We didn't cross the border. the border crossed us. Countless Indigenous Peoples have been divided by imposed State borders, their communities and relatives separated by artificial lines, their migration patterns, sacred rituals, fishing and hunting ways altered. Innumerable Indigenous communities have suffered forced displacement due to conservation efforts, extractive industry operations, political strife, and the impacts of climate change. Every day we hear about Indigenous migrants who are forced to leave their home in search of work because it is no longer viable for them to make a living locally. They flee violence; they flee because they can no longer provide for their families, because their resources are depleted or polluted by large scale agribusiness. To tackle migration and immigration issues, we must reverse the impacts of colonization, decades of neoliberal policies, and the current operations of extractive industries, agro companies, and monocropping that have impoverished Indigenous communities. We must respect, protect, and fulfill Indigenous rights, encouraging the decolonization and support of home communities with sustainable economic opportunities so that people do not have to leave. The following are a few Indigenous voices on these issues. We invite you to listen. To hear the full interviews, visit: cs.org/rights.
Photo by Jamie Malcolm-Brown.
We Don’t Let the Border Stop Us Aslak Holmberg (Sami from Finland) Vice President of the Sami Council
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live right at the border between Finland and Norway. I’m from the Deatnu (Tana) River Valley, which is an important salmon fishing river in the world. My home village is called Njuorggán (Nuorgam), which is the northernmost village on the Finnish side of the border. My family comes from both sides of the border, but we don’t really try to emphasize it here because we have been here long before the border was formed. Finland was still not independent from Russia when the border was closed in 1852. The closing of the border meant the end for our usual migration patterns. It used to be common for the Sami, on what is today the Finnish side of the border, to migrate with the reindeer to the coast, what is today the Norwegian side. After the border was closed, that meant that it was not allowed for us to move across the border with the reindeer. This is quite different from what used to be done when the summer pastures were far away from the winter pastures, so the reindeer herding has changed a lot. Nowadays—in my region at least—it’s part of herding to feed the reindeer at least part of the year because there isn’t as much area for the reindeer to find food as there used to be. The lifestyle has changed because of the border. 20 • www. cs. org
Another thing that is important here is salmon fishing. It’s not possible to net fish legally together with my friends or colleagues or relatives from the Norwegian side, although net fishing is the main traditional way of fishing. The State border
