In 2005 an expert group representing the governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Saami parliaments of these countries agreed upon a draft text of a Nordic Saami Convention. Key parts of the text deal with the recognition of Saami land and resource rights. More recently the three governments have embarked on negotiations to move from this draft text to a final convention that may be adopted and ratified by all three countries. Negotiations commenced in the Spring of 2011 and should be completed within five years. This collection of essays explores the national and international dimensions of indigenous property rights and the draft Convention which recognises the Saami as one people divided by international boundaries. Part one of the book seeks to provide a global and theoretical context for these developments in the Nordic countries, with a series of essays dealing with the moral and legal reasons for recognising indigenous property interests and different conceptualisations of the relationship between indigenous peoples and settler societies, including recognition, reconciliation and pluralism. Part two of the book examines some international legal issues associated with the Convention, including the background to the Convention. Part three turns to examine aspects of the recognition of Saami property interests in each of the three Nordic states, while Part four provides some comparative experiences, examining the recognition of indigenous property rights in a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia and a number of South American states. An additional essay considers gender issues in relation to indigenous property rights.

Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa was born in 1943 to a reindeer-breeding family in Sapmi, homeland of the Sami, whom outsiders have called "Laps" or "Laplanders". A Finnish citizen, he lives in both Norway and Finland. Much of traditional Sami life was nomadic, involving herding reindeer and living in harmony with the landscapes, weather, and animals of the far north. The poems in The Sun, My Father serve as a link between past and present. According to one myth, the Sami are the children of the sun, and the poet honors that myth, reaching back into the Sami past from the point of view of a modern Sami. The Sami edition was originally published in 1988 and won the Nordic Council's Literature Award. The translation team includes Ralph Salisbury, a Native American poet, Lars Nordstrom, a Swedish translator, and Harald Gaski, a Sami scholar.

This open access book is a novel contribution in two ways: It is a multi-disciplinary examination of the indigenous South Saami people in Fennoscandia, a social and cultural group that often is overlooked as it is a minority within the Saami minority. Based on both historical material such as archaeological evidence, 20th century newspapers, and postcard motives as well as current sources such as ongoing land-right trials and recent works of historiography, the articles highlight the culture and living conditions of this indigenous group, mapping the negotiations of different identities through the interaction of Saami and non-Saami people through the ages. By illuminating this under-researched field, the volume also enriches the more general debate on global indigenous history, and sheds light on the construction of a Scandinavian identity and the limits of the welfare state and the myth of heterogeneity and equality.

In 2005 an expert group representing the governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Saami parliaments of these countries agreed upon a draft text of a Nordic Saami Convention. Key parts of the text deal with the recognition of Saami land and resource rights. More recently the three governments have embarked on negotiations to move from this draft text to a final convention that may be adopted and ratified by all three countries. Negotiations commenced in the Spring of 2011 and should be completed within five years. This collection of essays explores the national and international dimensions of indigenous property rights and the draft Convention which recognises the Saami as one people divided by international boundaries. Part one of the book seeks to provide a global and theoretical context for these developments in the Nordic countries, with a series of essays dealing with the moral and legal reasons for recognising indigenous property interests and different conceptualisations of the relationship between indigenous peoples and settler societies, including recognition, reconciliation and pluralism. Part two of the book examines some international legal issues associated with the Convention, including the background to the Convention. Part three turns to examine aspects of the recognition of Saami property interests in each of the three Nordic states, while Part four provides some comparative experiences, examining the recognition of indigenous property rights in a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia and a number of South American states. An additional essay considers gender issues in relation to indigenous property rights.

The importance of Indigenous self-determination was enhanced when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. Yet, as this volume's contributors suggest, much more work is needed in terms of understanding what Indigenous self-determination means in theory and how it is to be achieved in practice.

This book contributes to the international debate on Indigenous Peoples Law, containing both in-depth research of Scandinavian historical and legal contexts with respect to the Sami and demonstrating current stances in Sami Law research. In addition to chapters by well-known Scandinavian experts, the collection also comments on the legal situation in Norway, Sweden and Finland in relation to other jurisdictions and indigenous peoples, in particular with experiences and developments in Canada and New Zealand. The book displays the current research frontier among the Scandinavian countries, what the present-day issues are and how the nation states have responded so far to claims of Sami rights. The study sheds light on the contrasts between the three countries on the one hand, and between Scandinavia, Canada and New Zealand on the other, showing that although there are obvious differences, for instance related to colonisation and present legal solutions, there are also shared experiences among the indigenous peoples and the States. Filling a gap in an under-researched area of Sami rights, this book will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers with an interest in Indigenous Peoples Law and comparative research.