| Reindeer Husbandry in Sweden - Rights to Own Reindeer and 'Sameby' | | Print | |
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Rights to own Reindeer
Contemporary reindeer husbandry in Sweden, is regulated by the Swedish reindeer husbandry act, Rennäringslagen 1971: 437. According to this Act, the right to pursue reindeer herding only belongs to the Sami people. Only a person who is member of Sámi reindeer herding village (Sameby) has reindeer herding rights, in other words, may engage in reindeer husbandry in the Sámi reindeer herding village to which she/he belongs. The reindeer herding right, which is eternal, includes for example the rights of members to also hunt and fish within their Sámi reindeer herding village’s area. These are immemorial rights, which mean that the Sámi have, over a long period used the land without anyone impeding them. Both reindeer herding and reindeer husbandry are terms often used in Sweden, where reindeer herding is the work with reindeer and reindeer husbandry encompasses reindeer herding, hunting and fishing because they all are important industries of reindeer husbandry. (Rennäringslagen 1971:437)
Sámi villages and members (Sameby)
Sámi reindeer herding in Sweden is divided into 51 Sámi reindeer herding villages which are both economic associations and geographical areas. Of those are 33 mountain and 10 forest Sámi reindeer herding villages, in this text also called Sámi villages, and 8 concession Sámi reindeer herding villages, here referred to as the ‘concession villages’. The difference between a mountain Sámi reindeer herding village and a forest Sámi reindeer herding village is that reindeer herding in the forest villages is more static and is conducted in forested areas while mountain reindeer herding is characterised by long migratory routes between summer and winter pastures. Concession villages reindeer herding is very different from the first two, as they engage in reindeer husbandry with special permission from the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen).
Concession villages exist only in the Torne Valley (the area on the Swedish on the river between Sweden and Finland). The County Administrative Board determines the boundaries of the concession villages. The reindeer in the concession villages are owned by non Sámi who also often own the land on which their reindeer graze. However, according to the reindeer husbandry Act the actual reindeer herding in a concession village must be conducted by a Sámi. A reindeer owner in a concession village is not allowed to own more than 30 reindeer.
A Sámi reindeer herding village has a board voted in by a majority in the village during their annual meetings. The Board has the mandate to conduct the village's work. Sámi reindeer herding village rights and duties are statutoried; inter alia, in the reindeer husbandry act. According to the Act, the Sámi village is responsible for ensuring that reindeer herding is conducted most effective way economically and shall organise reindeer herding in the village's reindeer herding area in the best way for the members’ common interest. Membership numbers in the Sámi villages vary greatly and it is the Sámi village's annual meeting, which decides who may join the village. Annual Meeting decisions concerning membership can be appealed to the Sámi Parliament. A Sámi village has both reindeer herding members and ordinary members. A reindeer herding member is according to the Act, understood as a member who by him/her self or someone in his family conducts reindeer husbandry with their own reindeer within the villages grazing area. A reindeer herding member has the right to vote in certain matters that an ordinary member does not have. An ordinary member is a Sámi who takes part in reindeer herding within the villages area, a Sámi who has been involved within the villages reindeer herding and has not left reindeer herding for other work or a wife/husband or a child who lives at home to a person listed above. In Sweden it is possible to own reindeer without being member of a Sámi reindeer herding village. In that case the person needs a registred reindeer earmark and a permission to be a reindeer owner (skötesrenar in Swedish and geahccobohccut in Sámi) within a village. Reindeer herding employs about 2500 people in Sweden and the number of reindeer owners is a total of about 4 600 people. According to figures from 2005, 77 % of the country's reindeer are owned by men. (Rennäringslagen 1971:437) (www.sametinget.se)
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A reindeer has to be marked in the ears. A reindeer earmark is a combination of one to many cuts in a reindeer’s ears which all together tells who the reindeer owner is. There are around 20 different approved cuts and in addition some 30 different combinations of cuts, and all those cuts and combinations have their own name. All reindeer in the  |
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