Samernas rättigheter i förändring - Renbeteslagstiftningens utformning och dess konsekvenser för samernas rättsliga ställning
(2025) JURM02 20251Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- De tidigaste bevarade svensk-norska dokumenten om Lappmarken skrevs på 1300-talet, och därefter finns ett växande historiskt källmaterial som förser med en relativt tydlig bild av samernas rättigheter genom tiderna. Statens intressen förändrades med industrialiseringens framväxt, och avvittringen av Lappmarkerna påbörjades. Samiska försörjningssätt urholkades av staten under 1880-talet, och Lappmarken fastställdes som statlig mark. När lag (1886:38) angående de svenska lapparnes rätt till renbete i Sverige trädde i kraft, formaliserades samernas renbetesrätt. Nedmonteringen av lappskattelanden påbörjades, och möjligheten till individuell renbetesrätt ersattes av en kollektiv rätt för samebyn som helhet. Det reglerades var och när renbete... (More)
- De tidigaste bevarade svensk-norska dokumenten om Lappmarken skrevs på 1300-talet, och därefter finns ett växande historiskt källmaterial som förser med en relativt tydlig bild av samernas rättigheter genom tiderna. Statens intressen förändrades med industrialiseringens framväxt, och avvittringen av Lappmarkerna påbörjades. Samiska försörjningssätt urholkades av staten under 1880-talet, och Lappmarken fastställdes som statlig mark. När lag (1886:38) angående de svenska lapparnes rätt till renbete i Sverige trädde i kraft, formaliserades samernas renbetesrätt. Nedmonteringen av lappskattelanden påbörjades, och möjligheten till individuell renbetesrätt ersattes av en kollektiv rätt för samebyn som helhet. Det reglerades var och när renbete fick ske. Även rätten till jakt och fiske omfattades av lagen. Den första revideringen av lagen kom år 1898, som en följd av ökade konflikter mellan samerna och den bofasta befolkningen. Införandet av lag (1898:66) om de svenska lapparnas rätt till renbete i Sverige innebar att byordningar skulle upprättas för att förbättra renskötselns struktur. Ett tydligt bristmoment i båda renbeteslagarna var att de inte definierade vilka som omfattades av begreppet “lapp”. Detta ändrades genom den tredje renbeteslagen, lag (1928:309) om de svenska lapparnas rätt till renbete i Sverige. Lagen medförde bland annat en uppdelning mellan “renskötande samer” och “icke-renskötande samer”, vilket innebar att endast samer som bedrev renskötsel omfattades av rättigheterna. Renbeteslagarna från 1886 till 1928 formades utefter statens bristfälliga syn på den samiska identiteten och kom att påverka samernas rättsliga ställning på många vis, såväl som den senare rättsutvecklingen. (Less)
- Abstract
- The Sámi people's legal history can be found in written documents dating back as far as the 14th century. With industrialization, the State’s priorities underwent significant changes, and land that had once held little value to the State was now seen as economically beneficial. It was made clear that land traditionally used by the Sámi population belonged to the State. The Reindeer Grazing Act of 1886 marked a critical legal milestone for the Sámi people. Earlier, largely custom-based systems were gradually phased out. Any individual claim to grazing rights was replaced by communal rights for Sámi villages as unified administrative entities. The Act regulated which areas, as well as during what time of the year, those areas could be used... (More)
- The Sámi people's legal history can be found in written documents dating back as far as the 14th century. With industrialization, the State’s priorities underwent significant changes, and land that had once held little value to the State was now seen as economically beneficial. It was made clear that land traditionally used by the Sámi population belonged to the State. The Reindeer Grazing Act of 1886 marked a critical legal milestone for the Sámi people. Earlier, largely custom-based systems were gradually phased out. Any individual claim to grazing rights was replaced by communal rights for Sámi villages as unified administrative entities. The Act regulated which areas, as well as during what time of the year, those areas could be used for grazing. It also addressed the Sámi people’s hunting and fishing rights. The law was revised in 1898 due to the increase of conflict between the Sámi and settlers. In hopes of improving the organization of reindeer herding practices, the new Act introduced an internal management system. However, according to the State, both the 1886 and 1898 statutes had a significant flaw: they lacked a clear definition of whom the law applied to. This was addressed in the third Reindeer Grazing Act of 1928. The new law established a formal distinction between “reindeer-herding Sámi” and “non-herding Sámi.” Not only did this mean that only the former group was granted grazing rights, but it also limited hunting and fishing rights to that group alone. The grazing laws of 1886–1928 have continued to exert considerable influence on how Sámi rights are interpreted, an impact that remains relevant to this day. The Reindeer Grazing Acts from 1886 to 1928 were the result of the state's inaccurate perception of Sámi identity and came to affect the Sámi people's rights in numerous ways, as well as the later legal development. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9189102
- author
- Skahlman, Ida LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The Sámi rights in change - The Reindeer Grazing Act and its consequences for legal position
- course
- JURM02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Rättshistoria, Legal history, Reindeer Grazing Act, Sámi rights
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9189102
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-09 16:03:31
- date last changed
- 2025-06-09 16:03:31
@misc{9189102,
abstract = {{The Sámi people's legal history can be found in written documents dating back as far as the 14th century. With industrialization, the State’s priorities underwent significant changes, and land that had once held little value to the State was now seen as economically beneficial. It was made clear that land traditionally used by the Sámi population belonged to the State. The Reindeer Grazing Act of 1886 marked a critical legal milestone for the Sámi people. Earlier, largely custom-based systems were gradually phased out. Any individual claim to grazing rights was replaced by communal rights for Sámi villages as unified administrative entities. The Act regulated which areas, as well as during what time of the year, those areas could be used for grazing. It also addressed the Sámi people’s hunting and fishing rights. The law was revised in 1898 due to the increase of conflict between the Sámi and settlers. In hopes of improving the organization of reindeer herding practices, the new Act introduced an internal management system. However, according to the State, both the 1886 and 1898 statutes had a significant flaw: they lacked a clear definition of whom the law applied to. This was addressed in the third Reindeer Grazing Act of 1928. The new law established a formal distinction between “reindeer-herding Sámi” and “non-herding Sámi.” Not only did this mean that only the former group was granted grazing rights, but it also limited hunting and fishing rights to that group alone. The grazing laws of 1886–1928 have continued to exert considerable influence on how Sámi rights are interpreted, an impact that remains relevant to this day. The Reindeer Grazing Acts from 1886 to 1928 were the result of the state's inaccurate perception of Sámi identity and came to affect the Sámi people's rights in numerous ways, as well as the later legal development.}},
author = {{Skahlman, Ida}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Samernas rättigheter i förändring - Renbeteslagstiftningens utformning och dess konsekvenser för samernas rättsliga ställning}},
year = {{2025}},
}