Witness

Gallok: The Battle for Sami Rights in Sweden (2019x3)

: 06, 2019

A community questions its Sami heritage when one of Scandinavia's largest known iron ore deposits is discovered nearby. Thirty kilometres from the Swedish world heritage site of Laponia, plans to introduce a controversial new iron ore mine in Gallok (also known as Kallak) are under way. The opinions of the 3,000 people living in the nearby town of Jokkmokk are polarised. Tor, a father of two, reclaims his Sami surname and joins a group of indigenous and environmental activists to stop British company Beowulf from mining on the ancestral lands of the indigenous Sami people.