From cultural appropriation to Sámi sovereignty in the souvenir market

The cultural appropriation of Indigenous handicrafts in the souvenir market is common around the world. This article focuses on investigating how it relates to ongoing settler colonialism and the reclaiming of Sámi sovereignty in Finland. In so doing, it contributes to the understanding of current colonial and decolonial relations and practices in the Nordic countries, which have traditionally not been regarded as settler colonial. I address the making, appropriation, selling and buying of Sámi handicrafts as dynamic social practices, interpreting them with settler colonial theory and Indigenous sovereignty theories. My research material consists of interviews with Sámi and non-Sámi handicraft makers and sellers, tourism entrepreneurs and other relevant stakeholders, as well as observations from the field. The analysis shows how the state enables cultural appropriation with its policies and inaction, trying thus to make the Sámi disappear as a distinct people in the tourism landscape. Simultaneously, Sámi organizations, activists and handicraft makers have gradually changed the souvenir market in the opposite direction, backed by global responsible tourism and consumption trends. I also suggest various reparative measures that could transform the souvenir business to be more just to the Sámi. My research contributes to academic and practitioner discussions of cultural appropriation, colonialism, decolonization and Indigenous sovereignty in tourism and cultural industries.