Skolt Sami Cooperation : Forms of Reciprocity in Work Situations of the Sevettijärvi Reindeer Herding Community at the Beginning of the 21st Century and Actions of State Administration

• Main Author: Itkonen, Panu
• Other Authors: Ruotsala, Helena, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Helsingin yliopisto, valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta, sosiaalitieteiden laitos, Helsingfors universitet, statsvetenskapliga fakulteten, institutionen för socialvetenskaper, Kaartinen, Timo, Kiviniemi, Markku, Armstrong, Karen
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Helsinki 2012
• Subjects: social anthropology; cultural anthropology; sosiaaliantropologia; kulttuuriantropologia; socialantropologi; kulturantropologi; Sevettijärvi; Northern Finland; sami
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/37275

Skolt Sami Cooperation is a study about a traditional community of reindeer herders and its relations to the state administration. The anthropological fieldwork is done in the Skolt Sami reindeer herding community of Sevettijärvi in Northern Finland, and also representatives of state administration are interviewed. More than previous studies of Sami and reindeer herders, this study focuses on reindeer herder s forms of cooperation. Team work is put into perspective by analyzing work patterns of reindeer herders on the basis of anthropological theory and intensive observations of work situations. Recent changes in these work forms are based mainly on the centralization of reindeer ownership. Work groups of several households who base their work relationships on balanced reciprocity and equality have shrunk in reindeer separations, and work groups of one main household who base their actions on authority have become more common. As a basis for cooperation in the reindeer herding community, the meaning of kinship has diminished a little over the last five decades, and the role of friendship has grown slightly. The new professions of women have become important sources of additional income in reindeer herder families. Moreover, the community has opened up a little for outsiders and newcomers. Around 30 different additional forms of livelihood were practiced next to reindeer herding, but the developing of new economic activities by united forces of reindeer herders has become difficult as the number of reindeer herders has diminished. All active reindeer herders, including many small reindeer owners, have important roles in the work organization of the reindeer herding cooperative. Reindeer herders attitudes in relation to actions of the state administration are examined by quantitative means to supplement previous qualitative explorations of the same theme. 85% of Sevettijärvi reindeer herders considered that the minimum limit for the per animal subsidies (80 reindeer) was too high. The majority of Sevettijärvi ...