February 9, 2023 - 1:00pm
Most of us have heard of Lapland, but we’re not supposed to call it that anymore. The correct term these days is Sápmi — i.e. the land inhabited by the Lapps (or, rather, the Sami — as they very much prefer to be known). And, fair enough: they’ve got every right to assert their own identity, especially after centuries of domination by their southern neighbours.
Some of those neighbours are now keen to make amends for past injustices. For instance, the Swedish government made a point this week of using its presidency of the EU Council of Ministers to celebrate Sami National Day. Here’s the tweet:
Today is #SamiNationalDay!
The Sami are the EU’s only indigenous people. Since time immemorial, they have lived in an area stretching across parts of four countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia. This area is called Sápmi. pic.twitter.com/c4UGWWcXhP
— Sweden in EU (@SwedeninEU) February 6, 2023
It was worded with the best intentions, but if you read the replies it’s clear that it hasn’t gone down well with everyone. The problematic claim is that the Sami are “the EU’s only indigenous people” (my italics).
For a start, what is meant here by ‘indigenous’? According to most dictionaries, it’s the property of being original to, or characteristic of, a particular part of the world. In which case, there are all sorts of European peoples who could claim to be indigenous to Europe. For instance, the geneticist Razib Khan points out that the ancestors of today’s majority-Swedish population have been in Scandinavia for at least as long as the ancestors of today’s Sami.
In any case, if Europeans are going to have a competition as to who was in Europe first, then it might be won by those with the most Neanderthal ancestry — because, as genomic testing has revealed, millions of us carry Neanderthal genes.
But perhaps the Swedish government is using indigenous to mean something more specific. According to Merriam-Webster the word relates to “the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially of a place that was colonized by a now-dominant group”. This extra element of oppression by outsiders sharpens up the definition. However, while it applies to the Sami people and their history, it doesn’t do so uniquely. There are many ethnic groups in Europe that have been around for ages and which have been maltreated by foreign overlords. Just ask the Welsh, for instance, or the Basques.
It could be argued that the Sami are in a special category because of where they live (i.e. the most northerly reaches of Europe) and how they lived there (e.g. by reindeer herding). To have maintained a traditional culture for so long into the modern era surely sets them apart. But, again, this is debatable. While there’s no doubting the distinctiveness of the Sami, other Europeans can also lay claim to ancient traditions that have survived against the odds. To take a topical example, the Ukrainians are literally sacrificing their lives for a distinctive culture, language and history that Putin wants to erase.
Progressives ought to think twice before making an issue about who is and isn’t indigenous in Europe. While the label might play into the victim/oppressor narratives of the woke Left, it can also be exploited by the far-Right.
At a time when populism is a constant threat, telling people that they’re not indigenous to a place where they and their ancestors have lived for “time immemorial” is less than helpful. I’m sure that the Swedish government meant well, but it’s pulling on a dangerous thread.
Peter Franklin is Associate Editor of UnHerd. He was previously a policy advisor and speechwriter on environmental and social issues.
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SubscribeOf course not all Sami are white-skinned. What about Sami Davis Junior?
Of course not all Sami are white-skinned. What about Sami Davis Junior?
Europeans appear hell-bent on importing America’s societal fractures. I guess if we’re all balkanized into fractious tribes we become easy to control and manipulate.
Of course if we remain ardent in our own Balkanized (and I’m bearing in mind the original historic usage) identities and genuine convictions, tyrants find us utterly ungovernable and empires collapse. We can do more than hope, but mustn’t let the malefactors’ fools script it all, e.g., America’s societal fractures.
Of course if we remain ardent in our own Balkanized (and I’m bearing in mind the original historic usage) identities and genuine convictions, tyrants find us utterly ungovernable and empires collapse. We can do more than hope, but mustn’t let the malefactors’ fools script it all, e.g., America’s societal fractures.
Europeans appear hell-bent on importing America’s societal fractures. I guess if we’re all balkanized into fractious tribes we become easy to control and manipulate.
Trans activisits should take note (I believe that LGB have already done so) – endlessly demanding more attention, more rights, more protections than apply to the genpop, whilst simulataneously concretising a victim narrative, will likely backfire.
It hasn’t backfired yet for traditional U.K. feminism (e.g. Gender Pay Gap, WASPI pensions) but it may one day.
It hasn’t backfired yet for traditional U.K. feminism (e.g. Gender Pay Gap, WASPI pensions) but it may one day.
Trans activisits should take note (I believe that LGB have already done so) – endlessly demanding more attention, more rights, more protections than apply to the genpop, whilst simulataneously concretising a victim narrative, will likely backfire.
Completely bonkers.
