Finland and Colonization by Erica Cruz

Finland has never held any overseas colonies and has had to fight for sovereignty from larger powers in the east and west.  However, colonization referring to treatment of indigenous communities within the country is often overlooked.

**Swedish and Russian Colonization of Finland**

Finnish ancestors arrived in Finland from the Baltic regions.  Sweden took control in the 12th century as a result of religious crusades.  Finland became a Swedish province and grand duchy from the 1150s to 1809, and therefore had the right to send representatives to Sweden starting in 1362.  Finland’s political and economic processes followed Swedish lead, and despite its status as a Sweden’s territory, most of Sweden’s colonization was concentrated in Finland’s southern and western regions.

Because of Finland’s location it served as a battleground for Sweden and Russia’s conflicts as Sweden’s status as a great power weakened.  When Sweden was defeated in 1808–09, Finland’s sovereignty was transferred to Russia.  Originally, Finland was granted autonomy under Russian rule, which Russia later attempted to destroy in the 19th century.  Finland also experienced a cultural divide, between Fennomen who were in favor of Finnish language and culture and Svecomen who advocated for Swedish language and culture.  However, the Fennomen were later able to dominate.

During Russia’s Revolution, Finland became the first European country to give women political suffrage.  After the seizing of Russian power by the Bolsheviks, Finland declared independence on December 6, 1917, and later became a democratic parliamentary republic.

**The Sámi People**

The Sámi are the only indigenous people in the EU.  The Sámi’s status was written into Finland’s constitution in 1995.  This stated they had the right to maintain their own language, culture and traditional ways of life.  They currently have their own self-government consisting of the Sámi Parliament, elected by the Sámi.

The Sámi’s traditional livelihood includes fishing, gathering, handicrafts, hunting and reindeer herding.  Reindeers are used by the Sámi for transportation, food, and materials for clothing and handicrafts.

The Sámi language is one of the indigenous European languages, and is related to Finnish and Estonian.  It is spoken in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia.  There are about 20,000 speakers of three Sámi languages in Finland: North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi.  About 2,000 people speak North Sámi, while Inari Sámi (which is exclusive to Finland) and Skolt Sámi have approximately 300 speakers.  Although many Sámi have lost their native language, there has been effort to preserve it, and Sámi language was made an official language through The Sámi Language Act of 1992.

**Discrimination of the Sámi**

The Sámi have experienced discrimination in many aspects of society.  The Sámi say that schools do not do enough to strengthen Sámi children’s identities and that they are not given adequate protection from harassment, which they are subject to as part of their day to day life.  They also feel that authorities don’t take seriously or oppose the teaching of Sámi language.  Teaching of Sámi language is often left to parents, and if parents try to hire teachers, they are told that their instructor of choice lacks qualifications.  This risks loss of language because of the few people who can still speak and teach Sámi.

Because of histories of discrimination, Sámi have a distrust of authority figures.  They see authorities’ decisions regarding Sámi issues as being influenced by prejudice, and don’t believe authorities have their best interest in mind.  This is because of a past definition of Sámi given by the government that describe them as culturally-inferior reindeer hunters that couldn’t make decisions for themselves.  In addition, because the Minister for Agriculture is responsible for arranging Sámi policies, this further promotes the idea that business concerning the Sámi may be seen as “​​reindeer husbandry matters”.  Discrimination against them has also been noted in healthcare, where Sámi have reported that healthcare providers disapprove if a child can only speak Sámi and that they don’t take their strong family ties seriously.

Finns have been self-described as non-imperialistic; ideas of Finnish colonialism have been rejected and Finland’s historians have even claimed that treatment of the Sámi have been equal and fair, so when Sweden’s Minister of Agriculture issued an apology on behalf of Sweden to the Sámi in 1998, his Finnish colleague, the Minister of Justice said, "There are currently no issues that would require an apology."

**Sources**

*Discrimination of the Sami - Office of the United Nations High ...* https://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/ExpertMechanism/3rd/docs/contributions/SwedishEqualityOmbudsman\_2.pdf.

“Finland - History.” *Encyclopedia of the Nations*, https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Finland-HISTORY.html.

Lehtola, Veli-Pekka. “Sámi Histories, Colonialism, and Finland.” *Arctic Anthropology*, vol. 52, no. 2, 2015, pp. 22–36, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26449413.

“The Sámi in Finland.” *Samediggi*, 8 Apr. 2021, https://www.samediggi.fi/sami-info/?lang=en.