPR as well as the FCPNM has even more eyes upon them concerning issues of groups that can be placed under the minority umbrella, although we need to note that these conventions are a recommendation and therefor Sweden has the opportunity to choose if and how they plan to implement the recommended rights. Since Sweden has ratified said conventions and also recognized the Sámi people as the indigenous peoples of Sweden(1977) it means that Sweden does have a special duty to fulfill rights that adhere to the Sámi because of this special definition as the Indigenous people. The
constitutional law SFS 2009:724 does fulfill and honor the rights of minorities but it does not fulfill the rights concerning the collective rights of the indigenous people(sametinget.se ,2020).
The key thing to note when the rights of minorities are discussed is the importance that the word protecting plays, why does Sweden and any other state that has adopted, for example, ICCPR a duty to protect the right for minorities to preserve their culture and language. The scope of article 27 in the ICCPR makes this rather clear. Persons belonging to a minority shall not be denied the right to preserve their culture or linguistic markers, and therefor be politically recognized by the nation state. As I said perviously, the key thing here is the opportunity for indigenous peoples and minorities to be given the capacity from the State for the survival and development of their cultural markers and language, thus enriching a State's makeup in the process. The point of a States
compliance to the article is that they need to be able to assure that no minority is in effect of the State actions suffering from oppression by laws or measures taken by that said State(Smith, 2016:353-355).
You could argue that the Sámi indeed are a "homogenous" group. I have put homogenous within quotation marks because homogenous suggests that the group is a uniformed group, but the Sámi like any other peoples are different and unique within their own group, they have different opinions and views, of ways of living, some live more traditional life's than others and so on, but for the lack of a better word I will use homogenous. Why I say that they are homogenous is because of the difference they cast from the majority society in Sweden. They share a common culture, they have different languages, although those are also similar to one another, they share other traits that are common and therefore distinguish themselves from the majority in a specific manner. Because they are a group within the boarders of the Swedish State that indeed can be separated from the
majority by the cultural identity markers they share makes them susceptible to be categorized as a people who are minority, although this is a false statement since the Sámi are an indigenous group and therefor should have special political recognition as such. Although, protected through international law and namely article 27 in the ICCPR, the group in itself can face issues with recognition because they in fact are assimilated to the majority and therefor bare traits from the majority, making it possible to argue the importance of political recognition as a peoples(Seymour, 2017: 3-4).
Since Sweden is a state, like all other states on this earth, with limited resources as well as territory, the chances of giving back the Sámi peoples territory as well as full autonomy from the Swedish State is out of the question according to the State. I want to note that this is a contested matter for many reasons and could surely use a vigorous discussion. Because of this, Sweden has to be able to recognize the Sámi as a homogenous group, hence giving the Sámi all rights reserved to them. Specifically because they are a group that could, if the chance was to be given to them, be an autonomous group. You could suggest that it is not fair that the majority people of Sweden are fully recognized as an autonomous people and therefore also enjoy all rights reserved, whilst the Sámi are minimally recognized and thus supposed to blend in with the majority because they happen to be a part of the Swedish State. What Sweden should do is to recognize the Sámi as an autonomous group by giving them the opportunity to be part of the state apparatus, thus giving them both recognition and also representation in the Swedish parliament so that they can be part of the policy making surrounding issues concerning their collective rights. This lack of representation within the parliament causes not only a knowledge gap for the Sámi as a group, but it also presents a lack of resources applied and actually used to give the Sámi people the rights and resources they legally are entitled to enjoy as the indigenous people of Sweden(Seymour, 2017:10-12). The Sámi has an institutional identity, they have languages, north Sámi, south Sámi, Lule Sámi(there are more variations), cultural traits like Jojk and Doudji, they have their own flag and their own governmental institution Sámediggi to name a few things(sametinget.se,2020). This means that they are to be recognized as a people in the context of international law, by putting the pressure of recognizing them as a collective that should enjoy the specific rights applied to them in an international context should be applied in the national legal system as well. The fact that the Sámi people as well as the international arena describes them as an indigenous people with specific cultural traits and a common use of traditional lands should be enough for Sweden to acknowledge
them as a people with collective rights and more importantly self-determination(Seymore, 2017:10-12).