Are they claiming that Europe was inhabited by the Sami originally until we Europeans invaded from Africa? Asia? and wiped out the peaceful European Sami so that only a few remain in their northern reservation like American Indians, so that it is only right and proper that we should take in as many fighting age young males from other parts of the globe so we can so we understand what it is like to have Europe taken from us like we seized it from the Sami?
The Swedes better take down their daft tweet as soon as possible unless the want to continue to be accused of racism against the other indigenous peoples of Europe.
Completely bonkers.
Are they claiming that Europe was inhabited by the Sami originally until we Europeans invaded from Africa? Asia? and wiped out the peaceful European Sami so that only a few remain in their northern reservation like American Indians, so that it is only right and proper that we should take in as many fighting age young males from other parts of the globe so we can so we understand what it is like to have Europe taken from us like we seized it from the Sami?
The Swedes better take down their daft tweet as soon as possible unless the want to continue to be accused of racism against the other indigenous peoples of Europe.
I recently read a piece in a major news outlet, written by a 20-something journalist, who tried to tell his audience that African Americans are “indigenous” to the Continental US.
Language is becoming dissociated from meaning, the map from the territory – and I sense that this is a deliberate ploy in some quarters. Orwell understood it perfectly from his observations of Stalinists: control language and you control expression; control expression, you control dialogue, and eventually the political narrative.
A project is underway and if you try to protest it, you get gaslit with protestations that you’re being paranoid (entertainingly, thrown at you by the people most fond of accusing others of gaslighting them). I was sceptical, at first, that the current “moment” would cohere long enough to “stick” politically, but eventually it became clear that there are those who do not wish our culture well, and they’re not working from outside of it, either. Their project won’t end well for anyone, but that seems to be the nihilistic objective of the exercise.
Is it ironic to refer to African Americans as being indigenous to America? Or is it just being utterly ignorant?
At least in the form that I’ve encountered it, that belief is not ironic, it’s deadly serious.
It seems to be related to Afrocentricism, buying into a belief system which tells one their people are the true masters of the planet and the source of all good inventions, but were deprived of their rightful place by evil other races.
A related version suggests that every invention or innovation highlighted in world history (or US history) really came from a person of African heritage, but was stolen by the white person who falsely gets named in the history books.
I do wonder how deeply they believe such obvious coping strategies. I would expect that many may have mixed minds internally, knowing that they are spouting BS, but hiding it from their narrative spinning mind. Luckily, this seems to be a small fringe, not unlike flat earthers.
To be clear, I think that trying to build up your personal self esteem by constantly comparing what one’s genetic ancestors did with what other people’s ancestors did, is a fools errand. I’m with Glenn Loury in taking a full ownership of the collective accomplishments of all humankind (at least to the same degree that everybody else does; how much the virtues or vices of previous people says anything about our own virtues and vices is questionable). So Glenn can claim kinship to any wisdom or brilliance derived from any continent, rather than only the subset attributable to African peoples. That means he has no need to lie about what his personal ancestors did in order to “win” a competition which is unneeded and irrelevant anyway.
Anyway, one offshoot of this tendency to invent a glorious ancestry is the idea that Africans were indigenous to all continents, but that has been suppressed. One video I recently watched was accusing all the Native American tribes of white supremacy, because they were outraged at Blacks claiming to be Native to the Americas.
At least in the form that I’ve encountered it, that belief is not ironic, it’s deadly serious.
It seems to be related to Afrocentricism, buying into a belief system which tells one their people are the true masters of the planet and the source of all good inventions, but were deprived of their rightful place by evil other races.
A related version suggests that every invention or innovation highlighted in world history (or US history) really came from a person of African heritage, but was stolen by the white person who falsely gets named in the history books.
I do wonder how deeply they believe such obvious coping strategies. I would expect that many may have mixed minds internally, knowing that they are spouting BS, but hiding it from their narrative spinning mind. Luckily, this seems to be a small fringe, not unlike flat earthers.
To be clear, I think that trying to build up your personal self esteem by constantly comparing what one’s genetic ancestors did with what other people’s ancestors did, is a fools errand. I’m with Glenn Loury in taking a full ownership of the collective accomplishments of all humankind (at least to the same degree that everybody else does; how much the virtues or vices of previous people says anything about our own virtues and vices is questionable). So Glenn can claim kinship to any wisdom or brilliance derived from any continent, rather than only the subset attributable to African peoples. That means he has no need to lie about what his personal ancestors did in order to “win” a competition which is unneeded and irrelevant anyway.
Anyway, one offshoot of this tendency to invent a glorious ancestry is the idea that Africans were indigenous to all continents, but that has been suppressed. One video I recently watched was accusing all the Native American tribes of white supremacy, because they were outraged at Blacks claiming to be Native to the Americas.
Is it ironic to refer to African Americans as being indigenous to America? Or is it just being utterly ignorant?
I recently read a piece in a major news outlet, written by a 20-something journalist, who tried to tell his audience that African Americans are “indigenous” to the Continental US.
