The Sacred Bond Between Reindeer and Sámi: Why Climate Change Is a Spiritual Crisis

In the Arctic, where the land itself is a living ancestor to the Sámi people, climate change is not merely an environmental problem—it is a profound spiritual disruption. As temperatures rise four times faster than in other regions, the sacred relationship between reindeer and their herders is being severed by unnatural ice. When snow melts and refreezes, it creates an impenetrable barrier that prevents reindeer from reaching the lichen beneath, leading to mass starvation. “Those impacts in nature are severe for our culture and livelihoods,” said Tuomas Aslak Juuso, vice president of the Sámediggi, or Sámi Parliament, of Finland. “So survival of reindeer and then survival of our livelihoods, cultures, is then questioned.”

For the Sámi, the reindeer is not a resource but a relative—a being whose well-being is inseparable from human spiritual identity. The reindeer provides food, clothing, and tools, but more importantly, it anchors a way of life that has existed for millennia in harmony with the Arctic’s rhythms. At the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, Indigenous delegates from around the world recognized that this crisis cannot be solved without granting them greater power in international negotiations. “To be able to bring these issues forward to the global discussion, we would have to have the opportunity to participate,” Juuso said, noting that Finland currently provides no adaptation resources for Sámi communities facing this spiritual and physical threat.