Veli-Pekka Lehtola

Sámi Histories, Colonialism, and Finland

Public apologies, compensations, and repatriation policies have been forms of reconciliation processes by authorities in Nordic countries to recognize and take responsibility of possible injustices in Sámi histories. Support for reconciliation politics has not been unanimous, however. Some Finnish historians have been ready to reject totally the subjugation or colonialism towards the Sámi in the history of Finnish Lapland. The article analyzes the contexts for the reasoning and studies the special nature of Sámi-Finnish relations. More profound interpretations are encouraged to be done, examining colonial processes and structures to clarify what kind of social, linguistic, and cultural effects the asymmetrical power relations have had.

Second world war as a trigger for transcultural changes among Sámi people in Finland

ABSTRACT The article analyses the consequences of the Lapland War (1944–45) and the reconstruction period (1945–52) for the Sámi society in Finnish Lapland, and provides some comparisons to the situation in Norway. Reconstructing the devastated Lapland meant powerful and rapid changes that ranged from novelties of material culture to increasing Finnish ideals, from a transition in the way of life to an assimilation process. The war was a trigger to an accelerated development in which otherwise long-term processes happened in a very short time frame in the post-war period. The post-war development was characterized by economic, political and cultural processes that integrated Sámiland to Finland and the Finnish nation. These processes can be interpreted as a classic modernization process, even “finnicization”, in which the traditional Sámi culture was forced to switch over to the modern large-scale society. In addition to problematic changes, however, the consequences of the war are also considered to have created new possibilities for the Sámi to influence the majority society both as individuals and as ethno-political actors. This was reflected in Sámi ethnopolitical activism, which started in Finland only after WWII. Also, the role of the majority education system had two-fold consequences: strong assimilation features, but also helping to build the educated Sámi “radical” generation that challenged the prevalent Sámi politics in the 1960s.

Research and Activism in Sámi Politics: The Ideas and Achievements of Karl Nickul towards Securing Governance for the Sámi

Abstract Pacifist, land surveyor, friend of the Sámi people, scholar studying Sámi culture, Karl Nickuls (1900–1980) life work proves that the work of a public servant and researcher can be merged into a strong ethical stand to influence society. Nickul, an early initiator of Finlands peace movement, was by training and profession a land surveyor, who worked for the Finnish government making maps of Lapland and Petsamo in northern Finland in the 1920s and 1930s. Becoming acquainted with the Skolt Sámi, he began to study them and to take part in the official discussions about their status. With a project to preserve Skolt culture Nickuls paramount idea of Sámi governance began to grow. He actively pursued this idea after World War II through his activities in Sámi politics in Finland and in Sámi cooperative efforts in the Nordic countries. The dominant idea was that the Sámi culture was to be protected from outside pressures of settlement, and that the Sámi themselves should be allowed to determine their own identity and their own needs. The paper discusses and analyses Karl Nickuls personal development and involvement in various projects and activities to secure Sámi rights.

Our histories in the photographs of the others: Sámi approaches to visual materials in archives

ABSTRACT Returning old photographs to Sámi communities has been a part of modern repatriation policies, trying to recollect the Sámi heritage from museums, archives and collections outside the modern Sámi area. It is not only important to return items, such as photographs, but also to reconstruct the knowledge around them: to re-identify the old encounters and stories. The article suggests that the earlier interpretations have emphasised the inter-ethnic relations between the Sámi and the majority societies. When returned to local levels of Sámi communities, however, to be interpreted through the lenses of the Sámi subjects, the photographs tell multiple visualized stories about intra-ethnic “our histories”, the recent past of families, kinships and small Sámi communities. The article is based on my experiences and the projects that have been carried out in Finland in the past 15 years, repatriating photographs to Sámi societies.