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Open Access 2022 | Open Access | Book

Self-Governance and Sami Communities

Transitions in Early Modern Natural Resource Management

Authors: Dr. Jesper Larsson, Dr. Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

Table of Contents

About this book

This open access book uses an interdisciplinary approach that not only focuses on social organization but also analyzes how societies and ecological settings were interwoven. How did early modern indigenous Sami inhabitants in interior northwest Fennoscandia build institutions for governance of natural resources? The book answers this question by exploring how they made decisions regarding natural resource management, mainly with regard to wild game, fish, and grazing land and illuminate how Sami users, in a changing economy, altered the long-term rules for use of land and water in a self-governance context. The early modern period was a transforming phase of property rights due to fundamental changes in Sami economy: from an economy based on fishing and hunting to an economy where reindeer pastoralism became the main occupation for many Sami. The book gives a new portrayal of how proficiently and systematically indigenous inhabitants organized and governed natural assets and how capable they were in building highly functioning institutions for governance.

Frontmatter

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Starting Points and Background

Frontmatter

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Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

In the first chapter we set the scene for the books overarching question: How did early modern indigenous Sami inhabitants in interior northwest Fennoscandia build institutions for governance of natural resources? We explain why we consider self-governance and colonialism as two parallel processes that are not mutually exclusive and how the book contributes to the discussion about the nature of indigenous peoples’ rights to land and water by focusing on early modern strategies for natural resource use. This can contribute to the discussion about decolonization of present-day practices and policies. We explain why an interdisciplinary approach is required that not only focuses on social organization but also analyzes how societies and ecological settings were interwoven.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Chapter 2. Linking Long-Term Changes in Social-Ecological Systems with Development of Property Rights

Abstract

The chapter examines the links between long-term changes in social-ecological systems and the development of property rights by studying self-governance, common-pool resources (CPRs), and property rights in a Sami context. The main conclusion is that Sami by and large created their own rules for how natural resources should be harvested and consumed, as well as for how resources should be monitored and rules should be enforced. Well-defined property rights were a prerequisite for people to engage in, and gain profits from, land-use regimes. We conclude that user’s access to natural resources, and rights to use them, determined the households’ economic performance and development. Features of two frameworks are introduced. They give a background to our theoretical thinking and provide a means of organizing the inquiry.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Chapter 3. Lule Lappmark and Sources

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the study area, Lule lappmark, and the sources we used. We discuss how land use was influenced by differences in environmental settings and argue that empirical material from Lule lappmark in northern Sweden can be used to draw valid conclusions about general features regarding Sami land use and property rights in other regions as well. We introduce the reader to our interpretations of some important concepts necessary to understand the development of natural resource governance and argue that some earlier interpretations of the pre-modern Sami organization have led to misconceptions about that development.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Chapter 4. Trade, Taxation, and Population

Abstract

The chapter presents three main variables that impacted how and why Sami land use changed in the early modern period. The first one is trade, that gained importance in the seventeenth century with fundamental changes in its infrastructure. Sami households accumulated a surplus in their growing herds of domesticated reindeer. The other variable is taxation and it was a complicated task for the government. They tried different methods for taxing Sami before they finally decided on a collective tax paid in money in 1695. It meant lowered tax levies and a more predictable tax for individual Sami. It had a positive effect on the household economy as well as on population numbers in the eighteenth century. The last variable to be defined is population size.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Land Use, Livelihood, and Ecological Settings

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Chapter 5. Fishing

Abstract

The chapter describes Sami fishing in interior lakes, streams, and rivers in detail. Fishing has specific characteristics for various species and seasons. The waters in interior Fennoscandia generally are considered low in productivity, but waters in the two regions, forest and mountains, differ. The main argument put forward is that users who had access to rivers, lakes, and streams in the boreal forest had better possibilities to create a livelihood based on fishing compared to those who lived in or closer to the mountains. To create social and economic stability for the household, fishing was organized as an exclusive right, resembling private property. At the end of the early modern period, these areas became smaller and it became harder to survive on fishing.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Chapter 6. Hunting

Abstract

The chapter outline which species were hunted in the boreal forest and how they were hunted or trapped, and which animals were hunted in the mountains. The conditions for hunting were better in the boreal forest than in the mountains due to differences in topography, habitats, and species composition. Hunting led to extinction of wild reindeer and depopulation of fur animals; while small-game hunting for subsistence continued to be important. In the forest region, strong property rights to game developed through the skatteland, and hunting was a private enterprise. Hunting in the mountain region developed in the opposite direction and was open access after the wild reindeer was extinct. Hunting became important for social justice, and poor Sami had access to hunting grounds

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Chapter 7. Reindeer Pastoralism

Abstract

The chapter focuses on intensive reindeer husbandry or reindeer pastoralism, which was a tenure system that emerged in the early modern period. Reindeer pastoralism and grazing are deeply interconnected and we therefore illuminate the ecological settings for reindeer grazing. A large part of the debate about governing common-pool resources has dealt with pastoralists and their grazing lands. Important features of reindeer pastoralism are described, including a discussion about how the number of tame reindeer developed in early modern era. The chapter ends with a portrayal of and a discussion about individual households’ rights to use certain areas for grazing, chiefly based on descriptions of contemporary court rulings from the local court in Jokkmokk. We show how a common-property regime evolved.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Chapter 8. Other Income Sources

Abstract

In this chapter, we stress the fact that households’ incomes were complex and came together by a mix of activities. To fully understand how households managed their livelihoods, activities other than fishing, hunting, and reindeer herding also need to be considered. Diversification was an active and systematic choice for these households, not something they did occasionally. Some of these activities were for subsistence, some for exchange. What households could produce was to a large extent determined by their main mode of production, which in turn was linked to rights or access to resources. The more engaged users were in reindeer pastoralism, the less time they had to spend on other activities, and the more they traded.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Synthesis

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Chapter 9. From Private to Common: Coevolution of Land-Use Practices and Property Rights

Abstract

In the concluding chapter, we synthesize the results and discuss how changing land-use regimes among Sami in interior northwest Fennoscandia interrelated with the development of property rights between 1550 and 1780. During this period, a new tenure system, reindeer pastoralism, developed. For households that had amassed large reindeer herds, it became crucial to access both large pastures in the mountains and in the boreal forest to have enough grazing. This led to the establishment of common-property regimes in both the mountains and the boreal forest, where grazing became a CPR. The emergence of this kind of common-property regime is best described as a bottom-up process as it assumes that local users design and implement institutions for common use that all or most users adhere to.

Jesper Larsson, Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja

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Backmatter

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Title: Self-Governance and Sami Communities
Authors: Dr. Jesper Larsson
Dr. Eva-Lotta Päiviö Sjaunja
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-87498-8
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87497-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87498-8