Kola Sámi Assembly

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The Kola Sámi Assembly is an elected body created in 2010 by Sámi people on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. It was formed to mirror Sami parliaments in Nordic countries and to represent the Sámi, with the goal of creating a recognized Russian Sámi Parliament. However, as of 2018, it is not recognized by the Russian federal government or the Murmansk regional government, which say such bodies are part of “combating separatism.” It remains a representative body without formal legislative powers because changing its status would require amendments to Russian law.

The idea started in December 2008, when the first Congress of the Russian Sámi, with the Kola Sámi Association and the Association of Sámi in Murmansk Oblast, laid out a plan to create a Russian Sámi parliament and formed a Council of Representatives to push for it. In December 2010, at the second Congress in Murmansk, members were elected to establish the Kola Sámi Assembly.

People see the assembly as a strong, unifying structure for the Kola Sámi, but it’s unclear how much the Murmansk authorities will work with it. In 2014, Russian officials explored creating a new body—the Congress of the Indigenous People of the Northern Kola – Sámi—to sideline the Kola Sámi Assembly in favor of a group closer to local officials.

An older body, the Kola Sobbar, established in 1868, is sometimes cited as an early example of Russian Sámi representation, though it is not directly linked to the Kola Sámi Assembly.

Full participation in the Saami Council depends on other Nordic parliaments recognizing the Kola Sámi Assembly as a “Russian Sámi Parliament.” Because Russia does not recognize the assembly, the Kola Sámi Association and the Association of Sámi in Murmansk Oblast are members of the Saami Council and have representation on the Saami Parliamentary Council. Russia first gained observer status in 2000 and later became participating observers.

In 2012, members of the Kola Sámi Assembly and other Russian Sámi groups visited the Sámi Parliament of Norway in Kárášjohka to learn how it is organized and operates.