Reindeer thefts in Lapland: victim lost almost entire herd, perpetrator never caught
Enontekiö reindeer herder Hannu Magga lost nearly all his reindeer in the 1990s – the person responsible was never apprehended. Yle.fi reports that the same phenomenon continues to plague Lapland.
Disappearance of reindeer herd cost health and livelihood – perpetrator never caught
In the early 1990s, Enontekiö reindeer herder Hannu Magga owned one of the largest reindeer herds in the area. First 200 females disappeared. The following year, even more vanished. Year after year the herd dwindled, until from a thousand-strong herd only 17 reindeer remained.
According to Yle.fi, neighbours' herds did not shrink in the same way. No one reported seeing anything – despite everyone supposedly knowing something. Yet no one was ever caught.
For Magga, the loss was all-encompassing: along with the reindeer herd, his finances and health disappeared. Debts resulting from the theft went to enforcement, and he only managed to pay them off completely this autumn.
Reindeer thefts back in the headlines
Magga's case is not unique in Lapland. This year, district courts have handled several crimes related to reindeer herding. The largest case, located in Upper Lapland, has also been investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation. At the end of October, the prosecutor announced charges against 18 individuals for several serious crimes.
According to the prosecutor, this involves years of large-scale and deliberate reindeer thefts that were only discovered through police's own investigation. In the same case, suspicion also extends to predator damage and reindeer damage compensation claims made with false information – which amounts to millions of euros. The Finnish state paid approximately 10 million euros last year in compensation for reindeer killed by large predators.
A simple crime, difficult to prove
Police acknowledge the problem: reindeer theft is simultaneously a simple and difficult crime. A reindeer is easy to take, but difficult to prove stolen.
Tapio Nykänen, assistant professor at the Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu, explains that Sámi reindeer herding has historically had its own internal norms. In the past, another person's reindeer could be taken for food if necessary with the community's silent consent – such a reindeer was called a niestaporo, and according to Nykänen it can be considered in modern terms a Sámi customary right.
However, Nykänen does not draw a direct equivalence between the old tradition and current criminal suspicions. "Certainly, stealing a reindeer today is culturally closer to stealing any goods. It is no longer about the old niestaporo", he states.
Power and status through reindeer
The size of a reindeer herd signifies not only economic wealth. At a herding district assembly, voting rights are determined by the number of reindeer an individual owns – meaning herd reduction can also be an exercise of power.
"If relations become inflamed, power struggles can be conducted through that channel", Nykänen says.
Power struggles have recently been conducted, among other places, in the Muddusjärvi herding district. Leaders of the herding district have been charged in court with breach of official duty, discrimination, and reindeer herding offence. According to Lapin Kansa, the court proceedings revealed that an applicant who experienced suspected discrimination lost an entire herd of approximately 80 reindeer in a short time with no sales or verified losses.
In the large Upper Lapland reindeer crime case, those charged include individuals in leadership positions: three herding district chairmen, the vice-chair of the Sámi Parliament, and a Skolt's long-standing representative.
Trust as the foundation of community
Police interest has been revived. Earlier, in the 1970s, the National Bureau of Investigation established two reindeer police posts in Lapland due to reindeer theft. These were abolished in the late 1990s due to budget cuts and reordered priorities. Now the National Bureau of Investigation is again involved in investigating the large-scale reindeer crime case.
Nykänen reminds us that reindeer herding ultimately rests on trust, because external oversight is practically impossible. He also warns against stigmatisation: the Sámi community still faces negative attitudes in Finland, and individual cases can serve as a mark against an entire ethnic group.
"It has been said that families have something like a memory", he says, referring to the fact that the consequences of mistrust can last for generations.
At the same time, Nykänen sees an opportunity: difficult legal proceedings can launch more open discussion on Sámi customary law and its relationship to Finnish legislation.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)