TIHEI MAURIORA! EMERGENCY!
ALERT! URGENT! CRUCIAL! SOLIDARITY! UNITY!
Plight
of the Saami
Dear Brothers and Sisters Around The World,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
During our travels in Scandinavia, we have become aware of a situation which could have devastating consequences for Saami people in Sweden initially, and then Norway, Finland and Russia eventually, if the international community does not offer their support. We have been in the homes of those concerned, and the pain, stress and tension is beyond what I have experienced in the past. It is not over-stating the point when I say that the traditional livelihood of the Saami people, who are the indigenous people of Sweden, Norway, Finland and West Russia, is threatened.
The Situation
The Swedish Government, through the Minister of Agriculture, Margareta Winberg, has given the Saami people originally from Sattajarvi sameby, until January 1, 2000, 172 days from the time I am writing to you, to finish reindeer herding, breeding and farming forever! These Saami people have done this work for generations in this area, and indeed Saami people have worked as such throughout the Arctic region. The people who are specifically affected in this situation are four brothers and their families whose names are Bo, Lars-Goran, Per-Ake and Herbert Sunna. They rely on reindeer farming as their primary means of income. It is the only job they rely on to feed and clothe their families, the only thing they know and have been trained for, and they have inherited this work from their ancestors who have been involved in this work for hundreds of years. At other times, especially if the reindeer season is bad, they may become involved in hunting, fishing and making Saami handicrafts to supplement their incomes. However, generally, reindeer are their sole economic base. Reindeer require a lot of work and they take up most of the time.
Since 1971, some Swedish people who owned reindeer, which have been taken care of by the Saami owners, could vote on policy affecting reindeer herding, breeding, and farming. The number of these Swedish owners grew until they had the majority. Some of the Swedish owners are full-time reindeer workers, but the majority of them have another means of income besides, and this reindeer activity has only been a hobby to them. The numbers of Swedes involved in this activity now number in the hundreds.
The part-time involvement of Swedish owners through the 1971 Act has brought about conflicts with Saami who worked reindeer. Saami owners refused to tend the reindeer of these Swedish part-time owners because of the lack of improvements to their working conditions. This culminated in an action in 1981 by the County Administrative Board, which had no Saami representatives. This action withdrew the licences of the Sunna brothers and their families to farm reindeer. The Sunna brothers continued under indigenous rights. The Sunna brothers and their families continue to claim indigenous rights as their basis for continued involvement with reindeer.
In December 1996, a delegated body of the County Administrative Board, decided that the Sunna brothers and their families must either sell or kill all their reindeer before 31 December, 1999. The brothers have a licence to own 1,000 reindeer, and this is a crucial situation.- The delegated body had Saami representatives, although they were in the minority. The right of the Sunna brothers and their families to earn an income from reindeer is supported by the United Nations declaration of human rights, but this makes no difference to the Swedish authorities. The Swedish authorities are taking an unreasonable stance on this issue.
This is a modern day attempt to extinguish Saami rights from what has traditionally been an accepted practice in these four countries. The law previous to these days had supported Saami traditional rights. The imposition of Swedish membership of decision-making bodies has complicated the matters. The Sunna brothers and their families have maintained a strong stance and position on this matter in the belief that if they give up, all Saami will suffer eventually.
What Can We Do?
The situation is urgent, hence this letter to you all, and my appeal to you is to write to the minister concerned. If the world Christian movement on indigenous people is unable to unite and address these types of issues, then we need to look at what we are doing. This is a real issue, which affects real people, some of whom are Christian. The fear and anxiety amongst these people is great, and when I ask myself what would Jesus expects us to do, I come to the conclusion that we should get behind this as international organisations, and express our protest.
The Sunna brothers and their families are looking to God and us to bring pressure on the Swedish Government and authorities.
Sample Letter
I include this sample letter to give you an idea of how the letter may be written. Don't copy it. Bring your own flavour to it. Write letters to your own local papers if you like to alert the Swedish diplomats in your countries. They collect anything written about their countries from any newspaper. The thing we have on our side is any hint of embarrassing the Swedish Government, internationally, is taken very seriously by them.
The options left for our indigenous Saami brothers and sisters have run out, and we could be the final resort. Please respond brothers and sisters. I haven't turned into some political radical, I'm just concerned as I believe the Lord is.
Monte
417 OHAUITI ROAD
TAURANGA
NEW ZEALAND
13 July, 1999
To Margareta Winberg,
Minister of Agriculture
Government of Sweden
Stockholm
SWEDEN.
Dear Minister,
I write to you as the founder of the WCGIP, to express my grave concerns at the treatment of Saami people who have been involved in reindeer farming in Sattajarvi sameby area for hundreds of years. I refer to the Sunna brothers and their families.
The indigenous network, which includes our Christian movement, spans over one hundred and twenty countries, and our focus is indigenous people and their right to be who they are, even as Christians, and to maintain their rights to traditional life, their language and culture. We are involved in all areas of society including business, education, health initiatives, local and national politics, economic developments and the general improvement to the quality of life for those more unfortunate than ourselves.
The news about the plight of this Saami group to maintain their traditional way of life has startled me. I have had such respect for the Swedish Government in particular, and the Swedish people in general, for the strong positions they have taken on issues such as apartheid in South Africa and human rights in China for example. However our perception of this has been challenged by the news about the Sunna brothers and their families. To be given an ultimatum to either sell or kill all their reindeer prior to the end of this millennium is cruel to say the least. It seems that the Swedish Government is taking one position on the international stage and another locally.
I am aware that the Saami organisations have made representations to the authorities without success, and the last thing I and the organisation I represent, want to do is to become involved in the issues of other countries. However, because we are familiar with historical and traditional indigenous issues and the methods of addressing them in numerous countries, our instinct is to disregard diplomatic considerations and express our protest in the strongest possible terms. Experience tells me that if the plight of the Sunna brothers and their families is unsuccessful, the domino effect will see it expand to other Saami groups throughout the nation.
I trust that you and your Government will solve this issue in a more democratic and righteous way, as you have the reputation of doing. Indigenous people have been placed in these particular areas by God, and this alone is sufficient to give them special consideration. The civility of a Government does not depend on how they treat their majority people, but on how they treat their minorities.
Yours sincerely,
Monte Ohia
Founder, WCGIP
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