INDIGENOUS PEOPLES on TWO CONTINENTS Self-Determination Processes in Saami and First Nation Societies

RAUNA KUOKKANEN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ON TWO CONTINENTS Self-Determination Processes in Saami and First Nation Societies Sometimes it can be challenging to be Jr. was not, however, satisfied with indigenous peoples is the collective a Sámi in North America. Not only this “scientific” explanation. He dimension of their existence as well as have most people never heard of the argued that “[t]he Lapps may have rights. This implies that besides com- Sámi but in many cases, we remain whiter skins than Africans, but they do monly characterized rights of individ- suspect due to our relatively “White not run around naked to absorb the uals, we have rights as distinct peo- looks.” Especially in Native North sunlight’s vitamin D. Indeed, it is the ples. In other words, indigenous peo- America (or in “Indian Country” or Africans who are often bare in the ples are not merely “groups,” “popu- “Turtle Island” as the continent is also tropical sun. The Lapps are always lations,” or even “ethnic minorities” called), Europe equals White and heavily clothed to protect themselves but peoples with inherent right to self- White equals the settler and colonizer from the cold” (Deloria 1995: 10). determination as defined in interna- —the well-known figure of “the white Though probably more correct than tional law. This is the reason why man.” Due to a common lack of knowl- Bronowski, Deloria also lapses into indigenous peoples worldwide have edge of the Sámi, it is hard for some the stereotypical belief that the Sámi demanded recognition of this collec- people to think that there really are live in a permanent winter. tive aspect in international contexts indigenous people in Europe and While the focus of this article is not such as the United Nations. Scandinavia, especially when the the whiteness of the Sámi, two points In this paper, I consider some of the Sámi do not present what is stereo- needs to made here. First, the skin recent self-determination develop- typically considered the “indigenous color is more or less a non-issue in ments among indigenous peoples on looks.” It is not surprising, then, that Sámiland. Second and even more im- two continents, Europe and North some of us resort to suggesting that portantly, it is not the skin color that America, particularly in Canada. First, the Sámi are the “White Indians of makes one an indigenous people. I discuss historical and contemporary Scandinavia” (Gaski 1993). The ap- According to the ILO Convention developments in the fields of educa- parent whiteness of the Sámi has, in dealing with indigenous rights, an tion and language, and second, I fact, intrigued quite a few scholars individual is “regarded as Indigenous examine the current endeavors toward throughout time. In his The Ascent of on account of their descent from the indigenous autonomy among the Man, Jacob Bronowski asks: populations which inhabited the coun- Sámi and First Nations peoples. While “Why are the Lapps white? Man try ... at the time of conquest or colo- there is only one officially recognized began with a dark skin; the sunlight nization or the establishment of pre- indigenous people in Europe (save makes vitamin D in his skin, and if sent state boundaries and who, irre- Greenland), there are hundreds of he had been white in Africa, it would spective of their legal status, retain indigenous peoples in North America, make too much. But in the north, some or all of their own social, eco- naturally posing some serious chal- man needs to let in all the sunlight nomic, cultural and political institu- lenges for any meaningful compar- there is to make enough vitamin D, tions” (ILO Convention no. 169, Article isons even within. It is however widely and natural selection therefore 1(b). According to another definition agreed that despite historical, geo- favored those with whiter skin” by UN rapporteur Jose Martinez graphic, political, and economic differ- (cited in Deloria 1995: 10). Cobo, ences, indigenous peoples and cul- The late well-known Standing Rock Indigenous communities, peoples tures share certain similarities in terms Sioux lawyer and scholar Vine Deloria, and nations are those which, having of their worldviews, values both of historical continuity with pre-inva- which are reflected particularly in the Rauna Kuokkanen sion and pre-colonial societies that special relationship of indigenous developed on their territories, con- peoples with their lands and territo- sider themselves distinct from other ries. sectors of the societies now prevail- One of the factors that clearly dis- ing in those territories, or in parts of tinguish indigenous peoples from eth- them. They form at present non- nic minorities is their relationship with dominant sectors of society and are their territories, establishing what is Author’s address: determined to preserve, develop commonly known as the “Aboriginal and transmit to future generations title.” For indigenous peoples, land is their ancestral territories, and their not only a