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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

The Norwegian government is forcing Sámi reindeer herdersto abandon their culture. Stop this violation of human and indigenous rights!

The Norwegian government is imposing forced slaughter of reindeer herds that are the livelihood of the Sámi people. A young Sámi reindeer herder, Jovsset Ánte Sara (26), is taking the Norwegian government to the UN Human Rights Committee to protect his reindeer and the rights of Sámi reindeer herders. Jovsset Ánte is fighting against a destructive reindeer act and the implementation of a forced reindeer slaughter policy that will drive him and other young reindeer herders out of business, forcing them out of their livelihood and thereby their culture and inherited rights.

About the case:

The Norwegian state demands that Jovsset Ante slaughters his herd to 75 remaining reindeer. This is not a sufficient number for financial income, and he is by that forced away from his livelihood, culture, and rights. Jovsset Ánte Sara won the first trial in the District Court in March 2016 , where the verdict stated that the government’s forced culling of reindeer violates his property rights, protected by international conventions on human rights. The Norwegian government appealed the verdict, but Jovsset Ánte won again. The Court of Appeal stated additionally that the imposed forced slaughter violates his indigenous

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

rights protected by Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , meaning this is a violation of his rights to practice his culture. The Norwegian government appealed again, and The Norwegian Supreme Court decided in favour of the Norwegian government in December 2017, stating that the Norwegian state knows better what is good for the Sámi people than they can know themselves. (A political and neocolonialistic point of view that disregards the human and indigenous rights of the Sámi people.)

See “the most beautiful adventure of Spring”, a documentary about Sámi reindeer migration, in which Norwegian Broadcasting followed Jovsset Ante and his herding community partners during the migration from the winter to the summer grazing grounds. This Christmas, viewers in the UK will be able to watch a two-hour long excerpt from the

beautifully filmed slow TV show "Reindeer Migration 24/7".

What both the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, as well as the BBC fail to mention, however, is that part of this herd is Jovsset Ante Sara’s, the reindeers that will be forcibly slaughtered by the Norwegian state come New Year's Eve. Not because they pose a threat to anyone, but because of a colonial law meant to strip the Sámi of their right to self-governance, which has been imposed on territories that have never officially been ceded to the government of Norway (or any other colonial state currently occupying Sápmi, the Sámi territories, for that matter).

Despite the fact that the fate of Jovsset Ante's herd has been brought to the attention of the UN, the Norwegian government has decided to ignore the future outcome of these discussions. Instead, they will go ahead with a decision that will, in short, strip a young Sámi of his internationally recognised indigenous, human rights. This will have a direct negative impact not only on his personal economy and health, but also on the general legal standards of Sámi reindeer herders’ rights. In short: Whilst this film of Jovsset Ante's herd is being used to promote tourism to Norway abroad, his entire future, livelihood and culture is at stake because of Norway's still ongoing, brutal colonisation of Sápmi.

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

The young Sámi reindeer herder now has two options: to slaughter his herd and walk away from his rights, culture and traditional way of life, or to refuse the slaughter and face tremendous fines of 2 Norwegian kroners per day for every reindeer exceeding his allowed number of 75. So far, reindeer herder Jovsset Ante Sara is waiting for the UN Committee’s decision and has not begun to slaughter his herd. The Norwegian state refuses to await the verdict of the UN Committee and Jovsset Ante Sara is given until 31.12.2018 to decimate his herd to 75 reindeer. Sara has already been fined nearly 70 000 Norwegian kroners (about € 7200 or US$ 8200) for not culling his herd while he was testing his case legally within Norway.

The destructive reindeer husbandry act which is passed without approval from the Sámi Parliament nor the Sámi Reindeer herding association in Norway, impacts many reindeer herders, especially the youngest generation with the smallest herds, who represent the future of Sámi reindeer herding and the continuation and survival of a living Sámi culture. The case sets a dangerous precedent in terms of indigenous rights in Norway and the rights of reindeer herders in particular.

Why the Norwegian state-sanctioned culling of reindeer?

The Norwegian government claims that the reindeer are destroying the tundra. The forced reduction of reindeer is supposedly called for to protect the land for future reindeer herding – but at the same time, the government is expropriating the very pastures they claim to protect from overgrazing in order to make way for mining, industries and “development” purposes. From the Sámi perspective , the state’s argument that they are protecting the land for future Sámi reindeer herding is inconsistent with national industrial plans for the Sámi region, the ongoing expropriation of land for industrial purposes, and the methodical intimidation of young reindeer herders who are essential if the traditional way of life is to continue. Recent studies suggest that the biggest threat to Sámi reindeer herding today comes from the Norwegian state, as their understanding of reindeer herding is not based on traditional knowledge, but the state’s own prejudiced understandings.

