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Eds. by Mikkel Berg-Nordlie, Astri Dankertsen, and Marte Winsvold, 2022, An Urban Future 
for Sápmi? Indigenous Urbanization in the Nordic States and Russia, Berghahn Books, ISBN 
978-1-80073-264-3 

This timely volume focuses on the Sámi people of the Nordic states—Sweden, Norway, 
Finland—and Russia. Significantly, it shines a spotlight on the experiences of Indigenous people 
around the world who build their lives in urban spaces.  

According to the editors, the Indigenous Sámi’s historic territory is referred to as “Sápmi,” 
regardless of national boundaries that were created during state formation and colonization. Most 
of the authors of this book are themselves urban Sámi. They come from various areas of Sápmi, 
including all the countries that occupy Sápmi. Their unique perspectives on worldwide 
urbanization place the Sámi within that phenomenon and compare the Sámi experience to that of 
other Indigenous groups. The editors argue that, for most Indigenous groups around the world, it 
is difficult to speak about Indigenous populations without invoking colonialism and its lasting 
effects. The colonial legacy influences how these groups see themselves and how other people 
see them. Within the book’s pages, readers will witness the history of extensive and 
uncomfortable assimilation policies the Sámi underwent as they were forced to assimilate to the 
majority culture. Readers will also see how, over the years, the Sámi have persisted in their 
efforts to retain and, in some cases, revitalize their culture in order to maintain their Indigenous 
identity and dignity. Yet, as the authors argue, all cultures around the world are not in a static 
state; cultural change is inevitable, and the cultures of the Sámi are no exception.  

The editors provide readers with a deep historicity of the Sápmi land, the Sámi people, and their 
interactions with other ethnic groups, situating the Sámi in the rich context of their past. 
However, the book is mainly focused on contemporary urban Sámi people, their culture in urban 
areas, and the meaning of culture to today’s Sámi youth. The authors reveal both their challenges 
and successes in maintaining their culture, and they raise the question of Sámi cultural survival 
and identity in urban environments that are not devoid of political and cultural challenges and 
influences. 

In the book’s introduction, Berg-Nordlie, Dankertsen, and Winsvold provide an overview of the 
book, its main arguments, and the themes addressed. They discuss how the colonial legacy has 
kept the Sámi in a state of marginalization. These authors legitimize the belongingness of the 
Sámi to urban areas, debunking the myth that Indigenous Sámi live only in rural areas. In fact, 
the Sámi have a long history of living in both urban and rural areas, given that most of the urban 
areas have belonged to the Sámi people and are part of the Sápmi. In this way, they are not 
unlike other Indigenous urbanites around the world. As the editors state, “in fact, many 
Indigenous peoples have a long urban history” (p. 4). The authors also discuss demographic 



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shifts, the influence of such shifts, and their influence on Sámi culture, language, and ethnic 
identity as well as on relations among the Sámi themselves. The authors also reveal the rural-
urban connection, one that is not broken simply because one lives in the city. Political, cultural, 
and historical developments are elaborated, as are the heterogeneity and complexity of Sámi 
lives and culture, their city spaces, and those of contemporary Sámi youth. The chapters that 
follow narrow down these broader issues.  

Mikkel Berg-Nordlie and Anna Andersen author the first chapter of the book, The Sámi and the 
Sápmi: The People and the Land. They set clear definitions of the terms “Sámi” and “Sápmi” 
and explain what they mean to this Indigenous population. From a historical perspective, the 
authors argue that using these terms, emanating from the Indigenous themselves, is more 
appropriate, as compared to using names that have been conferred by states and majority 
cultures. The authors next detail the division of the Sápmi land among the Nordic states and 
Russia, and they expose the discrimination and assimilation policies enacted by these states 
regarding Sámi language, culture, and religion. Some of the more extreme measures included 
strict punishment of the Sámi for practicing their traditional religion. The authors also elaborate 
on scientific racism that emerged between 1800 and 1900, exacerbating the situation, noting “the 
idea of a Nordic ‘master race’ and the Sámi as a lesser population with no real culture, no real 
history, and less rights to own the land they used, began to grow” (p. 36). Scientific racism 
increased instances of racial slurs and treatment levelled at the Sámi. With their “economic base 
being threatened by land grabbing and development projects” (p. 36) and no state support, the 
very survival of Sámi identity, culture, and language was at risk. This chapter effectively builds a 
historical foundation for the remaining authors to build on.  

