scholarly journals Hearths in the coastal areas of northernmost Sweden, from the period AD 800 to 1950

Rangifer ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Liedgren ◽  
Ingela Bergman ◽  
Per H. Ramqvist ◽  
Greger Hörnberg
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
Metal Detector ◽  
Burned Bones ◽  
Ancient Monuments

This paper presents a study of the chronological setting of hearths registered in FMIS (digital register containing records of all known ancient monuments in Sweden) in the provinces of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Northern Sweden. A total of c. 1500 hearths are known in the area, mainly situated north of the river Skellefteälven. Within a study area of 107 x 94 km, 32 hearths were randomly selected for excavation, each site embracing 1-14 hearths. The sites were scanned using a metal detector and nearly all artifacts found were from the period AD 1600-1900. 14C-datings of charcoal and burned bones corroborated that most hearths were used during this period, with a large number dating to the 19th and 20th centuries. Many hearths contained bones from mature reindeer, indicating that the hearths were related to reindeer herding. We suggest that most hearths are related to nomadic Sami reindeer herders using coastal areas for winter pasture, possibly resulting from the breakdown of the “lappskatteland” (taxation lands) system and an increase in reindeer numbers. 

scholarly journals Forestry and reindeer husbandry in northern Sweden – the development of a land use conflict

Rangifer ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Widmark
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Institutional Arrangement ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
Reindeer Husbandry ◽  
Land Use Conflict ◽  
Forestry Sector ◽  
The Relationship

Both the forestry sector and reindeer herders in northern Sweden use the forest resources in northern Sweden, albeit for different purposes, and have adverse effects on each other. To reduce conflicts between them negotiations take place in so-called “consultations”, but the institutional arrangement does not seem to be working well; the conflicts have not been resolved, and the reindeer herders are generally more dissatisfied with the outcome than the forest companies. This paper provides an overview of the parallel development of forestry and reindeer herding in the region. In addition several issues that complicate the consultations and need to be resolved in order to secure the continued co-existence of the two activities are identified, based on an analysis of physical, societal and judicial aspects of the relationship between them.Abstract in Swedish / Sammandrag:Skogsbruk och rennäringen i norra Sverige – utveckling av en markanvändningskonflikt Skogsresursen i norra Sverige nyttjas för bland annat timmerproduktion och renbete och skogsbruket respektive rennäring påverkar varandra negativt. För att minska konflikterna har samråd instiftats men processen fungerar inte tillfredsställande eftersom det finns ett missnöje bland renskötarna. Denna studie ger en översikt av den parallella utvecklingen av de två näringarna och deras inbördes relationer och därmed identifieras flera nyckelområden som komplicerar relationen mellan de båda näringarna och därmed även samråden. Genom att analysera de fysiska, sociala och juridiska aspekterna av relationen mellan rennäring och skogsbruk pekar studien på ett antal problem som måste lösas för att kunna säkerställa en fortsatt parallell existens.

Conflict Resolution by Participatory Management: Remote Sensing and GIS as Tools for Communicating Land-use Needs for Reindeer Herding in Northern Sweden

AMBIO ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 557-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Sandström ◽  
Tina Granqvist Pahlén ◽  
Lars Edenius ◽  
Hans Tømmervik ◽  
Olle Hagner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Remote Sensing And Gis ◽  
Participatory Management ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding

scholarly journals Impacts of climate warming on reindeer herding require new land-use strategies

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunhild C. Rosqvist ◽  
Niila Inga ◽  
Pia Eriksson
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Rapid Pace ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Snow Conditions ◽  
Societal Adaptation

AbstractClimate in the Arctic has warmed at a more rapid pace than the global average over the past few decades leading to weather, snow, and ice situations previously unencountered. Reindeer herding is one of the primary livelihoods for Indigenous peoples throughout the Arctic. To understand how the new climate state forces societal adaptation, including new management strategies and needs for preserved, interconnected, undisturbed grazing areas, we coupled changes in temperature, precipitation, and snow depth recorded by automatic weather stations to herder observations of reindeer behaviour in grazing areas of the Laevas Sámi reindeer herding community, northern Sweden. Results show that weather and snow conditions strongly determine grazing opportunities and therefore reindeer response. We conclude that together with the cumulative effects of increased pressures from alternative land use activities, the non-predictable environmental conditions that are uniquely part of the warming climate seriously challenge future reindeer herding in northern Sweden.

