Introduction to NESAR Workshop Indigenous Identity Appropriation in Sápmi and North America – A conversation together with Kim Tallbear

Indigenous identity appropriation or “self-Indigenization” based on highly distant or fabricated ancestry claims or family lore presents a new challenge for Indigenous self-determination and development of Indigenous rights. Two locations where the challenge has become particularly pertinent are Finland and Canada, where the “white turn to Indigeneity” is promoted and encouraged actively by recently formed groups and organizations which seek to connect personal aspiration to “Indigeneity” with a collective demand for legal and/or political recognition (as Indigenous). As shown by Leroux (2019) and Lehtola (2015), in both countries the genealogy of such groups leads back to explicitly anti-Indigenous political agendas. In Finland, groups which promote self-Indigenization have gained relatively high political leverage, in part encouraged by a string of Supreme Administrative Court’s decisions that since 2011 have ruled the Sámi Parliament to include in its electoral register a growing number of persons that according to the Sámi Parliament are not Sámi. The ongoing discussion over the proposal to amend the Sámi Parliament Act in Finland – to prevent such violations of Sámi self-determination from reoccurring – has further highlighted the extent of the problem and shed light on the various political agendas that are backing self-Indigenization. At the same time, it has created space for public critical debate of self-Indigenization and made the general audience in Finland more aware of the phenomenon and the political context in which it has developed. In North America, Prof. Kim Tallbear is one of the most well-known and prominent Indigenous academics who has called critical attention on the phenomenon, discussing it in relation to its challenge to Indigenous self-determination, and advancing a critique of settler self-indigenization as an aspect of contemporary settler colonialism. Importantly, Tallbear has also sent a strong message of encouragement for Indigenous academics, communities and activists, as well as their non-Indigenous allies, to speak up and tackle the phenomenon critically. A good example of such work is the recent essay “What the hell’s wrong with you” https://kimtallbear.substack.com/p/what-the-hells-wrong-with-you#details You may also watch a longer talk “Unmasking Pseudo Indians” at the Unsettling Genealogies Conference (April 2022) which includes an excellent note by Tallbear (starting at 40 minutes) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyY0egN0cd4 The aim of this workshop with Kim Tallbear is to facilitate new comparative discussion and analysis of the phenomenon, to share experiences and perspectives on the ways in which it affects peoples and communities on the ground, as well as to consider the various strategies to challenge the phenomenon and to create better awareness of it among the dominant society. The workshop is aimed especially for Sámi and Nordic scholars and academic activists who have to tackle the issue in the context of their own research or within academic institutions more largely.