Abstract
In 2012, the municipal council of the predominantly Sami community of Guovdageainnu (Kautokeino) rejected a proposal to reopen the Biedjovaggi gold mine. Through an analysis of interviews, conversations, media and relevant grey literature and official documents, this chapter investigates how the decision by the Guovdageainnu municipal council to reject the application was based on a firm conviction that a sustainable future for the predominantly Sami community was closely tied to the survival of the reindeer herding industry. In this context, the term ‘sustainable’ refers to a large extent to the ontological security that herding provides for the Sami people, as a major carrier of cultural identity and a sense of belonging in this particular landscape. Thus, the potential benefits that may be generated by a mine were considered by a majority of Municipal Council members not to be sufficient to risk the potential consequences these activities could have for the reindeer and the herders. The political decisions by individual actors and public sentiments on the matter were also informed by a broader, culturally embedded rationale reflecting a deep concern about connections to place, space(s) and practices considered vital for Saami identity.
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Notes
- 1.
Statistics Norway, figur3 for 2015, see http://ssb.no/befolkning/statistikker/beftett/aar/2015-12-11?fane=tabell&sort=nummer&tabell=248688
- 2.
Sara (2011: 138) refers to the 2007 Reindeer Husbandry Act’s definition of a siida as “…a group of reindeer owners that practice reindeer husbandry jointly in certain areas…”, but also emphasizes its importance as a community, thus not solely on it as a working partnership.
- 3.
- 4.
Blaser refers to the debate as one that, put simply, turned attention to matters of ontology in social theory, i.e. attention to the multiple ways the world is interpreted, understood and conceptualized, and to the extent these differences aides in understanding social life. This, as Paul Rabinow (1986: 234–235) argues, is also a reaction from anthropology in particular to the tendency in western modern science and philosophy to focus on epistemology as “… (an equation) of knowledge with internal representations and the correct evaluation of those representations” (op.cit) – in short, the culimination of the quest of modern science and philosophy of seeking to establish ‘the truth.’
- 5.
Importantly, this analysis is based on empirical data from a limited period, and has thus not taken into consideration – nor analysed – the potential consequences of the decision of the new elected municipal board in September 2015 to reject any new advances from potential developers of the Biddjovaggi mine.
- 6.
The selection of interviewees includes politicians with different points of view concerning the reopening of the mine in Biedjovaggi, as well as people engaged in reindeer herding, political organisations, public administrators and NGOs.
- 7.
It is important to clarify here that our data material does not include interviews with representatives of Arctic Gold, and that our descriptions of their reflections and ambitions are based on third party evaluations, first and foremost local political actors with whom we have spoken – and whose interpretations of Arctic Gold’s behaviour and reactions were so important for the political decisions being made – as well as from newspaper reports, such as for instance http://www.ifinnmark.no/nyheter/varsler-stopp-i-gruveplanene/s/1-30002-6072656 and http://www.nrk.no/sapmi/arctic-gold_-_-vet-ikke-hva-vi-gjor-1.8108145 – both accessed February 8th, 2016.
- 8.
Lars Åke Classon, Arctic Gold, in Finnmark Dagblad December 17th 2013
- 9.
Letter from the Department of Justice, July 5, 2013
- 10.
From from 3150 persons in 1995 to 2931 persons in 2014; Økonomiplan 2015–2018, Guovdageainnu kommune
- 11.
Figures from 2014 show that while the average unemployment rate for Norway was 2,6 %, the similar rate for Guovdageainnu was 3,5. Divided into gender, the numbers show that 7,9 % of men in Guovdageainnu was unemployed. Source: Statusbilde for Kautokeino kommune, Fylkesmannen i Finnmark 2015, downloaded from https://www.fylkesmannen.no/Documents/Dokument%20FMFI/Kommunal%20styring/Kommunereformen/Kautokeino.pdf, accessed April 4th, 2016
- 12.
- 13.
The matter of securing potential futures through contingency is indeed interesting, and opens for a study of what secures population, broadly speaking; a discussion we will not aim to pursue here (but for a discussion on the topic, see Dale 2011).
- 14.
See for instance Johnsen (2016: p. 63) concerning this particular case and Dale (2016) for a general discussion on the matter of inclusion and exclusion processes in resource management in Norway.
- 15.
Land use plans may take different forms. Regarding mining, zoning plans seems to be most common (See Chap. 3)
- 16.
Written submission from REINBEITEDISTRIKT 34 to the municipal planning program, 2011
- 17.
Interviewee DS 116
- 18.
In Norwegian: “komme overens med”
- 19.
Interviewee DS 114
- 20.
Op.cit
- 21.
The executive committee consists of one fourth of the members of the municipal board, including the mayor and vice-mayor. Their main responsibilities are decisions in minor cases, and preparation of cases to be discussed and considered in the municipal board.
- 22.
Interviewee 114
- 23.
Interviewee 114
- 24.
Interviewee 113
- 25.
By our informants in Guovdageainnu often referred to as ‘Norwegian’
- 26.
Interviewees 112, 113, 114, 116
- 27.
After the last local elections in 2015, these parties got 5, 2 and 4 representatives respectively in the Municipal council, out of a total of 19 seats, leaving room for only three of the traditional Norwegian political parties with representation in the municipality.
- 28.
Ref interview 114.
- 29.
Ref interviews DS 113,
- 30.
Ref interviewee DS 113
- 31.
Interviewee DS 113, our translation from Norwegian.
- 32.
Interviewee DS 113
- 33.
Interviewee DS 116
- 34.
Op Cit
- 35.
Interviewee DS 113
- 36.
Interviewee DS 112
- 37.
Interviewee DS 114
- 38.
Interviewee DS 112
- 39.
Interviewee DS 113
- 40.
- 41.
Again, we refer to the discussion above concerning the usage of the term ontology, here referring to a particular way of understanding security concerns as it is expressed by a given population or community – or by individuals.
- 42.
See Jonsson et al. 2012 for an interesting discussion on the concept of cultural difference when discussing (potential) futures
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Magnussen, T., Dale, B. (2018). The Municipal No to Mining. The Case Concerning the Reopening of the Biedjovaggi Gold Mine in Guovdageainnu Municipality, Norway. In: Dale, B., Bay-Larsen, I., Skorstad, B. (eds) The Will to Drill - Mining in Arctic Communites. Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62610-9_9
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