Afanasyeva, A. Forced relocations of the Kola Sámi people: background and consequences / by Anna Afanasyeva. - Tromsø: University of Tromsø, 2013. - 82 p.: ill., map, portr.

47 5 Brief analysis of the displacement consequences In the current chapter three central issues were regarded, coming out of the literature analysis and fieldwork considerations in reference to the impact of relocations on contemporary developments in the Kola Sámi community. First of all, relocations predetermined restricted access of the Sámi people to their traditional lands for many years, influencing the practice of traditional activities, for instance reindeer herding andfishing in these areas. Secondly, I was concerned with the social impacts of the relocations with a special emphasis on the multicultural society and the ability of the community to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Finally, I focused on the influence of the forced relocations on general aspects of community well-being, such as housing and employment. 5.1 Traditional activities and loss of access to indigenous resource areas In this work I do not touch largely upon the changes which occurred in reindeer herding since arrival of the Komi population and up until the introduction of the state farms to the Kola Peninsula (see Konstantonov 2005). I mainly concentrate on the situation withreindeer herding andfishing after the first relocations, basing my assumptions on both oral and written sources. The result of the policy of collectivization in the 1930’s -1940’s, when the Sámi were accustomed to the sedentary lifestyle 144 with the establishment of the collective farms, led to all private reindeer being takenas property of the farms, with reindeer herders working as employees, jointly in the group of reindeer herding workers ‘brigade’. The Sámi men predominantly were involved in both the reindeer herding and fishing activities in brigades.The analyzed data shows that up to the 1930’s fishing and reindeer herding was practiced in the state farms by most of the Sámi men, while some of the women stayed home or followed the brigade as employees to assist with cooking and household chores in the tundra. Owning private reindeers 145 was still allowed though private animals were herded together with reindeer of collective farms. During the relocation process, the flocks from all eliminated farms were transferred to the cooperative farm “Tundra” in Lovozero and came under the control 144 Reindeer herding on the one hand is closely connected with the policy of relocations, but on the other hand has undergone first changes with the involvement of the policy in the early 1930s, which aimed at accustoming nomadic peoples of the North to a sedentary way of life. Thus, explaining the consequences of the relocation policies requires deeper analyses and broader investigation. 145 Allemann 2010:66.