Mining, Protest, and Indigenous Political Processes in Sápmi, the Sámi Homeland in the Arctic Circle of Fennoscandia

Saara-Maria Salonen, Independent (Finland)

Across Sápmi, the increasing interest in mineral exploration in the Arctic has created rising pressure to the local Sámi communities. The Sámi homelands (Northern Sámi: Sápmi, Inari Sámi: Säämi, Skolt Sámi: Sääʹmjânnam) are the home of the indigenous Sámi people, spanning across the northern parts of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. This session examines the ways in which Sámi communities address the increased interest in mining projects in their region, in both protest and negotiation, on political and grassroots level, while facing the tangible effects of climate change. The session explores how Sámi political processes, environmental safeguarding and advocacy are reshaped by these external extractive pressures and how the Sámi community is responding to them while working to protect their cultural landscapes, traditional livelihoods and their natural world.