Sweden is placing inhuman pressure on three Saami reindeer herding communities in Härjedalen county to sign an agreement forcing the indigenous reindeer herders to resign inherent rights to lands they inherited from their forefathers and wish to pass on to future generations.  If the agreement is signed, the Saami’s future possibility to pursue reindeer husbandry in the area rests in the hands of the Swedish state and the land-owners.  So far, the state’s and the land-owners’ actions have demonstrated little desire to cater for continued sustainable Saami reindeer husbandry in Härjedalen.

The background of the agreement is a lawsuit where about 780 Swedish land-owners sued the reindeer herding communities, claiming that no grazing-rights exist on land to which the Swedish population holds title.  The lawsuit ended in 2004, with Swedish courts holding that the Saami had not been able to prove their right to pasture in Härjedalen.  A significant factor in the lawsuit was hence Swedish law’s demand that Saami communities prove their traditional presence in an area.  This is difficult for an oral indigenous culture aspiring to leave no traces on the land.  The Saami is officially recognized as the indigenous people of Northern Sweden.  Yet in land-disputes between Swedish and Saami parties, Sweden maintains that the presumption shall be that the Saami have no right to land.  In other words, despite Sweden’s formal recognition of the Saami as indigenous, in practice, in law-suits, Sweden has “transformed” the Saami into the intruding population having to prove its right to exist.