Girjas paves the way for more Sami villages

In Sweden, there are 51 Sami villages that extend from Idre in Dalarna up to Treriksröset in the far north on an area that covers almost half of Sweden. More than half of the Sami villages have land above the cultivation limit and could claim similar historical conditions that form the basis for Girja's Sami village to have exclusive rights over hunting and fishing rights.

Peter Danowsky, who represented Girja's Sami village in the Supreme Court, wants to read the verdict properly before pronouncing the consequences. But he notes that the argument about ancient memory is relevant to more Sami villages.

- To show that a review of the historical conditions is of importance. But the evidence requirement is not high. One can check the conditions that apply in other Sami villages, he says.

Åsa Larsson Blind at the Swedish Sami National Federation (SSR) says it is too early to say if more Sami villages are in luck.

- But as the court said, the verdict is precedent. We expect the state to read and analyze what it means for the lending system nationally, she says.

Today, rights to hunting and fishing are managed by the landowner state, usually through the county administrative boards, and this has in principle been the case since the 19th century. At the Jägarförbundet there is a concern that the verdict will create uncertainty about hunting issues in the mountains in general.

-I am worried that the authorities will not know how to do in other parts of the mountain area. This can be an uneven practice between different county boards, and it places increased demands on politicians to address the same issues in a way that has not been done so far, says Anders Iacobaeus, member of the Jägareförbundet board.

A direct consequence of the judgment was that the county administrative board in Norrbotten immediately stopped all sales of hunting and fishing licenses. Thus, until now, it is not possible to buy or activate hunting and fishing licenses, as Girja's Sami village does not have its own management in place.

-How it will look is impossible to say today. Maybe we can use the system that the County Administrative Board has had. But we have no active hunting cards at the moment and I do not feel any stress. One should not over-dramatize, says Matti Berg in Girja's Sami village.