What can you do to protect the young reindeer herder Jovsset Ante Sara, all other reindeer herders and the Sámi community and culture in Norway?

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

Sign the Avaaz petition to ask the Norwegian government to refrain from imposing the forced slaughter and daily fines until the decision of the UN Human Rights Committee on had been made.

Further support

Help protect Jovsset Ante and the rights of Sámi reindeer herders and the Sámi community in Norway. Your contribution will help Jovsset Ánte continue his plead at the UN Human Rights Committee. All funds raised will be donated to Jovsset Ánte Sara so that he can bring his case forward and support the payment of the unfair fines from the Norwegian government.

Additional links:

Video with footage from Jovsset Ante Sara’s court appearances

Máret Ánne Sara’s statement at the 2017 Creative Time Summit

NY Times coverage of case in Norwegian Supreme Court

Pile o’Sápmi facebook page

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

Further background information

Sámi: indigenous people The Sámi are indigenous people of Europe. The Sámi live in their traditional land which today is divided by the borders of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Sámi traditionally lived from a variety of livelihoods adapted to the Arctic regions: mixed household economies with fishing in the coastal regions, and reindeer herding inland, where reindeer herders migrate their herds to the coast in the summer. Reindeer herders are today amongst the strongest bearers of the Sámi culture, after centuries of assimilation policies by the nation-states which have attempted to erase Sámi identity, language and culture. Daily activities are connected to Sámi language, traditional Sámi handicraft, clothing, food, still undocumented rare ancient knowledge on care for environment and nature that is adapted to understand climate and landscape in arctic conditions. Such knowledge may be vital for climate change studies and for how to survive in changing circumstances and of great value to the entire world. In their way of living and working as reindeer herders, all these aspects come together and are preserved. The existence as reindeer herders determines their lives, their income, their survival as well as the survival of the Sámi culture. Reindeer herding nomads – core bearers of Sámi cultureReindeer herding is the core culture bearer of Sámi culture today. Reindeer herding is an ancient and sustainable way of life, specifically suited and adapted to supporting populations in less than hospitable environments of the Arctic. The reindeer live wildly and the herders follow them, adjusting their lives to a nomadic lifestyle as they protect the herds and help them find fresh pastures. Sámi reindeer pastoralism is a complex and successful livelihood through many centuries, rich with traditions and fully depending on pastures and traditional knowledge about the Arctic nature, climate and animals. The Sámi reindeer herders are nomads since ten thousand years, driven by the migration of reindeers between the woods, the tundra and the fells, directed by the change of the seasons. They still are nomads, although the use of modern vehicles such as the snowmobile has changed the appearance of the lifestyle. History of the development of Sámi self-determination in NorwayThe Sámi people have a long history of colonisation by the nation-states and their assimilation policies throughout the last centuries. The Sámi people in Norway have had two historical rebellions against the state authorities, protecting their rights and livelihood. The first one in 1852 and the second one in the shift from 1970-80. The recent one, Alta-aksjonen, was a reaction against the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant that would flood a large area of central Sámi land. The Alta controversy created political pressure and resulted in ratification of the ILO 169 and the establishment of an official Sámi parliament (Sámidiggi) in 1989.