scholarly journals Indigenous Women in Scandinavia and a Potential Role for ICT

2011 ◽  
pp. 802-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avri Doria ◽  
Maria Uden
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
National Agency ◽  
Gender Based

From a distance, the Sámi Network Connectivity initiative (SNC) does not necessarily appear as anything but another technical research project with certain science-fiction (sci-fi) connotations. It is aimed to create Internet connectivity for communications-challenged terrestrial settings using a protocol currently being developed for communications in space. However, while being a highly technical project, SNC emerged from an unexpected setting: an Indigenous women’s initiative to save their traditional livelihood from threats of social and economic drain and to create better opportunities for women and youth to remain within the traditional community. The first step towards the formation of SNC was taken in June 2001 when a group of women reindeer herders in Sirges Sámi Village in Jokkmokk, Norrbotten County in northern Sweden decided to start a gender equality project, Kvinna i sameby (KIS).1 To the Sámi, reindeer herding serves not only as an economic base but also as a foundation for reproduction of cultural values. Already in the KIS planning stage, Susanne Spik, the project leader, contacted the Division for Gender and Technology at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) to invite scientific assistance from the early stage of the project. LTU is the regional technical university for northern Sweden and is situated in the Norrbotten County capital of Luleå 200 km southeast of Jokkmokk. Promoting women’s possibilities to remain in reindeer herding and the traditional Sámi community, especially social and technical conditions for work and business development, were the focus in the discussions. An associated but separately funded project was subsequently formed by LTU researcher Maria Udén. A solution to the project requirements came from a guest researcher at the computer science department, Avri Doria, an Internet systems architect. In spring 2002, after initial discussions with members of the Interplanetary Networking Research Group (IPNRG) at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, she contributed the proposal that came to be referred to as Sámi Network Connectivity. With a decision to accept this project, the establishment of SNC as both a technical idea and a concrete gender-based project became a prime goal for the cooperation between the women in Sirges and the scholars at LTU, and continued after the KIS project ended in December 2003. The SNC objective is to provide connectivity where other sources are not available, while making the local population part of the development of the technical system. To develop the technical solution space of SNC, the Sámi Network Connectivity proposition gained research funding from the Swedish national agency for innovation systems, Vinnova, for the period 2004 to 2006. This funding is distributed through the Vinnova program “New communication networks.”

A century of logging and forestry in a reindeer herding area in northern Sweden

2008 ◽  
Vol 256 (5) ◽  
pp. 1009-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Berg ◽  
Lars Östlund ◽  
Jon Moen ◽  
Johan Olofsson
Keyword(s):  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding

scholarly journals Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) feeding on lichens and mushrooms: traditional ecological knowledge among reindeer-herding Sami in northern Sweden

Rangifer ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berit Inga
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Sylvestris ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Tarandus ◽  
Winter Grazing ◽  
Grazing Area ◽  
Snow Conditions

