The indigenous practice of chasing reindeer around on quadbikes and snowmobiles is under threat I tell you.
It is hard to believe for people outside reindeer husbandry areas, but sami people oppose any and all development by their fellow Norwegians, as a matter of principle.
Not just the big issues you read about in the media.
Also smaller things, like waterworks for parts of an arctic municipality.
Reindeer meat is very tasty and healthy, and the furs are very warm, but when they are deemed more important than clean drinking water, maybe the rights of other Norwegians are at risk.
Having some Sami family (I haven’t talked to in many years, granted), they’re the silent majority types. They hate stuff like this and just wish to be left alone to practice the traditional ways of living.
As a quarter Sami myself, well, I don’t really notice or care 😅 I’m not really Sami by culture, just blood, so I guess my vote doesnt count anyway.
Have started telling less people my heritage Irl though, and every time I do they want my opinion on these activists. (if you’re curious, I’m not a fan either, I respect wanting to preserve “our ways”, but it’s always felt more like it’s been about getting attention for attentions sake rather than legit concern)
Reindeer herders, just slide them some cash, and suddenly they are perfectly fine with whatever you want to build or develop.
> so I guess my vote doesnt count anyway.
Well, interestingly it does. You could vote in both national and Sami elections. You could even stand for office in the Sameting.
> Have started telling less people my heritage Irl though
For a lot of people this would be seen, and based on reporting the last years *is* seen, as something negative. That people avoid telling people about their heritage. But, as a fellow traveler myself, I have always found it absurd how many people try to base their lives and identity on the part (sometimes even just a fraction) of their heritage which makes them different from the general community. It might be a question of American cultural influence, but it’s in direct opposition to the successful nation building project in Norway for instance.
Minority rights should and must be protected, racism combated at every level and people should be proud of who their ancestors. But if I meet someone and they very early on in our relationship start focusing in on how they are different from me on some… unmovable level (like ethnicity) I feel the need to pull away. This goes for national minorities, second and third generation immigrants or whatever it may be.
People scream injustice at being treated differently, while making their whole lives about being different. Never made any sense to me.
But, if people *are* being intolerant or rude because they figure out one of your grandparents were this or that for instance, that is something else and should not be ignored.
5 comments
The indigenous practice of chasing reindeer around on quadbikes and snowmobiles is under threat I tell you.
It is hard to believe for people outside reindeer husbandry areas, but sami people oppose any and all development by their fellow Norwegians, as a matter of principle.
Not just the big issues you read about in the media.
Also smaller things, like waterworks for parts of an arctic municipality.
Reindeer meat is very tasty and healthy, and the furs are very warm, but when they are deemed more important than clean drinking water, maybe the rights of other Norwegians are at risk.
Having some Sami family (I haven’t talked to in many years, granted), they’re the silent majority types. They hate stuff like this and just wish to be left alone to practice the traditional ways of living.
As a quarter Sami myself, well, I don’t really notice or care 😅 I’m not really Sami by culture, just blood, so I guess my vote doesnt count anyway.
Have started telling less people my heritage Irl though, and every time I do they want my opinion on these activists. (if you’re curious, I’m not a fan either, I respect wanting to preserve “our ways”, but it’s always felt more like it’s been about getting attention for attentions sake rather than legit concern)
Reindeer herders, just slide them some cash, and suddenly they are perfectly fine with whatever you want to build or develop.
> so I guess my vote doesnt count anyway.
Well, interestingly it does. You could vote in both national and Sami elections. You could even stand for office in the Sameting.
> Have started telling less people my heritage Irl though
For a lot of people this would be seen, and based on reporting the last years *is* seen, as something negative. That people avoid telling people about their heritage. But, as a fellow traveler myself, I have always found it absurd how many people try to base their lives and identity on the part (sometimes even just a fraction) of their heritage which makes them different from the general community. It might be a question of American cultural influence, but it’s in direct opposition to the successful nation building project in Norway for instance.
Minority rights should and must be protected, racism combated at every level and people should be proud of who their ancestors. But if I meet someone and they very early on in our relationship start focusing in on how they are different from me on some… unmovable level (like ethnicity) I feel the need to pull away. This goes for national minorities, second and third generation immigrants or whatever it may be.
People scream injustice at being treated differently, while making their whole lives about being different. Never made any sense to me.
But, if people *are* being intolerant or rude because they figure out one of your grandparents were this or that for instance, that is something else and should not be ignored.
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