Från skattemannarätt till nyttjanderätt : En rätthistorisk studie av utvecklingen av samernas rättigheter  från  slutet 1500-talet till 1886 års renbeteslag

Sammanfattning: This dissertation studies the development of the reindeer-herding Sami people's rights from the Sami´s first coming under the Swedish Crown in the mid 16th century, and ending with the passing of the Reindeer Herding Act in 1886. Special attention is paid to how the legal position and rights of the Samis changed over time by new herding techniques that were incompatible with traditional Sami legal values and traditions. History ended by the end of the 19th century with the decline of the Sami rights. Unwritten customary law had for centuries protected the Samis´ right to land. By 1800, that belonged to the past. Their strong entitlement to land faded away within some few decades as their landholdings were allotted by central administrations far away from the Samis themselves. Settlers gained the old Sami herding lands at the expense of the Samis according to national laws that considered nothing to protect their minority rights. This dissertation is addressing the mechanisms of that historical change.