A Sami indigenous community in northern Sweden has won an historic land-rights victory against the government. In the court’s decision to return exclusive control over fishing and hunting rights to Girjas, a village of reindeer herders, it recognized that the Sami population had used the land since 500 CE.
President of the Sami Council Aile Javo believes the win strengthens their rights over their traditional lands. ‘I believe we will see more such court cases,’ he told Sveriges Radio. ‘Sami all over the north can now see that it is possible to win.’
