Welcome to a panel organized by The Nordic Labour History Network 

Until today only Norway and Denmark are among the 23 countries which have ratified the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention No 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). While appearing as models for labour relations worldwide, little interest has been paid by scholars to working and living conditions of indigenous people in the Nordic countries. This panel is the first in a series of online events to initiate and promote discussions about Arctic and indigenous labour history, organized by the NLHN.

Our Canadian colleagues Sarah A Nickel and Joan Sangster will share their experiences of writing indigenous labour history. Following their discussion we will listen to comments from historians representing Sápmi, Greenland and Iceland; what can we learn from them and what needs to be done in Nordic labour history   

Chair

Helle Stenum

Participants

Marianne Jensen, first female mayor of Ilulissat. She was also a minister in the government of Greenland and the chief technical advisor in promoting ILO policy on indigenous peoples.

Åsa Nordin Jonsson, independent scholar with a PhD in history. Author of Relationer i ett samiskt samhälle: en studie av skötesrensystemet i Gällivare socken under första hälften av 1900-talet, Umeå University (2002).

Sarah A Nickel is Tk’emlupsemc (Kamloops Secwepemc), French Canadian and Ukrainian. She grew up in the unceded lands of northern Secwepemcul’ecw and the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Associate professor at the University of Alberta. Author of Assembling Unity. Indigenous politics, gender and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, UBC Press (2019).

Joan Sangster, professor emerita of Gender and Women’s Studies, Trent University. Editor of the Canadian labour history journal Labour/LeTravail. Author of The Iconic North. Cultural Constructions of Aboriginal Life in Postwar Canada, UBC Press (2016).

Register here

The seminar is open to the public but requires registration. Please register. You will receive a zoom-link by e-mail before the seminar.

Questions: Send an e-mail to silke.neunsinger [a] arbark.se

Image: Sami in the demonstration on 1 May 1970 in Stockholm. Photography by Tommie Lindström.

See our other seminares