Everyday life of reindeer herding. Developing a study to investigate factors that may affect mental health in the Sami reindeer herder population of Norway
Pages 998-999 in N. Murphy and A. Parkinson, eds. Circumpolar Health 2012: Circumpolar Health Comes Full Circle. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, August 5-10, 2012. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2013;72 (Suppl 1):998-999
Pages 998-999 in N. Murphy and A. Parkinson, eds. Circumpolar Health 2012: Circumpolar Health Comes Full Circle. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, August 5-10, 2012. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2013;72 (Suppl 1):998-999
In 1995, the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services launched a plan for health and social services to the Sami population in Norway (1, p. 6). One of the areas addressed by this plan was the negative health consequences caused by high level of conflict and extensive strain to the Sami reindeer herding population. Mining, power plants, tourism, recreational activities, railways and road construction disturb herding, block migration routes, and reduce the grazing lands. Scarce recourses and adaptive strategies that are discordant with traditional life cause internal problems and a high level of strain. The plan also proposed which actions ought to be taken. Seventeen years later the situation is very much the same; the reindeer herders perceive the level of strain as a persistent threat to the well-being, mental health and the future existence of their nomadic way of life. In the eye of the National Reindeer Herders Association (NRL), the Norwegian authorities, represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, do not fully understand the challenges reindeer herding management is facing in the contemporary society of Norway. Thus, the NRL decided to initiate a research project that addressed these issues. In 2010, they proposed a research project that addressed the strain that reindeer herders were facing to the Sami
National Centre of Mental Health (SANKS).