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

The Sámi parliament was established to strengthen the Sámi political standing and promote Sámi interests, contribute to an equitable and fair treatment of the Sámi people and work to create conditions for the Sámi people to preserve and develop their language, culture and community. The Sámi Parliament has been a political flagship for Norwegian indigenous politics internationally, giving Norway high credibility as advanced and favourable in their indigenous affairs. In 2005 the state authorities signed an official consulting agreement with the Sámi parliament, which in 2018 was implemented by law. The purpose of the consultation agreement is to ensure that the Sámi people are consulted and considered in all matters affecting Sámi interests or areas. The flipside of this democratic fairy-tale is that the Sámi parliament is only an advisory body for the Norwegian government, meaning that it has no actual political power, but can only advise the authorities in matters concerning its people and areas. This makes the Sámi cultural and legal foundation fully dependent on political good-will from the shifting Norwegian government, but advice given by the Sámi parliament is often ignored, as in the case of the law enabling the current forced reindeer cullings. The Sámi parliament is technically consulted through an advanced democratic system in any conflicting decision-making, but there is no obligation for taking the Sámi opinion into account. Advanced democratic colonizationThe fact that the Sámi Parliament is only advisory to the Norwegian state, decisions made by the government can have dramatical consequences for the Sámi people. This has been seen in recent big conflicts like the industrialization of Sámi areas and remaking of the Reindeer Herding Act, which actually undermines the fundamental rights of Sámi reindeer herders. Though the democratic system has been followed and the Sámi people have officially been “involved” and consulted, the advice they give is not heeded. The only remaining way to protect their rights is through the court, where the Norwegian legal system has to evaluate the Norwegian political system. Norwegian government impedes the Sámi peopleThe Sámi people meets with serious and threatening difficulties caused by the Norwegian state. Before it were the Sámi fishermen in the coastal regions who found themselves opposed by the government, that decimated their fishing rights. Fishery by indigenous Sámi has already been decimated. Now the Sámi reindeer herders likewise meet resistance from Norwegian legislation and regulation.

Fallacious argumentsSince the 1970s the Norwegian state has taken overriding control of Sámi reindeer herding, governing this ancient nomadic way of life as a form of farmed meat production, and refusing to accept the importance of traditional knowledge for sustaining it. On questionable and undocumented ground, the Sámi reindeer herders in Norway have politically been labelled as environmental criminals. A myth of constant overstocking and ecological

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

degradation by reindeers ruining the tundra has become an official, political and legal truth. Even though recent academic research has disproved this myth, the Norwegian government uses the narrative to justify changes in the Reindeer Herding Act and thereby impose forced slaughter to reduce the Sámi reindeer herds.The forced reduction is supposedly done to protect the land for future reindeer herding –but at the same time, the government is expropriating the very pastures they claim to protect from overgrazing, to make way for resource extractions, projects and industrial developments. Because of industrialization, urban expansion, and expansion of energy infrastructure, mainly on behalf of the oil, gas and intended mining industry, ever larger terrain has been withdrawn from the reindeer pastures. The stately power line company Statnett is currently taking quite some Sámi area to supply sufficient power for the intended industries such as mining. This all takes place under Norwegian state’s responsibility or admittance. From the Sámi perspective, the stately argument of protecting the land gets rather frayed considering the national industrial intentions for the Sámi region, the ongoing expropriations of land for industrial establishments and the methodical strangulation of recruitment for future reindeer herding. Scientists in recent studies have stated that the biggest threat against Sámi reindeer herding today, comes from the Norwegian state itself.

Forced reindeer slaughterIn May 2005, in connection with the planned forced reindeer reduction, the Government presents a proposal to protect reindeer herders with a reindeer number less than 200. The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) decided to a complete revision of the Act, but the draft bill from the Government was thus not implemented. The Sámi Parliament sends a position paper to the Ministry in February 2006, asking to protect Siida shareholdings that have less than 200 reindeers. In January 2007 the Government presents a proposal for a new reindeer Husbandry Act, with no protection for herders with the least number of reindeer. A couple of months before the Reindeer Husbandry Board reaches its decisions in the case of Jovsset Ante Sara and others, the reindeer reduction is discussed again in the Sámi Parliament, pointing out that the draft bill entails that the law does not consider individual differences, including those who are in the establishment phase. Also emphasizing that the implementation itself of the reindeer reduction is subject to consultation and thorough impact assessment is required before a decision is reached on reduction for each individual.In 2013, the Reindeer Herding Act is adjusted and a whole new chapter is added about punishing methods against Sámi reindeer herders. Herders who fail to obey the obligation to kill the due number of reindeers will meet high bankrupting fines or forced slaughter of their herd.On the 28thof February 2014, Jovsset Ante Sara and receives a letter saying that he must reduce his reindeer herd to 75 animals. Most of the herders have given in to the demands and slaughtered their flock due to daily fines. Jovsset Ante Sara is the only one who has rejected and taken the case to court to protect his and the reindeer herders’ rights.

