How we wish to be cited:
Norberg B.. Artificial aborigines – a threat to democracy and human rights [health]. Rondel 2004; 19. URL: http://www.rondellen.net

The Swedish model of artificial aborigines
Fragments of the true history of the population of Sweden, Norrland included, were known prior to the research of Hägglöf (2). Hägglöf now presents a concise summary of his observations, sources, and interpretations in Swedish (3). The main merit of his feat is the penetration of official misinformation, cyclic reasoning, common prejudices, and armor of collective guilt. For the time being, it is reasonable to assume that the Hägglöf torpedoing of present paradigm provides working hypotheses to be falsified or verified by professional scientists.

The reindeer monopoly is based on the myth that Laps were the aborigines of Norrland and reindeer herding was their livelihood. However, the oldest reindeer find of Sweden was found in the south part of Sweden, Skåne , and dates back 11,700 years (4), non-calibrated C¹⁴-years corresponding to approximately 14,000 calendar years (Ronnie Liljegren, personal communication). Flora, fauna, and man followed the glacial fringe northward.

Norrland has been populated for 8000 years. The first reindeer finds appeared 1800 years ago. In the period 1500 – 1886 after Christ, reindeer herding was private property, taxable. Thus, there is plenty of historical documentation. Reindeer herding was not restricted to one ethnical group. The license of reindeer herding could be inherited, sold, bought. The reindeer herdsman could change occupation and become for example county governor (2). There were no real racial prejudices. Reindeer folk married farm folk (2, 5). Thus, present population of Norrland has a balanced gene portfolio (6). Glimpses of the flow of folk between farms and reindeer herding and vice versa are found in the literature (5).

Present problems of reindeer pollution of the north part of Sweden have their roots in the war between Sweden and Russia 1808-9. During the following decades, the reindeer herdsmen of the arctic areas of the Scandinavian countries were cut off from ancient pastures by new national borders. For a time, the nomads could solve their problems by becoming Swedish citizens and settle in the northermost shire of Sweden, Karesuando. Thus, Karesuando was overpopulated by reindeer workers and their flocks. These nomads spoke Finnish with technical terms from ancient Samish language. These Nordkalott nomads were not able to communicate with Swedish Laps and Swedes by their ancient Nordkalott language.

South of Karesuando, most nomads moved from reindeer herding into settlements. Farming and lumbering appeared to provide a more convenient livelihood for most families. Emigration to Canada and US was another alternative (2, 5). Later, the building of railways, power plants at the falls of the rivers, and mining gave food for families (2, 7).

The government tried to solve the local overpopulation of nomads and reindeer in Karesuando by turning the private property of a license for reindeer herding into a collective cooperation, the Lap (Same) Village. The formal legislation was passed 1886. The Same Village, altogether 15 villages in Sweden, was not a geographical village but an association with 10 members in each. Each member corresponded to one license. The license bearer had an average of two hired herdsmen. Reindeer herding by skies required more folk and smaller flocks than modern motorized herding (2). The number of licenses was adjusted for the families and flocks expected to be able to live on persistent reindeer grazing.

One interesting finding of Hägglöf (3) is that the basic manpower structure from 1886 of the reindeer industry still persists; there are at present 150 full-time reindeer workers in Sweden, as evidenced by the right tail of Figure 1. The two middle quartiles represent the hinds of the past, nowadays mainly family members, neighbors, retirement pensioners, senior herdsmen. All connoisseurs of reindeer herding have postulated this structure (2), since 15 times 10 makes 150 (15 x 10 = 150). However, up to now authorities and trade union, heeded by their jurists, have flatly denied the multiplication table (8, 9).

A century ago, there were too many nomads and too many reindeer in Karesuando. South of Karesuando, the reindeer herdsmen had settled in other occupations. The government decided to move some reindeer workers southward from Karesuando to wider lands. Since the nomads of Karesuando wished to stay there, they were forced southward by a law passed 1925. About the same time, 1928, a new law stated that a reindeer worker is a Lap (Same), and vice versa. Thus, the authorities converted an occupation to "aborigines", the native tribe of Norrland.

