Statement of Support From KulturSápmi to Fosen And A Call For Support to All Our Colleagues in The Cultural Field!

KulturSápmi supports Fovsen-Njaarke Sïjte and the battles to protect our lands, waters, and the foundations of our culture. We challenge all national cultural institutions to support KulturSápmi's statement so that the Nordic authorities respect the rights of the Sámi people! Please read and sign our statement here.

This is a statement of support from KulturSápmi, a unified Sámi cultural industry, and a call for support to all our colleagues in the cultural field!

Sámi artists have always been at the front line in the fight for the survival of our people, our culture, languages, and cultural practice. The escalation in both the number and size of intervention cases means that many artists and cultural practitioners are putting their lives on hold to fight for basic rights.  

KulturSápmi, the Sámi cultural industry, asks our colleagues in the Nordic cultural industry for support and solidarity in the fight for human rights, legal certainty, and respect for the Sámi peoples land and sea areas. 

Sámi culture depend on our lands, which form the natural basis for our culture. The threats to our lands are therefore also a threat to the entire future of the Sámi art and culture industry.  Sápmi is repeatedly threatened by natural encroachments that make it increasingly difficult to practice our culture and to motivate young Sámi to pass on our traditional knowledge. A unified Sámi cultural industry gives its full support to the activists and artists who fight for the Sámi human rights.

On 11 September, the young filmmaker Mihkkal Hætta moved into a lávvu outside the Norwegian Parliament in protest of the ongoing human rights violation at Fosen. For over 10 years, Sámi on the Swedish side of Sápmi has fought against the authorities' permission for mining in Gállok. The Sámi areas of Jåhkågaska and Sirges are now meeting the Swedish authorities in the Supreme Court to fight for their reindeer herders. And many, many such cases are now taking place all over Sápmi. The land encroachments in Sápmi cause irreversible damage to the foundations of Sámi culture-bearing industries. The pressure is great and has major consequences for mental health. 

Truth and reconciliation work is ongoing in the Nordic states. Past abuses against the Sámi population are revealed and given attention. That itself is good. However, in parallel with the truth and reconciliation work, areas for Sámi business and cultural activities are under increasingly strong pressure. Then undeniable reconciliation becomes just empty talk. What we experience are not conciliatory measures, but new abuses.   

KulturSápmi supports the fight for our people’s right to cultural practice, land, and water. KulturSápmi requests the Nordic authorities to respect the Sámi people’s human rights.

*KulturSápmi is a meeting place for all Sámi artists, cultural workers, and cultural institutions. The 4th KulturSápmi was organized in Anár/Inari 19-22. September with around 150 participants from all over Sápmi.