Sweden is a state party to the FCPNM, which holds recommendations for how a State should honor the duties they have towards the minorities within their State. The framework states that parties of this convention undertake to guarantee the rights and freedoms of minorities residing within the States territory to be able to enjoy all rights reserved for them by international human rights law. In article ten paragraph one of the convention, it states that all parties under the convention undertake to guarantee the rights for minorities to use their language in private and in public both orally and in writing(SÖ 2000:2)(FCPNM/10:1,10). In Article 5:1 of the FCPNM it states:
"The Parties undertake to promote the conditions necessary for persons belonging to national minorities to maintain and develop their culture, and to preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage"(SÖ 2000:2) (FCPNM/
5:1, 6).
Through this international recommendation Sweden has formed their national laws, but what has to be noted is the fact that Sweden once again wants to present the Sámi as a minority and not as the Indigenous people they in fact are, this poses a problem for the Sámi people's right to their
collective rights since they are prescribed a definition that lacks certain key points to their collective rights as the Indigenous people of Sweden. Considering the massive loss of persons able to speak and teach the linguistics of Sámi to future generations, the Sámi face a major issue in claiming the right of language as the indigenous people because of Sweden's definition of them as a minority. So what brings us to consider that language loss is something we as the majority owe to help the Sámi gain control over and help restore? The key argument here is collective rights, if the group is recognized in a legal and political sense as an indigenous people and adhere to a common will to protect and develop their language and culture, the majority and the State have the legal obligation and duty to help them achieve such goals(Lantto, Mörkenstam, 2008:37-38). What I believe to be important here is the political recognition of a collective, admitting that they indeed are an
autonomous group with a common will to survive and by doing so share an institutional identity. This leads to the admittance of the legitimacy of collective rights(Seymour, 2017:272).
The standards that a state sets for itself concerning rights of minorities and indigenous people or just rights in general are not always as easy to fulfill in reality as it is on paper. Because of
the ever changing waves of society, rules set needs to be flexible so that new observations are taken into account as they unravel. Goals set will change as well as the road towards making them, this is a reality that members of groups, whether it is indigenous, minority or majority, needs to be aware of so that they can change how they relate to the goals set(Andersson et al (red.) 2014:89). The individual and collective rights are anchored through five pillars of rights, the individuals right to integrity and freedom, solidarity for vulnerable persons or peoples, a humans right to not be violated, all humans equal value and equality between the sexes. All these rights are either claimed as individual or as a collective/group right, what these rights mean are that no matter what situation, persons cannot claim these rights in order for them to violate another humans rights. This becomes rather complex when analyzed through the context of reality, the total freedom to rights cannot be in a complete form, there has to be limitations to what extent persons can claim rights for their own. This limitations need to come in a correct and clear form so that no violations against vulnerable groups in society becomes norm(Andersson et al (red.) 2014:103-105). The political-executive limitation that the Swedish State has applied to the rights of individuals belonging to the Sámi comes in the form of management municipalities, these municipalities are what the State has used in order to form a barrier for how and where rights of the Sámi can be claimed. In the next section I will present what such a municipality is and what rules they are set to operate by.
4.3 Management Municipalities
Sweden has made the decision to create management municipalities that will work specifically around the minorities residing within their municipality to help them achieve the level of equality to rights whit the majority society. Why a municipality will rank as managing one is in concern to the number of people residing within the municipalities that are a part of a minority, this does not have to be Sámi people, but can be any of the five different minorities, Sámi, Roma people, Jews, Finn-Sweeds, and Tornedalingar. The municipalities receive a government grant from the State that has to go towards helping the minority economically to provide different institutions like, help with education, care for the elders, childcare and so on. What these different things are and how they are prioritized are different for all the municipalities.
In the year 2009 Sweden adopted a new Minority law which would give Sweden's five minority groups more rights as well as strengthen their position in society. This law had a re-model and was updated in the year 2018 as well as 2019, the law has some additions and clarifications added. The
law is called Lag (SFS 2009:724) om nationella minoriteter och minoritetsspråk, the additions goes under these numbers 2018:1367 or 2019:938, and are found in the original document, the law regulates and supports the Sámi communities and the other minorities rights to develop and keep their language as well as their culture. In order for this law to be upheld Sweden has put the municipalities in charge of seeing the law through, although this does not mean that the state has no responsibility, it merely means that the municipalities are the first responders, if I may use that expression, in the development of the institutions that are there to make sure that the laws and rights are granted. By doing so, these municipalities work with the minorities in a consulting manner to develop and uphold the rights given to them by this law(SFS 2009:724).
