Muonio concession Sami village is proposed to become a forest Sami village. If this happens, hunting may be affected, with two moose hunting teams on the same private land. Rolf Hjärtberg, chairman of Pajala common forest, believes that it is an unacceptable intrusion into the ownership and use rights of land. Photo: Lars-Henrik Andersson & Privat
This evening Pajala common forest will hold an information meeting for its members. The reason is the Sami Parliament’s proposal to transform the Muonio concession Sami village into a forest Sami village.
The issue is now on the Renmarkskommittee’s table for investigation.
Anyone who is Sámi can get a permit (concession) to run reindeer herding in Norrbotten County below the Lappmark border.
Muonio Sami village is the northernmost of the eight concession Sami villages in Norrbotten. The pastures are located in the northern part of Pajala municipality.
35 percent of the forest land within the area of Muonio Sami village is owned by the state company Sveaskog. The remaining part consists mainly of public forests and privately owned land.
According to the Reindeer Committee, traditional forest Sami reindeer husbandry has been carried out in the area of Muonio Sami village since time immemorial.
Unlike the mountain and forest Sami villages, the Muonio Sami village, like other concession Sami villages, only has the right to reindeer grazing on the land determined by the county board.
The members of Muonio Sami village today do not have the right to hunt and fish.
Rolf Hjärtberg, chairman of Pajala common forest, is also a landowner in Lovikka.
His land has been in the family’s possession since 1915. Forestry, hunting and fishing are important to him.
It would mean an unacceptable intrusion into the right of ownership and use of land. Hunting is important to us.
Rolf Hjartberg
Rolf Hjärtberg believes that if Muonio Sami village were to change from a concession Sami village to a forest Sami village, it would affect the land owners negatively.
– That would mean an unacceptable intrusion into the right of ownership and use of land. Hunting is important to us, he tells Svensk Jakt.
He continues:
– If Muonio becomes a forest Sami village, there may be changes, but nobody knows at the moment how it will turn out.
The landowners are worried about the Sami village getting hunting rights on their lands, so-called double registration.
But there is also concern that the private land will be redeemed.
On behalf of the board of the Sami Parliament, the historian Bertil Marklund has carried out a historical study on the Muonio Sami village, which contains a series of proposals that are now included in the Renmarks Committee’s memorandum. Among other things, Bertil Marklund writes:
“The state must buy out all common forests in Pajala municipality and return the land to the Muonio forest community.”
Eva Kvist.
Eva Kvist, Swedish National Association of Tornedalingers, is strongly critical of the proposal to transform the concession Sami village into a forest Sami village.
– Many of the landowners belong to the national minority Tornedalings, Kvänen and Lantalaiset and are now very worried. This minority has subsisted over the years on hunting, fishing, reindeer herding, trade, agriculture and forestry. If Muonio becomes a forest Sami village, the opportunity to have reindeer risks disappearing for us because a forest Sami village does not need to receive so-called nursing reindeer. That would mean a cultural loss, says Eva Kvist.
– It will be a security risk because it will be a double-registered hunt. The Sami village hunting team will hunt on the same land as private landowners. Then there is a risk of further polarization because it will be a competitive situation, says Eva Kvist.
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