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

Norwegian state overrules Sámi self-determinationOfficially, the Norwegian state claims that the Sámi reindeer herders had and exercised self-determination in the reduction process. In fact, this so called “inner self-determination” came into effect only after the government had set the total number of animals to be slaughtered - leaving the reindeer herders only to decide who amongst the reindeer herders was going to slaughter and how much. Any internal reduction model by the reindeer herders, was only accepted if it was a unanimous agreement, signed by all reindeer herders representing a siida-share. A siida-share includes many reindeer herders or reindeer owners within a family, meaning that any siida-share had to agree internally on a reduction-split before negotiating with the other siida-share representatives in the district. This so called “inner self-determination” left people quarrelling over private properties of each other, and ultimately also over fundamental cultural rights of individuals. Not surprisingly, this effort achieved little results but caused high level of stress and internal conflicts within the reindeer herding society, as herders were forced to fight over who was entitled to retain reindeer and thereby a future in their traditional livelihood. Once herders failed to meet the impossible requirements of unanimously signed agreements, it was officially stated that the reindeer herders are “incapable” of self-determination and the government formally legitimized an overtaking of the process of setting a forced reduction model, where all siida-shares within a district are required to slaughter the same percentage of their herd, regardless of how many reindeer each individual siida-share initially had. The process was effectively a form of collective punishment—disproportionately affecting the smallest herds, such as those of young herders establishing themselves, and thus also recruitment into the livelihood.Before implementing the forced reduction process, the Norwegian parliament unilaterally modified the national Reindeer Husbandry Act, adding a whole chapter about legal punishments and forced measures against herders who do not voluntarily slaughter their herds down to the level the government has determined is “sustainable”. These constitutional changes were made despite strong objections from the Sámi parliament. Social agitation and mental unhealth As an intense stressor the new Reindeer herding Act led to agitation within the Sámi communities, the siidas and even within families. The Sámi reindeer herding society is faced with internal lawsuits and legal cases between family members who are fighting over a critically low amount of allowed reindeer, negatively affecting living -and working conditions, psychological conditions and a functioning society. There is little research done on health and mental health conditions among Sámi reindeer herders, but available studies point to suicide as a major public health problem among the world’s indigenous people, especially those living in the Arctic.Suicidal rates within the Sámi communities are higher than within the general non Sámi populations, and young men in reindeer herding societies are the most vulnerable. role. Not having the possibility to affect decisions that impact their lives and future is considered as a major factor for stress and for a general sense of hopelessness.

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

Indigenous and other rights for the Sámi United NationsThe United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights {UN, March 2008] states:“The General Assembly affirms that all doctrines, policies and practices based on or advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust, […]”“The General Assembly is concerned that indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and interests, […]”“The General Assembly recognizes the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources. “

Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International states: “An indigenous people is a people that inhabited a certain territory prior to the arrival of colonists or immigrants, and who maintained its own habits and culture. The rights of indigenous peoples have just been acknowledged during the last few years. The most important convention is the ILO treaty Nr. 169 on indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries.”Much attention is paid to indigenous peoples by UNESCO.The UN Human Rights Council has a Forum on Indigenous Questions since 2000. The UN accepted a declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.According to the ILO 169 the Sámi are acknowledged as an indigenous people.” ILO 169The ILO Convention 169 applies to: […] peoples in independent countries who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonisation or the establishment of present state boundaries and who, irrespective of their legal status, retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions.Self-identification as indigenous or tribal shall be regarded as a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the provisions of the Convention apply.Governments shall have the responsibility for developing, with the participation of the peoples concerned, co-ordinated and systematic action to protect the rights of these peoples and to guarantee respect for their integrity. Such action shall include measurements for [...] promoting the full realisation of the social, economic and cultural rights of these peoples with respect for their social and cultural identity, their customs and traditions and

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Information to the Avaaz campaign Save The Sámi Culture – Prevent Slaughter Of Reindeer

their institutions. [...]Indigenous and tribal peoples shall enjoy the full measure of human rights and fundamental freedoms without hindrance or discrimination.No form of force or coercion shall be used in violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples concerned. [...]Special measures shall be adopted for safeguarding the persons, institutions, property, labour, cultures and environment of the peoples concerned.

Norwegian ConstitutionThe Sámi paragraph of the Norwegian Constitution (Articles 110 a, b and c) was added in 1988 to secure and develop the Sámi peoples language, culture and social life. The memorandum sets a legal - in addition to a political and moral - obligation for the Norwegian state towards the Sámi. It provides a legally binding guideline for the Norwegian authorities' design and implementation of their policy towards the Sámi regarding their lands, culture, livelihoods, health, rights and living conditions.

Norwegian Reindeer Husbandry Act (Reindriftsloven)The Reindriftsloven describes in Section 2, paragraph 3: “The law shall be applied in accordance with international law rules on indigenous peoples and minorities.”