The relevance of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to vibrant, viable and sustainable Sámi communities

Abstract

The chapter departs from that domestic legislators have demonstrated that they are either incapable of or unwilling to cater for vibrant, viable and sustainable Sámi communities. Indeed, they may counteract this objective. International law on Indigenous rights, on the other hand, is a normative framework promising to be conducive to sustainable Sámi societies. Thus, allowing the international Indigenous rights regime to impregnate domestic law could be a most useful tool for promoting the said end, the chapter asserts. This, it further posits, requires cognition of what Indigenous rights are at their core. The chapter aspires to provide some insight into this knowledge, by explaining how Indigenous rights can be properly understood if mindful of that they stem from who Indigenous peoples are. The specific nature of Indigenous rights in turn provides that a principal objective of the Indigenous rights regime is to allow Indigenous peoples to remain distinct. The chapter concludes by explaining how implementing this fundament of the international Indigenous rights regime bestows Sámi communities with private and public autonomy, allowing them to be vibrant, viable and sustainable.