Finland Archives - Women Speak

In an ancient reindeer forest, one woman has found a way to slow climate change down

Aparna Packer2025-02-14T13:10:48-05:00Country: Finland|

Pauliina Feodoroff, a member of the Sámi Indigenous community, turns performance art and cartography into climate activism. Sámi people revolve their traditions and lifestyle around reindeer, using them for food, clothing, and more. Finland’s forests and reindeer ecosystems are essential in sequestering carbon and preserving biodiversity. By auctioning her performance art, titled “Matriarchy,” to different institutions and museums, Feodoroff raises money to buy back deforested land and leave it to slowly regrow into reindeer ecosystems. Feodoroff and her peers are also using publicly available data and research to map out reindeer ecosystems. Through her fight for these pristine ecosystems, Feodoroff is repositioning wood as a finite and invaluable resource, especially considering forests are priceless.

Finland’s Reindeer-Herding Sámi Women Fight Climate Change

Katherine2020-04-24T15:57:47-04:00Country: Finland|

Indigenous Sámi women like Inka Saara Arttijeff and Saara Tervaniemi in the northern reaches of Finland are standing up for their traditional way of life, which is now threatened by climate change. As reindeer herders, they have seen firsthand the devastating effects of rising temperatures and intensified logging, which disrupt the reindeers’ diets and migration routes. Women are making their voices heard, from Arttijeff advocating as part of a delegation of Indigenous representatives at the United Nations climate change talks, to Tervaniemi staying active as a member of the Saami Council. Gender equality and Indigenous rights are central issues of political life here, as seen with the Sámi NissonForum (Women's Forum) which brings together Sámi women from the northern countries. Photo credit: Sonia Narang/ PRI