‘Sámi in the Heart’: Kinship, Culture, and Community as Foundations for Indigenous Sámi Identity in Norway

Abstract

Abstract The article demonstrates broad variation regarding what is considered to be at the ‘core’ of Sámi ethnicity by different people. The differences are here typologized as kinship-, culture- or community-based ‘foundations’ for Sámi ethnicity. Ideas about individual Sámi ethnicity tended to focus on individual traits more than individuals’ social relationships. This may be influenced by non-Sámi authorities’ focus on individual descendancy, but also by certain aspects of modern Indigenous politics. The article discusses the distinction between relational and individual foundations for ethnicity, pointing to their interconnectedness. It also discusses the difference between genetics and kinship, and potential consequences of a genetics-focused definition of Sáminess.