Webinar: Reclaiming Indigenous Land: Canadian lessons for Norway

In recent decades, Indigenous peoples in North America (as well as Fennoscandia (Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, Karelia, and the Kola Peninsula) have sought renewed control of their traditional lands and resources.

Watch the seminar on Zoom

In northern Canada, especially, they have had notable success. There, “land-claims settlements” have secured Indigenous land title and provided them with rights and powers over natural resources. This has produced benefits – as well as unexpected challenges.

Meanwhile, following in their footsteps, the Sami of Norway have recently won enhanced control over northern lands and resources, including Europe’s first-ever Indigenous land-claims settlement.

What lessons can Sami glean from the benefits and challenges experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada?

Aaron Spitzer
is Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen. He is a specialist in arctic indigenous governance, and has knowledge about different indigenous peoples in various parts of the world.

Photo: Jaanus Jägomagi on Unsplash