In Chapter Two, Cities in Sápmi, Sámi in the Cities: Indigenous Urbanization in the Nordic 
Countries and Russia, Berg-Nordlie and Andersen attempt to answer the following questions: 
“How and why did urban areas form in Sápmi? When did large-scale urbanization of the Sámi 
people begin? In which urban areas are the Sámi most concentrated? (p. 54). The authors portray 
these questions as problematic to answer, given the nature of past data collection methods and 
the periods in which these methodologies were used to gather demographic information. The 
emphasis on rurality prior to World War II and rapid urbanization after the war are representative 
of these issues. Moreover, during that time, invoking a Sámi identity often provoked 
discrimination, causing people to hide their identity, making it even more difficult, or very nearly 
impossible, to find reliable population numbers, most urban Sámi people did not know they were 
Indigenous.  

The authors then delve deeply into Sámi urbanization experiences in each of the four colonizing 
states, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. The authors also reveal the complex and varied 
dimensions of urban areas in the Sápmi by focusing on each state separately as well as the 
urbanization of the Sámi people in these states. Understanding geographic divisions is key to 
understanding what it means to be Sámi in the urban areas of each nation, “because urbanization 
processes, and indeed Sámi history in general, have been very different in the eastern and 
western parts of Sápmi” (p. 54).  

In Chapter Three, Young City Sámi in Norway and Sweden: Making Space for Urban Indigenous 
Identities, Astri Dankertsen brings to life the importance of Sámi identity in Norway and 



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Sweden. She argues that, “there are differences in the identity-negotiation processes that develop 
among Sámi in the four northerly states that have divided Sápmi, and indeed within the same 
states, but we also find some remarkable similarities regarding the urban context and its 
relevance for Sámi identities” (p. 107). Furthermore, while Dankertsen supports the significance 
of Sámi identity, she also problematizes their Indigenous identity as complex and ever-evolving; 
it has been and is shaped by political forces such as colonialism and assimilation policies as well 
as by changes within the Sámi population itself. Thus, the author argues that obtaining an 
authentic and pure Sámi identity can be problematic since there are antagonizing criteria among 
the Sámi themselves. This is especially true at the present time, when the Sámi are coming 
together to create communities that will reinforce their identity in an environment where there 
are many ways of being and becoming Sámi. Additionally, while the Sámi are portrayed as 
having a cultural identity, they are of different religious and social class backgrounds. Finding 
commonalties, the author suggested, could ameliorate interethnic struggles. 

This chapter is especially important because it discusses hypermobility between the cities and 
rural areas, particularly the mobility of the young. Dankertsen compares urban-born Sámi youth 
to those who have migrated to cities for education, work, and settlement, noting that “while 
previous generations often hid their identities, many young Sámi of today have a very different 
perspective. They live in a time when there is more space for being Sámi, when more and more 
people are proud of being Sámi, and they demand their right to be Sámi in an urban 
environment” (p. 142). The author argues that since identities are not static but are constantly in 
the making, the youth are able to create their own urban Sámi identities.   

In Chapter Four, Urban Indigenous Organizing and Institution-Building in Norway and Russia: 
By and For Whom? the authors Mikkel Berg-Nordlie, Anna Andersen, and Astri Dankertsen 
highlight the Sámi’s capacity to create their own urban spaces—spaces where culture can be 
practiced and passed on to the youth, and where a majority of the Sámi can congregate and 
become a unified voice in speaking to the majority’s power in their states. Though many spaces 
are mentioned, NGOs and cultural houses are the central focus in this chapter. The author argues 
that these spaces have the capacity to be all-inclusive by catering to the many ways and 
dynamics of being Sámi and, at the same time, can create a collective voice.  

Chris Andersen, in Chapter Five, moves readers from the specific experiences of the Sámi to the 
global stage. Sámi Urbanization in the Global Currents of Indigenous Urbanization is an 
exposition on the global process of urbanization sweeping across the whole world. Andersen 
states that, “The world has never been more urbanized than it is in 2021. The United Nations 
(UN) reports that roughly 55 percent of the world’s total population reside in urban locales, 
compared to only 30 percent in 1950. This proportion is expected to grow to nearly 70 percent by 
2050” (p. 222). He argues that this phenomenon is inclusive of Indigenous peoples, and he 
compares Indigenous populations within the global context of other ethnicities.  

As stated previously, this book is very timely and speaks to the many experiences of Indigenous 
people around the world who are leading urban lives while performing indigeneity. They are 
revitalizing and reconstituting their culture and keeping the urban-rural connection, even as 
external and internal factors continue to shape and reshape their identities. The book will benefit 



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researchers in the areas of cultural anthropology, Indigenous studies, history, global studies, race 
and ethnicity, urban studies, and globalization studies.   

Serah Shani is an associate professor at Mercy College in New York, in the Department of 
Social and Behavioral Sciences. She is also author of Indigenous Elites in Africa: The Case of 
Kenya’s Maasai and African Immigrant Families in the United States: Transnational Lives and 
Schooling. Dr. Shani is currently working on her third book project, based on an ongoing 
research project among the Indigenous Maasai people of Kenya, funded by a grant from the John 
Templeton Foundation.    

 

 

/© 2023 Serah Shani 

 


