Samisk kamp för kulturell överlevnad

Abstract

This special issue focuses on the Sami struggle for cultural survival. The articles deal with strategies and initiatives going on in Sápmi today during a time of threats and challenges - a time that is also marked by resistance and mobilization. During the fall of 2013, the Swedish government has been criticized both by the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, and by the Swedish Discrimination Ombudsman for its actions against the Sami population. The UN criticism was directed against a planned mine in Rönnbäcken, in the region of Västerbotten. Exploitation in Northern Sweden, not least the mining boom, is among of the biggest challenges in Sápmi today. Sami identity markers such as reindeer herding, land, language and oral traditions are examples of expressions that are highlighted in the battle to claim rights to land and water, to language, and to participation in decision making.