The exodus of the Karesuando nomads - 400 persons and their flocks - southward was a painful process, protracted over decades. They could not talk with the natives of new valleys. Their children had to learn Swedish at school. Most of the dislocation was performed 1920-40. The immigrants moved at first to the south part of Lapland. They re-populated closed or "sleeping" Same Villages. During the migration, they learned how to raise subventions. They also provided the substrate of a growing network of white-collars in public administration; the clerks knew how to extract and expand subventions from different public sources and how to spread reindeer and reindeer workers further southward by opening closed same villages. However, most of the descendants of reindeer herdsmen from 1900 and forth have successfully merged into the Swedish society and are thought to be over-represented in top positions by now; the nomad had to acquire social competence due to his life style (2, 5).

The modern expansion of the reindeer industry started about 1960 (2, 3). The sign obvious for the natives of the landscape was that the reindeer flocks began to cross the trunk line of the railway and grazed the coast land as dessert, support feeding now being their main course. The wanderings of the reindeer had become too long for their legs. Now the reindeer were wheel-borne, bussed by the reindeer workers. Thus, the reindeer industry expanded by means of society subventions. The network of reindeer white-collars also expanded, with the reindeer, the reindeer workers, cultural myths, and the selling of unfounded guilt as substrates (2, 3, 5, 9). There is no evidence that the reindeer workers of Sweden have had harder times than other citizens in the period 1500 –2004 A.D., after adjustment for class and time (3).

Contemporary structure of Swedish reindeer industry is that 150 full-time workers maintain themselves, their families, their social network (Fig 1), 300,000 reindeer, and 1500 white-collars at different levels of public administration. The feast costs the society 200 – 300 millions of SEK each year and gives the reindeer workers a taxable income of about 50 millions of SEK (Fig 1).

The core message of the Hägglöf studies is that the modern reindeer industry of Sweden represents an informal invasion of Norrland, supported by the government itself. The net result is due to a process protracted for about 200 years. The guiding forces appear to be a mixture of planned economy, market economy, and political ambitions. It is reasonable to believe that maladministration of the present sort is an archetypical trait of the human individual and the human flocks; Goscinny and Uderzo have described an analogous process in a classical work (10, 11).

Under false premises, the reindeer industry of Sweden has expanded at th cost of more ancient settlers and farmers, and at the cost of the health or the reindeer workers, and the ruin of flora, fauna, forests, farmers, and wild wolves. However, old injustices cannot be undone by new injustices. Just like the decision of the referendum of Cyprus 2004, the solution of present problems has to adapt to present conditions. The obvious step is to stop further subventions to the reindeer industry, give present reindeer workers life-lasting but not hereditary retirement pensions corresponding to their herding income, let the reindeer run wild in balance with environment (predators and licensed hunters included), and reorganize the environment protection sections of public administration; in Norrland and in Stockholm, these sections have promoted the expansion of a devastating reindeer industry at the cost of all other environmental values. Their aborigine claim lacks historical precedents. The cultural heirloom of the Laps is an heirloom of mankind, which has to be nursed and kindled by professional scientists (2,3).

I believe in the history described by Hägglöf (3). It fits well with my own observations 1940-2004, based on a childhood and adolescence in the Skellefteå valley (2), 200-300 km north of the first observations of Hägglöf in the Åsele valleys. The secrets revealed by Hägglöf are more unknown to Swedes than the secrets revealed by the legendary Stevan Dedijer (12). Over a 20-year period, the economical size of the reindeer fraud is about 10 times greater than the Trustor fraud. Thus, it is unlikely that any digging journalist will make a greater scoop than Hägglöf in Sweden this year.

From Ultima Thule to Middle East
The construction of artificial aborigines provides a threat to democracy and human rights. These ideals imply that every citizen should have a right to vote, a right of health care and education, a right of owing, buying, and selling property, the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing. An anonymous network of white-collars may take the artificial aborigine as a hostage, the bearer of privileges, which are converted to feed mainly the network of white-collars. The doubtful privileges of the artificial aborigine tend to intrude on the democratic and human rights of non-privileged citizens.

