The Sami- Cold Environments Flashcards
What is the sami’s current population?
70,000 people
Where does the Sami’s ancestral land span across?
Their ancestral lands span across the Arctic areas of the four countries and cover an area the size of Norway.
What is the Sami?
A group of indigenous people.
Name three activities their livelihood includes:
1) semi-nomadic reindeer herding
2) coastal fishing
3) sheep herding
Describe the first major issue with their livelihoods…
All of their activities require freedom to roam which exploitation of the Arctic for minerals and oil interferes with.
Describe the issue associated with Sami children getting taken to state school…
Loss of culture from generations of Sami. Experiencing cultural threats as they struggle to maintain their beliefs, language and the time to practice traditional livelihoods whilst they are at school.
Name 5 ways the Sami are experiencing cultural and environmental threats:
1) oil exploration
2) mining
3) dam building
4) logging
5) climate change
6) military bombing ranges
7) tourism
8) commercial development
What do the Sami parliament demand and why?
The Sami Parliament demands that resources and mineral exploration should benefit mainly the local Sami communities and population, as the proposed mines are in Sami lands and will affect their ability to maintain their traditional livelihood.
Name a mining location on ancient Sami land…
Vindelfjallen (two dots above the a) Nature Reserve. It is described as an ecologically protected area.
Name an area which has been vastly affected by mining already…
Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Vast areas have already been destroyed.
Describe how Russia’s Kola Peninsula has been affected…
There is a gas pipeline that stretched across the Kola Peninsula, and oil spills affect fishing and the construction of roads. Power lines may cut off access to reindeer calving grounds and sacred sites.
What is a major issue in Northern Finland?
There has been a long standing dispute over the destruction of forests as they prevent reindeer from migrating between seasonal feeding grounds.
What has been done to try and resolve the dispute in Northern Finland?
Greenpeace, reindeer herders and Sami organisations carried out a joint campaign. As a result industrial logging has now been pushed back from the most important areas permanently for the next 20 years.
Name a major nuclear disaster…
The 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear disaster
What was the issue with the Chernobyl disaster?
Fish, berries and meat were poisoned.
73,000 reindeer had to be destroyed as ‘unfit’ for human consumption in Sweden alone.
