Report: Climate is central to truth and reconciliation for the Sámi

Earlier this month, the Finnish government released its Truth and Reconciliation report, which documented years of harm done to the country’s indigenous Sámi people. Truth and Reconciliation commissions have emerged since the 1970s, with varying degrees of impact. The 1998 South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, commissioned to address the misdeeds of the apartheid regime that the country had just overthrown, is probably the best known; it established a system of reparations for victims, although critics say payments have been delayed, insufficient and exclude some of the most vulnerable.

What sets last week’s report apart is the central role of climate change in its findings and recommendations. Climate-related threats to Sámi lives – including warmer winters, erratic weather, and encroaching mining and energy development – ​​are linked to many past failures of the Finnish government. The report says the country’s current leaders must renew their cooperation with the Sámi to confront these threats head-on.

For thousands of years, the Sámi lived a semi-nomadic life based on reindeer herding and fishing, roaming freely between Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland until the creation of modern states. Unlike neighboring Norway and Sweden, the Finnish government never codified the forced integration of the Sámi into law, but the imposition of Finnish language and culture on indigenous peoples nevertheless became the default norm. The Sámi were sent to boarding schools, which diminished their fluency with their native language and alienated many from their culture. During World War II, the Sámi were evacuated from northern Finland and the subsequent redevelopment of the region by the Finnish state after the end of the fighting resulted in further loss of indigenous territory.

There are approximately 75,000 to 100,000 Sami people worldwide, with a population of approximately 10,000 people in Finland. Currently, according to the report, the Sami’s traditional way of life is mainly threatened by warming winters, increasingly unpredictable weather and mining and energy development. Reindeer herding has become more difficult, as the milder cold season has increased precipitation in the north. When rain falls on deep snow, it turns into a crust of ice, making it difficult for reindeer to reach the ground and feed on lichens and grasses. Replacing reindeer game with imported food is expensive and requires a lot of extra work, said Aslak Holmberg, a member of the Sami Council and former member of the Sami Parliament. The longer hot season has also raised the tree line, compounding the reindeer’s difficulties by making it more difficult for them to access leaves. Salmon populations, too, are declining and providing less food for the Sami.

The Sámi are also aware that their land is coveted for the construction of mining and wind farms. It is also increasingly used by the Finnish Defense Forces for training exercises as geopolitical tensions rise in the Arctic. The final report contains nearly 70 recommendations on how Finland could improve relations with indigenous people, many of which aim to give the Sami more authority over land use and regulation. It calls on the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to collaborate with the Sami Climate Council on an adaptation plan, based on both scientific research and traditional knowledge – which studies have shown is often the best path to ecosystem restoration.

The report also demands that ancient forests in the Sámi Homeland be protected from the logging industry, that the industry pay reparations to Sámi reindeer herders for damage to existing forests, and that the Finnish state work with the Sámi Parliament to create a Sámi Business and Climate Fund to support climate action and simultaneously protect Sámi livelihoods.

Giving the Sámi more authority over their own territory is crucial, Holmberg said, and coordination with the Finnish defense forces, for example, could lessen the military’s effect on reindeer herding. “The Sami also feel this tension in the security situation,” Holmberg said. “So it’s not as if the Sámi are against military activities, but a lot could be done to improve or avoid the negative impacts of military activities. »

As soon as the report was published, the Finnish Prime Minister said that the government should apologize to the Sámi people for the harm done to them. But some warned the prime minister’s contrition was premature. “I think just an apology would go a long way at this point, if there’s no commitment to actually change anything,” Holmberg said.

The report is only the first step in a much longer process of reparations, said Hannele Pokka, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but she is optimistic that the Finnish people will act on the report’s recommendations.

“We only tried to portray the truth,” she said. “And then we have to continue to talk about reconciliation.”