Recognition of Indigenous Lands Through the Norwegian 2005 Finnmark Act: An Important Example for Other Countries with Indigenous People?

Abstract

International law includes treaties and declarations that commit the national states to protect the culture and livelihood of indigenous peoples. Of particular interests is The International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 concerning indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Norway is one of 22 countries that is party to the ILO 169. In this chapter, the commitment to identify and recognize indigenous people’s lands and natural resources in relation to the indigenous Sami in the Nordic Countries will be examined. This commitment applies in particular to Norway, which is the only country with a Sami population who has ratified the ILO Convention. The commitments imposed to Norway thus raises several key issues regarding identification of indigenous people’s lands, including to what extent the Sami laws and customs have significance as legal sources in such processes, and how to the state must involve the indigenous party in the process.