The study was performed in four reindeer-herding districts (Sami villages) in northern Sweden. Reindeer herding Sami, born in 1950 or earlier, were interviewed about reindeer foraging behaviour on lichens and mushrooms, especially relating to non-summer grazing habits, and about characteristics of a good winter feeding ground. The informants claimed that lichens are preferably grazed in the wintertime, but that they also may be eaten in the summertime when the weather is cold and humid. Mushrooms were chosen in the autumn months August and September, but according to some informants mushrooms may also be eaten during late autumn (from Oct.) when frozen and under the snow. The reindeer herders had different names for lichens, which in general terms describe their appearance and habitat. For mushrooms they only used one Sami name. Ground lichens preferred by reindeer are Cladonia species, while the nitrogen-fixing lichen species such as Nephroma arcticum and Stereocaulon pascale were said not to be preferred by the reindeer. Snow conditions are very important, and the less snow (and the softer it is), the better. Habitats where reindeer herders know from experience that snow conditions tend to be problematic, e.g. in moist and open areas with small trees, are used early in the winter (Oct.–Jan.), before too much snow has accumulated. A good winter grazing area should have lichens. It is preferably a dry pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest heath with large, old and wide-crowned trees to shelter the ground from snow and thereby ease the cratering by reindeer. Abstract in Swedish / Sammanfattning: Renens (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) bete av lavar och svampar: Traditionell ekologisk kunskap bland renskötande samer i norra Sverige Studien genomfördes i fyra renskötseldistrikt (samebyar) i norra Sverige. Totalt 22 renskötande samer, födda 1950 eller tidigare, blev intervjuade om renens betande av lavar och svampar, renens vinterbete och om vad som karaktäriserar ett bra vinterbetesland. Informanterna hävdade att lavar företrädesvis betas under vintern, men även kan betas under sommaren då vädret är kallt och fuktigt. Svampar betas under höstmånaderna augusti och september, men enligt några informanter kan svamp även betas senare på hösten (från oktober) när den är frusen och under snön. Renskötarna har namn på lavar som i generella termer beskriver deras utseende och växtplats. För svampar använder de enbart ett samiskt namn, guoppar. Av de marklevande lavarna ansåg informanterna att renarna föredrar Cladonia-arter (renlavar), medan kväve-fixerade arter som Nephroma arcticum (norrlandslav) och Stereocaulon pascale (påskrislav) inte ansågs föredras av renarna. Snöförhållandena är mycket viktiga, och ju mindre snö (och ju lösare den är) desto bättre. Växtplatser där renskötarna vet av erfarenhet att snöförhållandena kan bli problematisk, t.ex. i fuktiga och öppna områden med små träd, används till bete tidigt under vintern (oktober-januari) innan för mycket snö har fallit. Ett bra vinterbetesområde ska ha gott om lavar. Det bästa är en torr tallhed (Pinus sylvestris) med stora och gamla träd med vida kronor som fångar upp snön som upplega och på det viset skyddar marken från snö, vilket gör det lättare för renarna att gräva.

scholarly journals Fragmented Landscapes and Planscapes—The Double Pressure of Increasing Natural Resource Exploitation on Indigenous Sámi Lands in Northern Sweden

Resources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Carl Österlin ◽  
Kaisa Raitio
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Geographical Information ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Reindeer Herding ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Fragmented Landscapes ◽  
Natural Resource Extraction ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Human induced land-use change through natural resource extraction has significant ecological, social and cultural effects for indigenous communities. Indigenous rights, cultural practices and identities are strongly interconnected with traditional lands. In northern Sweden, the cumulative effects from natural resource extraction have become increasingly problematic for Sámi reindeer herding. Land use planning and permit processes are organized based on single projects or policy sectors, instead of the needs and rights involving reindeer herding. Existing research has demonstrated loss of ground and arboreal lichen, fragmentation of pastures and reindeer avoidance of otherwise valuable pastures due to disturbance caused by competing land uses. There is however a lack of synthesis of the amount and scale of encroachments on traditional Sámi territories in Sweden so far. Likewise, while research has looked at weaknesses of the sectoral regulations in terms of cumulative impact assessment and the inadequate recognition of Sámi reindeer herding rights, no studies have analyzed the meta-pressure caused by the fragmented planning regime as a whole, as the amount of regulations regarding different land use sectors and permitting processes increases with each new type of competing activity. Through the concept of double pressure caused by the inter-related processes of fragmented landscapes and fragmented ‘planscapes’, this study seeks to capture the actual pressure the affected communities are currently experiencing. Using multiple quantitative and qualitative data sets consisting of Geographical Information Systems, policy documents, workshops discussions and interviews, we study how natural resource extraction like mining and wind energy has increased on traditional indigenous Sámi lands in northern Sweden. By expanding the analytical focus from today’s landscapes to both planscapes and the pressure from not-yet realized future projects, our results highlight the need for a holistic understanding of the situation reindeer herding is facing, calling for more relevant and legitimate land use permitting and planning mechanisms to reduce the industrial pressure on the landscape, and to address the social injustices caused by today’s planscape.

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