Join us on March 12th at 18.30 at Kirjakahvila to learn about the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation process in Finland.
At the beginning of the event, Reetta Humalajoki will give a lecture on the history and present of Truth and Reconciliation processes in different contexts, including the Nordic countries. Afterward, we will familiarize ourselves with the final report, discuss the Finnish state and media responses to it, and what to expect next.
The participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the 22-page summary of the final report in advance, but this is not a requirement for participation. The summary and full reports can be found at https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/items/60d36a56-51a1-45e0-96c9-30ca56a1656f.
Reetta Humalajoki is an Academy Research Fellow at the School of History, Culture, and Arts Studies at the University of Turku. She is a historian and her current work focuses on North American and international Indigenous activism, White-Indigenous solidarities, and cultural appropriation.
The event is organized by members of Turku with Palestine.
What is the Truth and Reconciliation process?
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) submitted its final report to the Finnish Government, the Sámi Parliament and the Skolt Saami Siida Council (representing the Skolt Sámi population) on December 4th, 2025. The Finnish commission is one of three commissions in the Nordic countries treating state-Sámi relations: the TRC in Norway reported in 2023, and the truth commission in Sweden will submit its report in October 2026.
In Finland, the final report concludes a four-year process. During the process, a five-member commission, comprising both Sámi and non-Sámi members, has held hearings with almost 400 Sámi individuals and published 25 special reports on different facets of state-Sámi history and current relations. Highlighting the multilingual, multicultural and cross-border nature of Sámi communities, the reports acknowledge that Finland is a country established on the land of two peoples, the Sámi and the Finns.
The reports aim to identify and assess historical and current discrimination, including the assimilation policies directed toward the Sámi peoples, violations of rights, and their impact on the Sámi people and their communities today. The 700-page final report, published in three parts, includes 68 proposals and points of action, aiming to better the lives of the Sámi people in Finland.
The first and second part of the report focus on the history of assimilation policies and right violations towards the Sámi in Finland, and the contemporary hardships brought upon the Sámi by Finland’s colonial practices towards the Sámi people and communities.
The third part of the report is a summary of the proposals given by the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The 22-pages document summarises the contents of the final report, and unlike the other documents, is available in English.
Why is it important?
As the space for the traditional livelihoods of the Sámi is declining rapidly because of the climate crisis, industrial forms of land use, tourism, and increasing militarisation, especially following Finland’s NATO membership in 2023, the proposals expressed in the TRC final report remain both important and urgent.
Most of the Finnish Members of Parliament, with the exception of The Finns Party, have expressed their support for a state apology to the Sámi people. At the same time, however, the colonization of Sámi lands remains ongoing, and it is reasonable to expect that Finland’s political, economic, and military interests (especially following Finland’s 2023 membership in NATO) will keep overriding the promises to strengthen Sámi rights also in the future.
In Canada, the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report, submitted in 2015, has had the greatest impact in the field of education. In other areas, the process’s success has been limited: by 2023, only 81 of the 94 points to action published with the report have been implemented, and the state has escalated its violations on the land rights of the indigenous peoples. This is even though in Canada, the rights of Indigenous peoples, including land rights, are considerably better protected in legislation than in the Nordic countries. To date, Finland has still not adopted the 1989 UN International Labour Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO 169) or implemented the Nordic Sámi Convention. Moreover, while Norway and Denmark have ratified ILO 169, its influence has been underwhelming.
In November, the Finnish government appointed a parliamentary working group to assess the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report. Several of the individuals appointed to the working group have actively opposed reform of the Sámi Parliament Act. The Sámi Parliament was not consulted in the appointments, nor does the group, chaired by former Social Democratic prime minister Antti Rinne, include Sámi representation.
Links to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report
“I want a better life for my people” : A summary of the proposals given by the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-956-4
”Haluan, että kansani elämä paranee” : Yhteenveto saamelaisten totuus- ja sovintokomission ehdotuksista. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-980-9
”Haluan, että kansani elämä paranee” : Saamelaisten totuus- ja sovintokomission loppuraportti OSA I. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-940-3
”Kyllä se on yhtä taistelua” : Saamelaisten totuus- ja sovintokomission loppuraportti OSA II, kuulemiset. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-984-7
Lisälukemistoa suomeksi
Historioitsijat ilman rajoja 2021: Saamelaisten totuuskomission tilannekatsaus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbJ5LYlhm3k
Anna Katila 2026: Saamelaisten moninaiset kokemukset jäivät anteeksipyynnöstä väittelemisen varjoon. https://www.ulkopolitist.fi/2026/01/14/saamelaisten-moninaiset-kokemukset-jaivat-anteeksipyynnosta-vaittelemisen-varjoon/
Rauna Kuokkanen 2025: Mitä odottaa Suomen totuus- ja sovintokomission jälkeiseltä ajalta? https://voima.fi/blogit/vieraskirja/2025/mita-odottaa-suomen-totuus-ja-sovintokomission-jalkeiselta-ajalta/
Saamelaisten totuus- ja sovintokomission loppuraportin luovutus 4.12.2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJSvBANSF2I
Helga West 2022: Saamelaisten totuus- ja sovintiokomissio on hätähuuto alkuperäiskansan oikeuksien puolesta. https://politiikasta.fi/saamelaisten-totuus-ja-sovintokomissio-on-hatahuuto-alkuperaiskansan-oikeuksien-puolesta/
Additional resources in English
Otso Kortekangas 2026: Finland’s Promise to the Sámi. https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/154052-finlands-promise-to-the-sami.html
Rauna Kuokkanen 2020: Reconciliation as a Threat or Structural Change? The Truth and Reconciliation Process and Settler Colonial Policy Making in Finland. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12142-020-00594-x.pdf
Rauna Kuokkanen 2024: The Problem of Culturalizing Indigenous Self-Determination: Sámi Cultural Autonomy in Finland. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2154896X.2024.2342125
Silje Karine Muotka 2025: Reclaiming Truth – A Sámi Perspective on Norway’s Apology and the Path to Reconciliation. https://www.arcticcircle.org/journal/reclaiming-truth–a-sami-perspective-on-norways-apology-and-the-path-to-reconciliation