Samisk Uke 2015 - oppsummering av konferansen "Barents Indigenous 2050"

As part of Sami Week in Tromsø and Sami National Day on the 6th February, UIT The Arctic University of Norway hosted the Barents Indigenous People’s Congress and the Barents Indigenous 2050 Conference Impacts of our footprints over February 4th and 5th. A delegation of Sami politicians from both Scandinavia and Russia attended the events, as well as representatives of the Nenets and Veps of Russia.

The congress marked the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples (WGIP), which is part of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, and which therefore also was the main organizer of the event. WGIP consists of six members of the Sami Parliamentary Council and other indigenous peoples’ organizations who are advisors to the Barents Euro-Arctic Council as well as the Barents Regional Council.

The congress consisted of an interesting program on the current issues of indigenous peoples in Scandinavia and Russia. Apart from discussing and deciding on an Action Plan for indigenous peoples in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region, the congress also provided the opportunity to share news of the latest developments in the representatives’ respective home areas.

The Barents Indigenous 2050 Conference on February 5th was divided into two parts. The morning was devoted to indigenous languages while the latter half of the day dealt with extractive industries and collaboration of industry and indigenous peoples. These are two important issues for indigenous peoples in the Barents region today. Christina Henriksen, head of WGIP, emphasizes that for example the Sami languages are at the verge of extinction if no one takes actions now. She furthermore stresses the growing threat of the mining and oil industries in Norway which use more and more areas formerly used and needed in reindeer herding.

The focus of the conference fell on two different panel debates that followed guest lectures, such as that of Focal Point North adjunct professor Greg Poelzer who presented the success rate of indigenous entrepreneurship in extractive industries in Canada.

His presentation was followed by a debate on the question “Is coexistence possible?” while the first debate centred on the question “What can we do to prevent languages from dying?” The linguist Elisabeth Scheller for example stated the opinion that a language can never fully die. It only needs one or two persons to speak and can always be revitalized. Vladislav Vyucheysky, Leader of the Association of Reindeer Husbandry, furthermore raised his concern that stronger indigenous languages are a threat to smaller ones while the audience referred to the fact that even though Northern Sami is the biggest Sami language with a successful revitalization history, it is still being threatened.

The debates were moderated by Mona Solbakk, Simon Pavall and Liv Inger Somby.

It was a successful conference week for UIT and the Norwegian Barents Secretariat that brought the different indigenous peoples of the Barents region closer together and provided an opportunity for them to share current local issues. WGIP and the Norwegian Barents Secretariat are looking forward to the 4th Barents Indigenous Peoples’ Congress in 2016.

Written by Vanessa Brune. Pictures by Björn Hatteng.