Extremt korrekt åsikt funnen på Lunds universitet

Translation:

Sweden is a colonial power

I grew up in Västerbotten & a lot of clothing, food, everyday stuff from my childhood that I thought were "normal Swedish" have turned out to be Sámi, it's indigenous. My parents always talked about how "we were Sámis, but now we're Swedish", which I understood as maybe some random relative far removed - turns out that when I dug into the archive, essentially all of my ancestors are Sámi & everyone was categorised as l*pp (some even as fattigl*pp & for the Swedes reading this, yes that's where the saying/term is coming from, it was racist/colonial term but has been normalised) all the way up to my grandparents generation. I even found photos of some ancestors in the racial biology archives, which has created mixed feelings because yay I can actually see the faces of these people, but also oh no considering the context of why these photos were taken (for those who don't know, Swedes set up the first racial biology/eugenics state institute in the 1920s & these "scientists" then travelled to spread this "science" to places such as oopsie, Nazi-Germany & then the 1930s happened)

I think what's even worse - in my opinion - is how due to politics in Stockholm there has been a divide created amongst the Sámi population in Sweden. Of course, I can't speak too much about the Norwegian, Finnish or Russian context, but my guess is that it's pretty similar there (probably even worse in Russia considering some of the Sámi populations there are classified as having died out). Because when you speak to people, it's even the case in this academic article I shared, people see Sámis as just reindeer herders. Because that's how Stockholm has classified us as. & yes, they're a huge part, not just in the community & the culture & the old religion. However, they're not "the only thing". Sámis have not just been reindeer herders, we've also been fishing, hunting & some mixed up reindeer herding with goat herding as well. Some were craftsmen & not as nomadic as people probably think. But because people from Stockholm came & decided "oh okay I understand", now the laws are Sámi = reindeer herder. There's a whole rant here about forced migration/deportations & how that has impacted the way of living, plus how politics & laws have impacted so many things (did you know that once upon a time, if you were Sámi you apparently weren't allowed to live in a house with four corners? which is apparently the reason as to why certain parts of Northern Sweden have funny-shaped houses) but I'm already rambling & this is already so long

But yeah, my point & why I started writing this ask was to point out that due to "the important men in Stockholm" there is not just a knowledge gap & lack of understanding for us Swedes about our history (we didn't colonise! colonialism is something bad that other European countries did when sailing across the sea! we just magically expanded up north!) but there is also a divide amongst Sámis. The few rights that Sámis have are located either with Sametinget (very simplified: you need to either speak one of the languages or be a reindeer herder) or with samebyarna (which is a ekonomisk förening meant for mostly reindeer herding, not how Sámis originally were organised plus you're not automatically a member just because you're Sámi, you need to seek membership & be approved).

Last but not least, to all non-Swedes reading this: THE L-WORD IS A SLUR! If you can learn to not say the n-word because of racism then you should be able to learn not to say the l-word. It's a slur. The name Lappland/Lapland comes from colonialism where people drew a line on the map saying "we get this part & you l*pps have to stay over there". Remember that next time you see influencers post their exotic journey to "magical Lapland #VisitLapland" & don't even get me started on Lapland UK... I don't know if that was created to be racist on purpose but it just... leaves a bad taste in my mouth

thank you so much for sharing all this!!! this is like invaluable lived exp and knowledge - and a lot of this I wasn't aware of like with how Sametinget and Samebyarna works!!

and that's so sad that you didn't know about your family and heritage being Sámi, as I've understood it I think it is a sadly common exp for indigenous people's all over.

and oh fuck yea i really really get that you have mixed feelings about finding photos of your ancestors through the racial biology institute files!!

like the Swedish government (and also all governments occupying sapmi) amd us also occupying your lands have done and also continue to do horrid crimes and erasure to the past And present of your people.

like what reparations!!

and yea, i very much can see how Stockholm people, politics and politicians have through ignorance and misunderstandings (and bigotry and etc) have done that damage.

and I will not claim to understand it, but that I am beginning to understand that there's even so much more that I don't understand. As much of this is the first time I've heard of it.

Like and that it's not just as you said a knowledge gap and lack of history for us Swedes (yea the ahistorical extremely progagandized 'we didn't colonize' shit for one!! as you said!!) - but that there's also divide amongst Sámis - that part i haven't known much about previously!

Thank you so so much for sharing!! I would enjoy continuing talking and hearing from you if you want to!

It took me a while to respond because I had to take care to take a break before starting up in January again - and I did want to take my time to make a better response.

Also oh yea with the slur!! I fully get that it leaves you a bad taste??

Also could I ask you a question- what other names are there for that area?

Like I've called it Sapmi, but idk if that's correct or encompassing a larger area?

Like, is there other more specific names for specific areas? I've had a bit of trouble finding answers for this.

Like for Turtle Island /Australia - one can call the whole continent Turtle Island, is there also a specific name for the whole of Sweden, or is that also Sapmi?

Sorry if these questions aren't super clear, am running out of steam I am feeling haha. long day.