Sámi Political Shifts. From Assimilation via Invisibility to Indigenization?

Abstract

Sami Parliaments were established in 1989 in Norway, in 1994 in Sweden and in 1997 in Finland. Representative Sami institutions are regarded as a condition for Sami self-determination. State formation in the Scandinavian context has been enacted through several historical dynamics. First, nation-building relied on the assimilation or segregation of other cultural groups, through coercive measures aiming at making these groups invisible and powerless in the larger society. This chapter explains Sami political development. Through years of fighting invisibility in public policy, the Sami have made themselves visible, demanding positions of political power and the realization of Sami rights. The traditional living area of the Sami spreads across the northern part of Finland, Norway, Sweden and on the Kola peninsula in Russia.