source of livelihood but also E-mail: [email protected] ethnic identity, as the basis of their of philosophy; fundamental cultural A previous version of this paper was pre- continued existence as peoples, in values and worldviews are derived sented at the Symposium on Circumpolar accordance with their own cultural from the land. As noted by the Special Culture: “Contemporary Perspectives from Ancient Peoples of the Arctic North,” orga- patterns, social institutions and Rapporteur of the UN Working Group nized by the Humanities West on 8 June legal systems (Cobo 1986). on Indigenous Populations, Erica- 2003, San Francisco. What is central in various definitions of Irene Daes, NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES 20:2 2006 1 “Throughout the life of the Working Language and Education the church was also an attempt to Group, indigenous peoples have implement the principle of Protes- emphasized the fundamental issue Although the overall aspirations, tantism by preaching gospel in the of their relationship to their home- issues, and goals are similar, differ- language of the people. While the lands. They have done so in the ences in the length and intensity of churchmen indicated support of the context of the urgent need for un- the colonial history in Scandinavia Sámi language, they were very clear derstanding by non-indigenous and North America have lead to dif- on their intentions of overthrowing the societies of the spiritual, social, cul- ferent emphases and approaches to Sámi land-based “religion” and world tural, economic and political signifi- decolonization and self-determination view characterized by the existence cance to indigenous societies of among the Sámi and North American of various deities and spirits of the their lands, territories and resources indigenous peoples. In general, the natural world to whom human beings for their continued survival and vital- colonization of the Sámi was much were required to pay respect and ity. Indigenous peoples have ex- subtler and arguably more perilous express gratitude. plained that, because of the pro- than the arrival of the settlers, coloniz- In the nineteenth century, however, found relationship that indigenous ers and missionaries in North Ameri- the assimilation pressures intensified peoples have to their lands, territo- ca. By the time of the early Sámi cul- as the Nordic countries sought to gain ries and resources, there is a need tural reawakening in the mid-nine- a stronger hold over their northern ter- for a different conceptual frame- teenth century, much of the traditional ritories. The surrounding states justi- work to understand this relationship Sámi cultural and spiritual ceremonies fied their assimilation policies in the and a need for recognition of the and practices had been replaced name of education: the only way for cultural differences that exist. already several generations ago by the Sámi to become equal with the Indigenous peoples have urged the Christianity. At that time, the Sámi lan- other citizens of the state was to know world community to attach positive guage, however, had not been deci- the official language of the country. value to this distinct relationship” mated and systematically erased as it Laws that prohibited the use of Sámi (Daes 1999: para. 10). was in many places in North America. language both in schools and at home Moreover, indigenous peoples world- Quite naturally, the language, which were passed, particularly in Norway wide are united by a set of shared and still is the strongest marker of Sámi- and Sweden (Aikio 1992: 209–211). At common experiences related to being ness, became the main focus of the the end of the nineteenth century, the colonized, marginalized, and exploit- Sámi ethnopolitical movement which first Sámi writers and activists chose ed both in the past and in the present, began in the late 1960s. the Sámi language as the symbol of demonstrated very clearly by the cur- Although the Sámi language was Sáminess and Sámi identity that was rent debates on biopiracy, commer- regarded as one of the primary tar- required for the protection of Sámi cialization, and privatization of indige- gets of colonization and assimilation, identity and self-representation. The nous knowledges and patenting in- there is also a long history of church right to one’s mother tongue became digenous DNA, to mention only few of and, to some extent, state authorities a central issue for most of the first the new forms of the continuing colo- attempting to interact with the Sámi in Sámi organizations established in the nial enterprise. My considerations their own language. This history first decade of the twentieth century. thus are based on this commonly reaches back to the seventeenth cen- Up to this date, the Sámi language shared indigenous description being tury when representatives of the cler- remains as the clearest, strongest “united in our diversity.” gy translated Christian texts into Sámi measure of Sáminess for the majority The top priorities and concerns for their missionary purposes.

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