In article 4 the law states that the general institutions holds a special responsibility to uphold the rights granted by this law, they need to have institutions that promotes and encourages the Sámi to use their language and develop their culture within the Swedish State. It is specified within this law that children bear a special right to develop their language skills and that particular regard shall be placed in order for their right to be fulfilled(SFS 2009:724).
Article 5 states how municipalities need to take measures that assure that the minorities are consulted in matters regarding them when new decisions are being determined. The Sámi has to be given the opportunities to give their consent or opinions on decisions regarding them or decisions that could have impact on their rights to example land and water, and shall if possible, always be consulted during meetings with special members of their group. In paragraph A of the same article, the law also states that children shall be given special regard when consulting the group with questions regarding them and their future(SFS 2009:724).
In 2019 Sámediggi and Stockholm County council published a report concerning the efficiency of the municipalities concerning the rights of the minorities of Sweden. The report is set out to present what the minorities and the workers within the institutions and their professional thoughts, this has been done by surveys and interviews with both governmental employees as well as members of the minority groups. Because of the statements made in law 2009:724 the municipalities have both positive and negative duties to fulfill for the Sámi citizens of their municipality(Report, 2019:7 :9).
I will now present some of the findings of this report concerning statements made by government officials as well as representatives from the Sámi. When discussing rights concerning the chance for the Sámi to be consulted in matters regarding them, the results showed that although many
representatives where invited to meetings and could present questions for the meetings agenda it did not apply for all municipalities, and only half of the municipalities have some sort of routine for feedback on questions raised during the meetings. The report also showed that children and young adults where almost never attending the meetings, although the law clearly states that the involvement of children and young adults are to be considered of most significance. The report shows that the decisions concerning the Sámi population are received with more care than other minorities and also shows that they have a better influence on decisions regarding them.
Government officials deemed there to be different expectations concerning what the consultations should bring to the table for the minorities, they also made the point that there has to be different forms of consultations and that these sort of meetings need to be tailored so they fit the agenda of the consultation at hand. They also made the statement that there is a difficulty in finding persons willing to participate in the consultations and that children and young adults are the hardest ones to engage. Factors like meeting-techniques, commission, chosen time for the meetings, relevant agendas, and who to involve was sometimes hard for the government officials to puzzle together. The minorities had a shared consensus of how a well functioning consultation meeting should be. A statement was made that there is a lack of knowledge from the government officials concerning the Sámi but also the rules and regulations for how such a meeting should be conducted. The minorities shared desire to partake in the preparations stage for the meetings and to partake in the development of strategies and other forms of action plans. They also wished for more well informed personal and politicians. The minorities also stated that the consultation meetings are not something that the government agency can decide to omit, they also stressed that many members of minority groups does not have the information on what rights they are entitled to(Report, 2019:7 :10-11).
Language and cultural rights is aided by law 2009:724, municipalities and counties have made the executive decisions to pay special attention to the minorities celebratory days like February 6, the national holiday of the Sámi, they also provide books and magazines on the minority languages in libraries. Other efforts such as pre-schools, schools, language education and elderly care are other forms of actions made to help the Sámi preserve their language and culture. When the reference groups where asked about language and cultural identity they responded as followed:
The government officials stated that there needs to be more effort put into finding and employing persons with skills in the minority languages and that this should be seen as a merit. When
recruiting personal in both schools, government agencies and for care such as for elders and hospitals, language skills in one of the minority languages should be asked for.
Representatives from the Sámi pressed on the matter of shortage among teachers able to teach in the Sámi languages. They also critiqued the municipalities and stated that the shortage cannot me used as an excuse for the children to not receive the education at all. They also pressed on the importance of Sámi integration in curriculum and that Doudji should be part of the subject of crafts in school. When analyzing the result of the organizational work in the municipality and counties work with the minorities, Sámediggi and Stockholm County Council found that the reference group of government officials stated that they found a lack of interest and knowledge within their own organization. They stated that the lack of interest and knowledge for the Sámi causes issues when they try to authorize issues. This can be contributed to the low form of knowledge about the Sámi and the lack of clear goals and guidelines for what needs to be done with said issues.
