Representation Construction of Indigeneity by State vs Sámi Governments : Communicating Indigeneity through Official Government Discourse in Norway and Sweden

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the representation of the Sámi population as constructed in the official political discourses of the Swedish and Norwegian Governments and the Sámi Parliaments. As Sámi policies and Sámi political action have historically been limited by the dominating postcolonial conception of the Sámi by the nation-state, this thesis evaluates how the Governments of Sweden and Norway construct a representation of the Sámi in comparison to the representation offered by elected Sámi representatives to ascertain how the sociohistorical perspectives of the majority population reflect the conception of the Sámi population today. In addition, this comparison is made to draw inferences about the efficacy of ratifying ILO:169 for Sámi representation in political forums.Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was conducted on 370 official government documents through Hall´s framework of representation. The results indicated that the overarching representation of Sámi as presented by the Norwegian and Swedish Governments was of a static people that are vulnerable and inferior compared to the dominant group, with a specific representation of Sámi residing in Sweden portrayed as a minority group and the Sámi residing in Norway portrayed as a diverse population distinct from the state. The overarching representation as presented by the Sámi Parliaments in contrast portrayed a progressive and motivated people with customs and practices that aim to regain and create a Sami identity. These contrasting representations of the Sámi population indicate that both the Norwegian and Swedish Governments still operate with the sociohistorical perspective that formed prior conceptualization of Sámi and "Sáminess".