Reindeer politics – why some Sámi struggle for recognition
The Sámi are the Indigenous people of Sápmi, a region stretching across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. For thousands of years, Sámi communities lived through reindeer herding, fishing, seasonal movement and distinct languages. But centuries of state-backed assimilation policies fractured much of this way of life, reshaping how Sámi identity is recognised, practised and contested today.
In Sweden, many important Sámi rights remain tied to membership in reindeer-herding communities known as sameby. Yet fewer than 10 per cent of Sámi people now practise reindeer husbandry, a reality shaped by urbanisation, forced assimilation and changing livelihoods. This creates a painful contradiction: those whose families were pushed away from traditional practices may now find their Sámi identity questioned because they no longer participate in them.
The short documentary I Am Sámi follows Niklas Sarri, a Sámi artisan from northern Sweden who does not own reindeer and whose application for sameby membership was rejected. Sarri speaks candidly about the frustration of having Sámi identity so closely linked to reindeer herding, a narrow association that can reinforce stereotypes even as it claims to protect tradition. Bringing together several Sámi voices, the film explores what it means to belong to an Indigenous people when law, history and public perception do not always recognise the full complexity of that belonging.
Directors: Alana Repstock, Jamyeong Gu, David Rada