Although the Sámi where not asked to answer the question on the organizational work, the Sámi has stated that the gap of knowledge about them as the indigenous people of Sweden and the lack of knowledge connected to their rights as that group causes issues, not only in the day to day life but also concerning their engagement with the government agencies(Report 2019:7 :12-13)
This information is relevant to my thesis because it concerns the rights of the group to make autonomous decisions, this right enables the group to strengthen their institutional identity and aids the group to come closer to a form of self-determination. Why self-determination is important is because of the political legitimization it brings to a collective group. Through self-determination a group has the right to make executive decisions concerning their development as a collective, like the survival of their culture and language(Smith,2016:366). In this next section I will describe why language is important to the survival of the indigenous identity.
4.4 Language and Identity
In article 4 of the Swedish minority and language law, it states that the majority carries a special duty to support and protect the development of the national minorities rights to language as well as holding a special duty to support and protect the cultural and linguistic development for children of the minority(SFS 2009:724).
The Swedish minority law, identifies that municipalities and the State are the negative and positive duty bearers with the obligations concerning language and cultural development for the
Sámi people in Sweden. To meet the standards of this obligation the State and municipalities have to make certain efforts like, having roadsigns in Sámi, present information in the Sámi languages, value people who have knowledge in the languages when employing new staff for positions within the governmental institutions, consult and value Sámi perspectives when taking political decisions and so on(sametinget.se, 2019).
In the section of previous research I presented a doctoral thesis by Kristina Belančić. In her research she will show that the pupils do use Sámi within their day to day lives, although the usage is mostly done by writing and least by actual conversations, when they use it in conversation it is with their older relatives and not as much with peers. However the study shows that there is a sense of pride for the pupils that they know and speak one of the Sámi languages, pupils that has not had any kind of knowledge of the languages before starting the education list the language as their mother tongue after finishing the education(Belančić, 2020:vi) Although she understood the pupils to use their language less frequently in their day to day lives, she found that culture-based teaching was a key factor to the children learning of their language. This culture-based teaching could be used in various learning topics, but the teachers themselves found that this way of learning was most effective when used in a combination of the outdoors and less structured activities. The children used their Sámi more often in this kind of setting than in the more strict environment that comes with learning maths for example. The reason for this is because of the children various levels of knowledge previous to starting their education. Note that this is a curriculum that is available for children who go to the Sámi school that is run by the Sámi school board. Although connected to the Sámi school curriculum, schools in management municipalities can apply to the Sámi school board to take part in the specific curriculum that they provide for pupils outside of the Sámi school system(Belančić, 2020:51).
In connection to the doctoral thesis I have presented above I wanted to extent on the reason why language is so important in the process of finding one's cultural identity. The doctoral thesis above as well as the Swedish minority law focuses on the significance of children's chances of learning their native tongue. Why I find it to be of most importance to present this is because of the gap of knowledge I have found to be present when discussing rights for indigenous populations that are a part of the majority society(as they all are). For the reason being that these people many times are submerged into the national identity of the majority society and because of this reason already have a citizenship that comes with a national and cultural identity, many argue that this should be
sufficient enough. Although I understand how generic this statement is, we hear it more than often in both political debates and our everyday lives. Now the one thing we cannot forget about this statement is that it is always presented from the majority point of view, and this comes of most importance for the understanding of this thesis.
In the introduction to Joy Hendry's book Reclaiming Culture, Hendry explains the reason why she set out to write her book. She found it to be of most importance to lend her voice to a movement that was bringing the diversity of the world to light and the reclaiming of culture for persons belonging to indigenous populations. The discovery of ones identity is a gem ready to be excavated from the clutter that colonization has left behind. The reclaiming of culture and language is an effort to be made for future generations so that they do not have to be left in a world where they do not find belonging(Hendry, 2005:1,4). In her study she also found that children of native parents who learned their native tongue and also got to use their native tongue in other subjects as well generally learned better, they also gained a sense of pride and became more confident in themselves. This way of learning not only presents a great way for the children to learn other subjects other than their own language but it also connects them to their culture. Many schools that are focused on native learning also adds cultural knowledge to the curriculum(Hendry, 2005:112-113). The Sámi schools in Sweden has doudji on the curriculum as well as how to prepare a reindeer after slaughter and other forms of knowledge that is vital for the preservation of the Sámi culture. This is something that Sámi children attending regular schools in the management municipalities can ask to add to the their curriculum, but these sorts of add ons to the curriculum have to be applied for with the Sámi school board so that they can grant special fundings for teachers, material and so on as well as provide them with the special curriculum it needs(sameskolstyrelsen.se, 2020). What needs to be remembered here is the vital form of information that language passes on, not just in the form of linguistic knowledge, but language creates a natural transition into understanding other forms of cultural identifiers like, music, stories, how to look after the nature, cultural behavior and norms. All of this is connected in the web of knowledge through one red thread, and that is language. Without this red thread, Hendry argus, the culture dies out along with its people(Hendry, 2005: 116-117).
