När ontologier krockar

Samiskt självbestämmande som en pågående relation till landskapet

Abstract

When ontologies collide: Sámi self-determination as an ongoing relationship to the landsacape

In indigenous people-related research, it is impossible to ignore the indigenous methodological and research ethical discussion that is ongoing both internationally and nationally, within indigenous communities and research institutions. Also, in a Swedish/Sámi research context, the critical perspectives and indigenous methodological starting points have been discussed. What has not been discussed, however, is how these methodological approaches can be operationalized in researchers own research on a theoretical level. The starting point for this article is that it is possible to operationalize another ontological starting point for analyzing Sámi self-determination through norms and actions that are contained within the Sámi language and in Sámi concepts. These norms can be expressed in Sámi legal perceptions of how natural resources are used, but also through practical actions, for example through how reindeer are moved and how relationships with all living things arise and are maintained. The article describes how the Sámi concepts, and their meaning can be used as analytical concepts to contrast existing theories about indigenous peoples’ self-determination and shows what consequences this ontological perspective has for both Sámi self-determination in relation to the state, and for the theoretical understanding of indigenous peoples’ self-determination in general.