As a tool of thought, the aborigine model might be applied to contemporary Middle East. The Abrahamistic religions agree that the Land of Canaan is given to the Jews by Allah (Gen. 15:18-20, Sura 5:20-21). However, many peoples have inhabited the Land during the last 3000 years. Present Palestinians have a history of 100-200 years (13). When the state of Israel was proclaimed by UN 1948, less than one million Palestinians inhabited the Land, together with populations of other ethnicity and religion. About 100,000 Palestinians stayed within present Israel, about 700,000 fled. By now, both domiciled and refugees have multiplied 10-fold, in Israel by own work in a democratic well-fare state, in neighbor nations by support (subventions) from UN, EU, independent nations, and churches.

The benevolent international support has bolted in viscous circles and created a contract of killing. "The Palestinian People cannot afford to stop fighting", as one of their own politicians told the Swedish Radio. Obviously, there are differences between Jewry, Christianity, and Islam (14). However, present problems in Middle East are a battle between democracy and human rights versus feudal dictators (13-16).

It is reasonable to assume that Israel, safe and accepted by its neighbors, not only by Moses and Mohammed (Sura 5:20-21), will find constructive solutions. "Do not ill-treat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt" (Exod. 22:21). However, Christians and Muslims and others may have to accept the sign of the ancient covenant for citizenship in Israel (Gen. 17:10-14) and restrict their missionizing to non-Israel areas; the New Testament and the Koran are as yet not fully acknowledged by Israeli legislation.

Aborigines of the European Union
"The harlot praises her virtue, the nun her passions." All peoples of Europe have marched this way and that way over Germany. Thus, the Germany of Hitler praised the German race and glorified it with war and genocide. The alliance of present European Union started after the Second World War as a project of peace. So far, the project has been successful – no world war in nearly 60 years to be compared with two world wars in 25 years in the past.

The EU and its member states confess democracy and human rights. Nevertheless, EU is still a playground for anti-Semitism, christophobia, islamophobia, and many other ghosts of imagination. The EU support to artificial aborigines in other areas tends to conserve social injustice and increase the shedding of blood. At present, the EU appears to be a lame duck due to overstaffing, overfeeding, and overorganization. One possible flowchart towards a better EU would be one group language (English), slimming of the central administration from 24,000 persons to 2,400 persons, moving headquarter from Brussels to Östersund, and outsourcing of the farming policy to each individual member country.

Aborigines of the USA
Like EU, the US confess democracy and human rights. There are some objections to USA as a well-fare state (12). It is reasonable to assume that the aborigines of USA would fare better from improvements in health care, education, and social safety systems than from special privileges. As the sheriff of the world, USA has cropped enormous amounts of bad will from opposite interests, not least former Marxists without genuine feeling for democracy and human rights.

I feel that the world is better off with one sheriff than with two or more; pax americana is a valuable peace with potential for improvement. Behind the aborigine problems of contemporary Sweden, there was a hidden agreement between Tsar Alexander and Napoleon, that Russia was allowed to take Finland from Sweden (1808-09). During the cold war 1950-1988, Sweden had a relatively safe position as informal ally of USA. During present conditions, Sweden is disarmed and without allies. Russia is still an appreciated business partner and a neighbor of distressing weight. In order to avoid new deals of the 1808 type, it is reasonable to suggest that Sweden applies for membership in NATO. As a member of both NATO and EU, Sweden would be able to work for peaceful relations with Europe, Russia, USA, and the world.

The UN provide no alternative to a NATO membership for Sweden. A considerable number of the countries of UN are governed by feudal dictators. The UN organization is run by 12000 white-collars with their own survival as over-riding goal. In fact, UN has created a substantial part of the problems of contemporary Middle East. Likewise, the blood from the genocide of Rwanda 1994 sullies UN and Christianity.

Merits of the meek
"To every man his part!" as Saruman told Eomer (17). I have a dream. I would like to celebrate my 80^th birthday, still more than ten years ahead, God willing, by travelling from Egypt aboard an air-conditioned bus along the route of Moses and Joshua to the Land of Canaan. Then, my Muslim co-travelers will probably go to Mecca and Medina. I would follow the tracks of Paul through Turkey and Greece. I suspect my earthly assets to approach zero after this tour. So what? "The meek will inherit the earth."

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Published February 26, 2004