Sami region of Finland

The Sámi region of Finland includes the communities (municipalities) of Inari , Utsjoki and Enontekiyo , as well as the northern part of the Sodankylä community (all communities are in the Lappi province).

About 60% of the total Sámi population of Finland lives in the region, the number of which, according to various sources, is from seven to nine and a half thousand people (the majority of the population of the Sámi region are Finns ).

The statistical indicators of the composition of the Saami region of Finland are very different depending on what methodology is used to classify a person to a particular nationality. The data of the Finnish Population Registration Center, which primarily takes into account which language is native to a person, is significantly lower than the data used by the Sami Parliament of Finland (which focuses more on origin, not language knowledge).

Sámi population in the Sámi communities of Finland

The second column contains information according to the data from the Finnish Population Registration Center, and the third column contains information from the Sami Parliament of Finland.

The Finnish name for the Sami territory, used in § 121 of the Constitution of Finland - Saamelaisten kotiseutualue ^[5] , literally "Territory of the Sami native land"; another translation option is “Aboriginal Sami Territory”. In unofficial translations of this paragraph, other options are used - “Sami Territory” ^[4] and “Sami Territory” ^[6] .

According to § 17 of the Finnish Constitution, the Sami population has the right to preserve and develop their language and culture. The same paragraph of the Constitution establishes the right of the Sami to use their language in government (the procedure for using this right is established by a special law) ^[4] .

In addition, according to § 121 of the Constitution, in the Sami region, Sami have autonomy in matters of language and culture ^[4] .

In the Sámi region of Finland, in the village of Inari , the Sámi Parliament is located - the elected representative body of cultural self-government of the Sámi of Finland , their highest political body. Parliament has the right to introduce legislative initiatives, as well as issue statements on issues that fall under its jurisdiction. The Sámi Parliament is the only body in Finland that has the right to express the official Sámi point of view on issues that affect the life of the Sámi population of this country. The Sámi Parliament of Finland is responsible for the Sámi culture , Sámi languages , as well as issues determined by the status of the Sámi as one of the indigenous peoples .

In September-October 2011, the next elections to the Sami Parliament of Finland were held ^[7] . 49.6% of 5,483 people who had the right to participate in the elections took part in the vote (this is a lower indicator than in previous elections). Of the 41 candidates, 21 deputies were elected: eight from the Inari community, six from Utsjoki , three each from Sodankyulya and Enontekiyo ; another deputy was elected from the Sami, who live outside the Sami region of Finland ^[8] .

Since 2012, the Saami Parliament of Finland has been working in the Saami Cultural Center Sayos , the official opening of which took place on April 3, 2012, on the opening day of the session of the Saami Parliament of the new convocation ^{[9] [10]} .

Finland has various programs for the preservation and revival of the Sami languages. Sami languages ​​are taught in many kindergartens and schools in the Sami region, using the method of “ language nests ”, the general idea of ​​which is that both teaching and communication of children with each other and with teachers are carried out in conditions of complete language immersion in the studied tongue. However, the Sami languages ​​in Finland are still in danger of extinction, this, in particular, was announced in September 2011 by Finnish Minister of Justice Anna-Maya Henriksson ^[11] .

In the village of Inari, the Sami Region Training Center is located, whose functions include organizing the educational process in the Sami territory. In addition, the Training Center is engaged in international relations - in particular, in October 2011, representatives of the center participated in the conference “History and current situation of the Skolt Sámi” in Murmansk ^[2] .

The issue of Sami land rights and land use in the Sami region has not been resolved to date. There is a widespread opinion among the Saami of Finland about the unfairness of the current legislation, since it does not provide the Saami with the exclusive right to dispose of their historical lands and the natural resources located on them associated with their traditional industries; Currently, all these lands are owned by the state and all local residents can engage in reindeer husbandry, fishing and hunting on them ^[3] . The Sámi believe that their historical lands should be transferred to them in ownership, or at least the Sámi should be granted substantially wider rights to use them ^[12] .

The issue of Sami land rights has been raised for many years, however, it has not been resolved, which is one of the reasons Finland has still not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ^[12] . The draft law on Saami land rights was considered in 2010 during the work of the centrist government of Marie Kiviniemi , but was never adopted. According to the Minister of Justice of this government, ( Green Union Party), voiced in January 2011 , the draft law did not provide for the transfer of land into Sami ownership, but significantly expanded their rights regarding land use, but the Law did not suit the Party in this form Center ^[13] . The situation with Sami land rights has not changed much, and after the centrists, having lost the elections, went to the opposition, and new political forces led by the National Coalition Party came to power. On April 3, 2012, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö , speaking at a session of the Sámi Parliament of Finland of a new convocation, said that the UN Convention on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is “poorly suited to Finland” because it is supposedly created for countries with a “colonial past” ^[9] .

• Veli-Pekka Lehtola, Matti Aikio. Saamelaisten parlamentti: Suomen saamelaisvaltuuskunta 1973-1995 ja Saamelaiskäräjät 1996-2003. - Inari: Saamelaiskäräjät, 2005 .-- 215 p. - ISBN 9524411083 . ISBN 9789524411080

• Saamelaiset (Saami) : article on the website of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Health of Finland. (Fin.) (Retrieved November 10, 2011)