Land Usage and Siida Autonomy

• Author: Mikkel Nils Sara
• Pages: 4-24

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Peer Reviewed Articles

Land Usage and Siida Autonomy

Mikkel Nils Sara

Mikkel Nils Sara is research fellow at Sámi Allaskuvla/Sámi University College,

Kautokeino, Norway. E-post: Mikkel-Nils.Sara@samiskhs.no

Abstract: e 2007 Rei ndeer Husbandry Act acknowledged in principle the tra-

ditional Sámi siida as a r ights holder and basic unit of the working partnership.

e Act provides a denition of the siida and certa in provisions concerning its

institutional aspects . e siida system had lost prominence under the Reindeer

Herding District regime. Two basic issues must now be determined to restore

siida autonomy – animal numbers, and siida ru les of land usage. e article dis-

cusses these issues in relation to tra ditional reindeer herding customs.

Key words: Sámi, siida, reindeer husbandry, land, scientic and juridical

approach, herding concepts.

1. Introduction

A law committee had been appointed in 1998 to prepare legislative amendments

on internal matters concerning the reindeer herding industry in Norway. eir

report and dra proposal were published in 2001.1 e committee unanimously

concluded that the siida should be acknowledged as a rig hts holder and the basic

unit of a working partnersh ip. e legal acknowledgement of the siida

2

was nally

1. NOU 2001:35 Forslag til endr inger i reindrisloven.

2. e Reinde er Husbandry Act prov ides the following de nition of a siida (author’s transl ation):

“a group of reindeer owners t hat practice reindeer hus bandry jointly i n certain are as.” is is

an abridged de nition of a long-standing Sám i institution, but stil l suggests an outline . e

siida actua lly constitutes a nom adic community (see Nergå rd 2006 pp. 68–72). Various aspects

Arctic Review o n Law and Politics, vol. 3, 2/2011 p. 138–158. ISSN 1891-6252

land usage and siida autonomy

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conrmed by the Norwegian Pa rliament in 2007 when it passed the new Reindeer

Husbandry Act.

However, clarication of specic siida issues stil l remains to be determined. A

number of internal matters in dispute were allowed to materialize and esca late

under the inuence of the abortive Reindeer Herding District regime. Now the

rst steps need to be taken towards restoration of the siida system. e reindeer

herding district boards were given the task of preparing proposals for prescrip-

tive rules of usage,3 but th is required clarication of some basic issues concerning

land rights and the number of reindeer. ese unresolved issues are dicult to

handle for the parties involved, and a key question is how to approach them to

maximi ze the outcome.

e current issues concerning the preparation of prescriptive rules of usage

originated in developments that occurred over 10–12 years, following the adoption

of the Reindeer Husbandry Act of 1978. ese concerns are that: (1) the number

of reindeer increased signica ntly in key geographic areas of reindeer husbandry,

or more precisely in Finnmark; (2) the newly established management system

and a growing administrative apparatus simultaneously practice a form of co-

management that include only legally-recognized units, for example the boards

of reindeer herding districts; (3) the siida system is about to break down as a resu lt

of large herds exceeding tradit ional boundaries, and management does not focus

on siida rights and interests as a basis for regu latory reform.

e Reindeer Husbandry Act of 2007 represents a retu rn to the siida system. It

is worth noting that the new Act refers to both indigenous rights in accordance

with international law, and a need to establish maximum allowable numbers of

reindeer. How should we approach the problem at hand in order to further bot h

interests? e challenge is to identify aspects of the siida system that are of vital

importance to both the conti nuation of autonomous siida practices, and achieve

a long-term balance between reindeer herds and their habitats.

of the tradition al reindeer herding siid as appear in socia l anthropological a nd ethnographic

studies (see e.g. Wh itaker 1955, Vorren 1962, Pehrson 1964, Paine 1994).

3. A district should pre ferably include all seasona l areas of the siidas belongi ng to the district

(see article 8–1 in Lov 15. ju ni 2007 nr.40). is is a complex system t hat also includes over-

lapping migrator y routes and short-term stays on other siida s’ seasonal pastures. I n future

the Distric t Boards wil l have the role of safegua rding pasture res ources withi n the district , in

accordance wit h bruksregler, i.e. the rules of usage. e whole s et of rules, includi ng number

of reindeer, could be design ated as prescriptive rule s for the management and use of dis trict

resources, whi le the rules concernin g migratory routes and seas onal pastures could be des -

ignated as land u sage rules (article 59).