Report highlights threat climate change poses for Sami culture
A new report commissioned by the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland emphasizes the urgent need to establish a comprehensive knowledge base to help the Sámi people navigate the transformation of the Arctic by climate change.
“The Sámi culture is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” said a statement on the Finnish government’s website.
“The migration of the Sámi population from their home region threatens the future of the Sámi’s traditional livelihoods and the opportunities to adapt to climate change.”
The Sámi are an Arctic Indigenous people whose traditional homeland, known as Sápmi, spans the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia’s Kola Peninsula.
In Finland, there are an estimated 10,000 Sámi.
In 2019, the Finnish government agreed to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which officially launched in October 2021. Modeled partly on Canada’s commission, the Finnish initiative aims to address the impacts of past assimilation policies and the historical relationship between the Sámi and the Finnish state, which continue to affect Sámi language, culture, and rights.
‘Here in the North we are suffering enormously’
Pirita Näkkäläjärvi, the president of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, said recognition of the need for more robust data is long overdue.
“There is still far too little information on the traditional way of life of the Sámi people and on the home region of the Sámi people,” she said in a statement this week.
“I’m concerned that here in the North we are suffering enormously from the growing uncertainty caused by climate change, but we are largely on the sidelines of research projects related to the green transition, research funding and other various activities.”
The loss of nature poses a serious threat to traditional Sámi ways of life, including hunting, fishing, gathering, handicrafts, and reindeer herding, she said.
“Due to climate change, extreme weather conditions have increased in the North,” she said.
“After a difficult winter, we’ve just experienced a very dry and hot summer. Uncertainty and lack of predictability are the new normal. Climate change and adaptation to it are a fundamental human rights issue for the Sámi.”
Program needed to safeguard traditional lifestyles: recommendation
The report suggests that a Sámi climate adaptation program is crucial for helping the Sámi people preserve their way of life amid rapid environmental changes, something Näkkäläjärvi said they are working towards.
“We are preparing the program together with numerous partners,” she said.
“The program must be based on researched knowledge and the traditional knowledge of the Sámi people. The matter is urgent, because adaptation to climate change is already commonplace in all the Sámi’s traditional livelihoods.”
Comments, tips or story ideas? Contact Eilís at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Wildlife concerns still lingering in Arctic Canada as public hearings into Baffinland’s expansion resume, CBC News
Finland: Sámi knowledge helps developing climate policies, The Independent Barents Observer
Greenland: Canada and Greenland sign letter of intent on marine conservation area in Arctic, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: As Arctic heats up, some Sámi resist change while others embrace it, Blog by Mia Bennett
Russia: Oral histories unlock impact of climate change on nomadic life in Arctic Russia, says study, Eye on the Arctic
Sweden: Land use rights a key issue in this year’s Sami parliamentary elections in Sweden, Radio Sweden
United States: Conservation groups sue government over Alaska mining road, The Associated Press
