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.

62 relocation on the traditional Sámi settlement pattern – sijjt- was disrupted. The Kola Sámi people were no longer moving with the reindeer from winter to summer settlements, but resided only in summer settlements, practicing traditional activities as employees at collective state farms. The second wave of the relocations in the 1960’s - 1970’s led to the summer settlements being closed and the people being relocated from the traditional territories of their historical inhabitance, resource use, and subsistence, what has caused the consequences discussed in this Master’s thesis. 6.2 The consequences of the forced relocations on the Kola Sámi community After the final displacement of the Sámi people from their traditional settlements, many relocated reindeer herders were left outside their traditional activities, unable to have access to their resource territories and with a lack of possibilities for employment or other subsistence activities. These factors influenced the low social status of the community; at the time lack of housing and employment gave rise to economic impoverishment and poverty of the relocated groups. The crisis was triggered by marginalization and social disarticulation of the relocated Sámi communities. The feelings of hopelessness and despair of its members reflected in tendencies towards alcohol and substance abuse, leading to destructive impacts such as high mortality due to external reasons, e,g. as the result of accidents, homicides and suicides. These consequences in their turn predetermined negative attitudes of the non-Sámi majority towards the Kola Sámi community and low status of identity among Sámis themselves. The Kola Sámi became a minority in a multicultural settlement instead of the majority in their own traditional villages. The environment in traditional villages was favorable for the cultural and language continuity because Sámi languages were used on a daily basis by majority Sámi residents of these villages. Therefore, relocations produced negative impacts not only in economic and social sense, but also impaired cultural and language transmission to the Sámi generations in the future. The consequences of forced relocations can thus be approached as a multi-level issue, which have affected the Kola Sámi community in several important spheres of its development, from practicing traditional activities to the language situation, as well as at all the levels of its representations. The forced relocations first of all affected the relocated Sámi people on an individual basis, such as the community members experiencing the loss of housing and employment, and psychological stress caused by the disruption of the attachment to traditional lands. The resettlement produced impacts