An Indigenous land claim with parallels to Canada could redraw Norway’s map – Radio-Canada
May 10, 2024
Norway’s Supreme Court will decide whether Sámi people can control 5,450 square kilometres of land
Norway’s Supreme Court is deliberating on a case that could grant local control over a vast area in the country’s far north — and set a groundbreaking precedent for Indigenous land rights in Europe.
The case will determine whether the largely Indigenous Sámi municipality of Karasjok will get collective ownership over its roughly 5,450 square kilometres of land — the second-largest municipal area in Norway and one of the most productive in terms of natural resources.
The Sámi are Europe’s only formally recognized Indigenous group, with traditional territories spanning the national borders of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. Across traditional territories in four Arctic nations, Sámi communities are already engaged in high-profile conflicts over land as the appetite for industrial projects on their territories appears to be ever-rising.