Language is becoming dissociated from meaning, the map from the territory – and I sense that this is a deliberate ploy in some quarters. Orwell understood it perfectly from his observations of Stalinists: control language and you control expression; control expression, you control dialogue, and eventually the political narrative.
A project is underway and if you try to protest it, you get gaslit with protestations that you’re being paranoid (entertainingly, thrown at you by the people most fond of accusing others of gaslighting them). I was sceptical, at first, that the current “moment” would cohere long enough to “stick” politically, but eventually it became clear that there are those who do not wish our culture well, and they’re not working from outside of it, either. Their project won’t end well for anyone, but that seems to be the nihilistic objective of the exercise.
“At a time when populism is a constant threat…”
I reckon I could quickly jot down impressive lists of threats to contemporary Western culture, to the population of the UK, or to me personally. Your choice.
I very much doubt that “populism” would feature in the first 100 entries of any of them.
“At a time when populism is a constant threat…”
I reckon I could quickly jot down impressive lists of threats to contemporary Western culture, to the population of the UK, or to me personally. Your choice.
I very much doubt that “populism” would feature in the first 100 entries of any of them.
I’m Sami, evidently, if you go back far enough !
I think (for what it’s worth) that this author, like others before them, seem to confuse ethnicity and culture. I watched a program about the Celts (Irish), presented be Ardal O’Hanlon, in which the same error occurred (I suspect ‘political’ points, with regard to immigration were trying to be made, if not out loud, about there being no Irish Celtic Race, and not being particularly Irish didn’t need preserving). I think race matters far less than culture, and what is, presumably, under threat is Sami culture, and not specifically ethnicity. This is happening, not just in Northern Scandinavia, but everywhere, all the time, the question is, is it worth preserving, and indeed is it at all possible in this ever more homogeneous world, particularly one in which white indigenous, even ancient, culture seems to be ever more toxic.
I’m Sami, evidently, if you go back far enough !
I think (for what it’s worth) that this author, like others before them, seem to confuse ethnicity and culture. I watched a program about the Celts (Irish), presented be Ardal O’Hanlon, in which the same error occurred (I suspect ‘political’ points, with regard to immigration were trying to be made, if not out loud, about there being no Irish Celtic Race, and not being particularly Irish didn’t need preserving). I think race matters far less than culture, and what is, presumably, under threat is Sami culture, and not specifically ethnicity. This is happening, not just in Northern Scandinavia, but everywhere, all the time, the question is, is it worth preserving, and indeed is it at all possible in this ever more homogeneous world, particularly one in which white indigenous, even ancient, culture seems to be ever more toxic.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, also known by the absurd acronym UNDRIP, should apply to the people of Western Europe, in particular Article 8, though I doubt that is the intention. When does a person cease being indigenous? Should I still be identifying as Iceni?
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, also known by the absurd acronym UNDRIP, should apply to the people of Western Europe, in particular Article 8, though I doubt that is the intention. When does a person cease being indigenous? Should I still be identifying as Iceni?
This is a grave error by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU because they ignore the current truism that white people are inherently, biologically colonial and therefore cannot claim to be indigenous to any location. Sami-supremacists have apparently infiltrated the highest reaches of European government.
I don’t think they’re ignoring it, I think they’re fully on board!
I don’t think they’re ignoring it, I think they’re fully on board!
This is a grave error by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU because they ignore the current truism that white people are inherently, biologically colonial and therefore cannot claim to be indigenous to any location. Sami-supremacists have apparently infiltrated the highest reaches of European government.
This is an interesting article and the responses are as predicted on UnHerd. The Sami people extend across the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The question is, have they been incorporated into those countries or conquered and their customs suppressed – like the tribes in North America.
There are two ways of looking at this:- how many of their customs have been incorporated into the culture of the new countries and how many of their words are used in everyday spoken language. Are their words useful apart from when you are herding reindeer?
I think (maybe I’m wrong) that Sweden is the most advanced in trying to incorporate the Sami culture but this is true for all immigrants in Sweden – with mixed results. It would be interesting to get opinions from Norway and Finland.
I incorporate, you conquer and suppress customs, he ethnically cleanses.
I incorporate, you conquer and suppress customs, he ethnically cleanses.
This is an interesting article and the responses are as predicted on UnHerd. The Sami people extend across the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The question is, have they been incorporated into those countries or conquered and their customs suppressed – like the tribes in North America.
There are two ways of looking at this:- how many of their customs have been incorporated into the culture of the new countries and how many of their words are used in everyday spoken language. Are their words useful apart from when you are herding reindeer?
I think (maybe I’m wrong) that Sweden is the most advanced in trying to incorporate the Sami culture but this is true for all immigrants in Sweden – with mixed results. It would be interesting to get opinions from Norway and Finland.