The Sámi Peoples of the North. A Social and Cultural History. By Neil Kent

Voices from the North: Exploring Sámi People’s Perspectives on Environmental Change and Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review

“…'Sápmi,' the homeland of the Sámi [30], spans Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia, with approximately 45,000 residing in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden, 8000 in Finland, and 2000 on the Kola Peninsula [39,55]. The Sámi People are known by various names, such as 'Sámi' in their own languages, 'Saami' as often used in the English language, and 'Lapp or Laplander or Laplandic' used in old history.…”

“…Despite only 10% of today's Sámi population engaging in reindeer herding [61], the essence of Sámi identity and well-being remains deeply intertwined with this practice [55,62]. This interconnection, coupled with their resilience in adapting to environmental changes [39,47,63], has fostered unique traditional ecological knowledge [32,47] passed down through generations [31]. Yet, modern pressures from climate change and resource extraction industries disrupt this balance [32,49,64], impacting traditional lifestyles and stressing their resilience [26,32,39,65].…”

“…This interconnection, coupled with their resilience in adapting to environmental changes [39,47,63], has fostered unique traditional ecological knowledge [32,47] passed down through generations [31]. Yet, modern pressures from climate change and resource extraction industries disrupt this balance [32,49,64], impacting traditional lifestyles and stressing their resilience [26,32,39,65]. Mental health concerns, including depression and anxiety, are also a rising concern among the Sámi [49,54,66].…”

“…Ford et al [29] describe 'resilience' in Indigenous People as encompassing coping, adaptive, and transformative capacities, enabling individuals to persist or transform in the face of environmental changes. They [29] stress a holistic, 'strength-based' approach to Indigenous People's mental health, focusing on 'protective factors' [26,39] while 'acknowledging vulnerability' [29]. However, there's a gap in understanding how environmental shifts affect the mental well-being of Indigenous communities [7] and an even greater gap in knowledge on 'strength-based' 'protective factors' [7,14,40] and resilience contributors [4,14].…”

Divided Attitudes Toward Rectifying Injustice: How Preferences for Indigenous Policies Differ Between the Indigenous and Majority Populations of Norway and Sweden

“…In the case of the Sámi in Norway and Sweden, it makes sense to assume a high level of contact with the respective ethnic majority populations. These groups have been coexisting in the traditional Sámi settlement areas for centuries (Kent 2018). As will become evident further below, the regions considered in the empirical part of this paper are, in particular, characterized by a comparatively high share of Sámi residents, making frequent encounters between the groups very probable.…”