Proposed Nordic Saami Convention

In 2005 an expert group representing the governments of Norway Sweden and Finland as well as the Saami parliaments of these countries (Saami are the Nordic indigenous people) agreed upon a draft text of a Nordic Saami Convention. Key parts of the text deal with the recognition of Saami land and resource rights. More recently the three governments have embarked on negotiations to move from this draft text to a final convention that can be adopted and ratified by all three countries. Negotiations commenced in the Spring of 2011 and should be completed within five years. Divided into four parts this collection of essays explores the national and international dimensions of the Convention which recognizes the Saami as one people divided by international boundaries. The first part of the book provides a global and theoretical context for these developments in the Nordic countries with a series of essays dealing with the moral and legal reasons for recognizing indigenous property interests and different conceptualizations of the relationship between indigenous peoples and settler societies including recognition reconciliation and pluralism. Part two of the book examines some international legal issues associated with the Convention including the background to the Convention. Part three turns to examine aspects of the recognition of Saami property interests in each of the three Nordic states. The fourth part provides some comparative experiences examining the recognition of indigenous property rights in a number of jurisdictions including Canada Australia and a number of South American countries. An additional essay considers gender issues in relation to indigenous property rights.