ABSTRACT
The legal position of the Swedish Sami is primarily regulated by the Reindeer Herding Act of 1971 (RHA). The RHA provides specific regulation of Sami reindeer herding practices as well as general prescriptions concerning Sami peoples' right to land and water on so established year round pastures in the mountain regions, and to the extended northern areas of the country. In the Nordmaling case, the reindeer herding right of three Sami villages, specifically concerning winter herding pastures, was acknowledged on private lands close to the Baltic Sea coast. The ruling has been regarded, especially by the Sami, as a landmark decision concerning the recognition of herding rights based on customary law. The Taxed mountain case dealt, with the claims of certain Sami villages against the state. A Sami village is a particular type of legal person exercising the reindeer herding rights on behalf of its members, the nearest equivalent of which is a co-operative.
