Sápmi (area)

Sápmi (or same- Ätnam ) is the Sami name for the settlement area of ​​the seeds of an indigenous people of northern Fennoscandia. The "Land of seeds " after the self- understanding of this nation includes the landscape Lapland north of the Arctic Circle in Fennoscandia, including most of the Kola Peninsula in Russia and extends to the south of Scandinavia to Engerdal in the Norwegian county of Hedmark and to Idre in the Swedish province of Dalarna. In the southern part of the border Sápmi is identified by the areas where grazing reindeer.

Seeds in Sápmi

The seeds or Sámi are an indigenous people, which was formerly called " rag ". Sápmi never had its own law, and now divided between the four countries Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In a resurgent national consciousness of the indigenous people is the generally accepted Sami flag was designed in 1986 today to see more often. The pattern with the circle is a sun (red) and moon symbol (blue). The other colors are the traditional colors of the Sami. However, the seeds are today only a minority of the population, which accounts for about 4%.

The population density Sápmi is approximately 2 inhabitants per km ², with the vast majority of the population lives in the cities on the coasts. Outside the cities, the population density is therefore factually close to 0 Moreover, for many years the rural areas suffer from a significant migration to the cities.

Nature, culture, economy, transport

Political position

The seeds are common concerns in a political program for expression, which was adopted in 1980 in Tromso. The program includes the following principles:

"We seeds are a people whose identity is to be cleaved by state borders. We have our own history, our traditions, its own culture and our own language. From our ancestors we have acquired the right to land and water and our own economic activities. It is our inalienable right to protect our own economic activities and our communities in accordance with our conditions of life and to develop, and together we will preserve our territories, our natural resources and our national heritage fürkommende generations. "

As you can see this program, the seeds seek in the ideal case for autonomy.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Sámi are politically active and strive for recognition of their rights as an indigenous people on a national and international level. Meanwhile Sápmi has a transnational parliament that " Sámediggi " Karasjok, which has, however, only limited rights. There is in every country a Sami Parliament each with a different legal status. In Norway, the seeds have the most rights in Russia on the lowest. As Sami " capitals" are Guovdageaidnu ( Kautokeino ) in Norway, Giron (Kiruna ) in Sweden, Anar ( Inari ) in Finland and Luyawr ( Lovozero ) in Russia considered.

History

→ See also History of seeds in the main article seeds

In Sápmi there are traces of a hunting and fishing culture dating from the Neolithic period. From about 100 BC the seeds inhabited the land in its current expansion. In the 17th century they were increasingly forced off the peasant population of Sweden to the north. From the reindeer hunt they went gradually to reindeer breeding and since the annexation by the Central Europeans from nomadic life to settled life.

1751 has been locked in analogy to the delimitation between Norway and Sweden, the hunting rights between the settlers and the seeds, as well as their timely each border crossing law. In practice, however, the seeds remained disadvantaged.

It was not until 1826, the border between Russia and Norway was drawn. The southern part of Sápmi belonged until 1809 to fully Sweden. In the following years, today's Finland and thus Finnish Sápmi Russian Grand Duchy was 1917 Finland finally became independent.

Around 1870 Sweden put down the so-called " Fjällanbaugrenze " ( Fjällodlingsgräns ) to protect the rights of the Sami reindeer herders. It ran from north to south through Sápmi and reserved the Fell west of the border for the Sami reindeer husbandry. However, the implementation in practice failed in many places.

In 1904, the first political organization of the seeds, Lapparnas Centralförbund. In 1928, the rights of the Swedish reindeer herders were fixed by law, the seeds were not reindeer-herding, however, not taken into account. In 1950, the Svenska Samernas Riksförbund (SSR ) in Sweden. 1956 was the Nordic Samenrat, which was created as a transnational institution for all seeds in Finland, Norway and Sweden, and later in Russia. In 1963, the Sami youth representation Sáminuorra. In 1972, the first Sami parliament was formed in Finland. 1970-1981 because of the controversial Alta Dam project come Sámi first time as environmentalists Europe in appearance. 1975 About the " Nordic Sami Council" means the seeds began participating in the World Council of indigenious Peoples ( WCIP ), the global organization for the Community promotion between the indigenous peoples of the world and of meaningful knowledge and experience exchange between the indigenous peoples and to strengthen their organizations in the various member countries. 1977 saw Sweden the Saami as an indigenous people. In the 1980s, the Sami Rights Committee and the Sami culture committee were established in Norway. 1989 was the Norwegian Sami Parliament. 1990 Norway ratified as the only northern European country the Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organisation of the UN, which guarantees indigenous peoples legally binding protection and are entitled to a variety of fundamental rights. The EU has Sweden and Finland also recommended ratification. 1991 Russia's Kola Saami get an observer status in Saamirat. 1992 Norway and Finland recognize the Sami languages ​​as official languages ​​. In 1993, a parliament was elected by the Sami in Sweden, the Sametinget. In 1999, she was officially recognized by Russia as an indigenous people of the Kola Peninsula. In 2000, a Sami National Fund in the amount of 75 million Norwegian kroner ( 10 million euros ) has been established. He should be used to strengthen the Sami language and culture, and serve as compensation for the damage caused by oppression and injustice. 2002 Sweden recognizes the Sami languages ​​as national languages ​​. 2008 Kola seeds lay the foundations for a Russian seed Ting or alternatively a Sami Representatives.