In the following section I will provide three different interviews, although shortened they still provide us with information of the effects of learning ones language and the effect that management municipalities have on Sámi people.
Interview 1:
In an interview with samer.se Peter Steggo says that to him learning Sami is personal and it connects him to his history and identity. When he first started to make himself understood in Sami it was an outmost joy. A whole new world opened up and he could feel like the puzzle pieces started to fall into place. He says that it is a magical feeling and at the same time feels natural to use the Sami as a communicative tool. Steggo did not learn Sami(Pite Sami) from his father during his childhood. Although disappointed that he did not learn anything more than to great people in Sami as a child, he understands why his father may not have chosen to teach him and his brothers the language as children. It was part of the day and age at the time, many people did not understand that they robbed their children a part of their identity by not speaking Sami to them, Steggo says. Steggo studied two other variations of Sami before starting to learn his own variation which is Pite Sami. The reason for this is that Pite Sami was not taught at the time since it did not hold significants enough considering it did not have any form of orthography at the time. The orthography is now available and was approved in august 2019. Steggo was one of the people working on the project to create material for the Pite Sami to be available for learning, the project was created and financed by Sámediggi(Hällgren, 2020 samer.se).
Interview 2:
Another interview that I have chosen to integrate into this thesis is an interview done by Camilla Andersson. She has interviewed a boy(Anton) and his mother(Lena) that had reached out to their municipality to claim the right to learn Sami in school for the young boy. The mother says she was surprised when the boy had asked to learn Sami in a meeting with the boys teacher. The teacher had then bluntly asked if the boy had the right to learn the language and the mother had answered without hesitation that of course he had the right.
The family had lost their right to their Sámi identity during the 'lapp skall vara lapp' political era in Sweden. Since Sámi persons who during this era where living in a fixed location lost their identity because of the rigid ideas of what a person who where Sámi should get by and how they should live. People where not allowed to choose whether or not to keep their identity or loos it, it was something that was placed upon them from above.
Lena praises the municipality(Lycksele Municipality, part of Västerbotten) on their diligent work to create platforms for the children to learn their language and also form a Sámi identity through doudji and other forms of cultural expressions. She also presses on the importance that language has
on one's identity. Lena expresses in the interview that in the effort to erase the Sámi expressions of a person the government took away the language. For the government to not help in the restoration of the identity loss(language and other expressions) that so many Sámi people have experienced is deplorable(Andersson, 2017 samer.se).
Interview 3:
David Kroik is interview in his home that he shares with his Wife and his two children. David takes his children Jonah and Lisa and travels to Snåsa in Norway a couple of weeks a year where they have a preschool completely in South Sámi that are open for visitors. He does this so his children get the amount of hours to fulfill their need for the Sámi language. The older daughter Lisa goes to preschool and only meets a special pedagog once a week, although assigned to help the children develop their sense of Sámi identity and language the pedagog does not speak Sami. So to help his daughter get the opportunity to use her native tongue in the school environment, David participates as a language resource during the afternoon in his daughters school. There are teachers that visits the school every now and then to help out with the language education but these teachers are not there as a fixed part of the educational system. Even though his daughters situation has not had that much support of the law 2009:724, David point out the importance of having the right on paper. He states that if you do not have the right on paper, than nothing will change. David hopes for a clarification in the law so that there cannot be any matter of interpretation for how the rights should be applied. David also states in the interview that there needs to be more willingness from the States to make the effort of finding and educating personal for the specific purposes of educating the children in their native tongue. David drives his children to Norway because of his strong belief that the Sámi language has such a central part for the Sámi cultural heritage and he does not want his children to grow up without this part of their cultural identity has he did as a child(Andersson, 2017 samer.se).
The classificatory schemes that are applied to the legality of a membership for a person belonging to a minority is also what justifies the claim to such membership. A person not bearing the right tools for such a justification becomes left out from being able to claim resources applicable by law to such groups. The Swedish governments have applied the same sett of markers for a person to fit into this form of Sámihood for hundreds of years. It is of course important to have a form of distinction between who is and who is not, but to leave the rules unchanged and to see them applied in the same way for hundreds of years does not benefit the ones who are in dire need to be
