ABSTRACT
It is almost universally accepted that global climate change is one of the great scientific, social, and political issues of modern times. The Arctic, where warming is proceeding at twice the rate as the rest of the world, has been characterized as the early warning system for the health of the planet. The Arctic regions have consequently been a central focus of climate change research. This was most recently reported in the Arctic Council's Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. The ancestors of the Saami most probably entered the Nordic north from the east and southeast during early postglacial times. The Nordic region has thus been a long-term meeting ground of European and circumpolar peoples. The situation of the Saami in Sweden has been contingent upon the view that the Saami are a nomadic people in need of protection, but within a framework of conformity to Swedish social values and policies.
