Repairing “historical” wrongs: The Church of Sweden’s approach to redressing colonial abuses against the Sami

This chapter explores the process initiated by the Church of Sweden to repair colonial abuses against Sweden’s indigenous people – the Sami. The Church, formerly the State church and a State institution, played an important role in the colonisation and oppression of the Sami, which led to loss of their traditional lands, language, religion, and culture - the effects of which are still felt today. Since the 1990’s, the Church has worked to address its role in these abuses and to embark on a path towards reparation and reconciliation. This chapter first discusses Sweden’s colonial context and the Church’s involvement in abuses against the Sami. It then examines the legal obligation to provide adequate and effective reparation, before investigating the reparation process initiated by the Church. This includes a critical analysis of the lack of participation by the Sami in the process and of the limits of the Church’s approach to reparation. The chapter argues that while there have been some good faith efforts on the part of the Church, more is needed for the process and substance of reparation to be in line with international human rights law standards.