How Europe’s only Indigenous group is inspiring a greener Christianity
By John Last
Mongabay
July 17, 2024
• The Sámi are Europe’s only recognized Indigenous group, having hunted, fished and herded reindeer across Arctic Europe for millennia before the arrival of Christianity.
• Today, the Sámi are fighting across their territories to resist mining, logging and energy projects that disrupt traditional activities.
• Sámi thinkers and religious leaders are pushing Scandinavia’s national churches to become allies in their fight for self-determination.
• These churches are increasingly interested in better understanding Indigenous Christian theology like that of the Sámi, which may present an alternative to a traditionally anthropocentric worldview. Some churches and followers, however, are not convinced.