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Leu, T., Eriksson, M., Müller, D. (2018)More than just a job: exploring the meanings of tourism work among indigenous Sámitourist entrepreneursJournal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(8): 1468-1482https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2018.1466894

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More than just a job: exploring the meanings oftourism work among Indigenous Sámi touristentrepreneurs

Traian C. Leu, Madeleine Eriksson & Dieter K. Müller

To cite this article: Traian C. Leu, Madeleine Eriksson & Dieter K. Müller (2018) More than just ajob: exploring the meanings of tourism work among Indigenous Sámi tourist entrepreneurs, Journalof Sustainable Tourism, 26:8, 1468-1482, DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2018.1466894

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More than just a job: exploring the meanings of tourism workamong Indigenous S�ami tourist entrepreneurs

Traian C. Leua,b, Madeleine Erikssona,b and Dieter K. M€uller a,b

aDepartment of Geography and Economic History, Umea�University, Umea

�, Sweden; bArctic Research Centre, Umea

�

University, Umea�, Sweden

ARTICLE HISTORYReceived 2 August 2017Accepted 15 April 2018

ABSTRACTIn northern Sweden, the positive effects of tourism involvement by S�amiIndigenous people are mostly shown in terms of employment, yet at timeshave been shown to go beyond economic ones and include other equallyimportant benefits. Only when all components are seen at the same timecan we get a true understanding of tourism as a livelihood strategy. Thispaper uses a sustainable rural livelihoods approach to investigate thedifferent roles and meanings of tourism among S�ami tourist entrepreneursin northern Sweden. It does so using data from 13 semi-structuredinterviews with S�ami Indigenous tourist entrepreneurs. The resultsindicate that there are many goals and objectives tourism jobs serveamong S�ami Indigenous people in the Swedish north. For example, thetourism business is at times seen as a more sustainable way of usingreindeer. Tourism was also a way for S�ami to express themselves and keepcertain traditions alive. Another leading conclusion relates to touristentrepreneurs as cultural ambassadors for S�ami issues. By presentingfactual information about S�ami people, challenging stereotypes and bymaking others aware of the many hardships reindeer herders face, S�amitourist entrepreneurs attribute to their work meanings that are social,cultural and even political.

KEYWORDSSustainable livelihoods;sustainable tourism;Indigenous; reindeer herders;S�ami; Sweden

Introduction

Indigenous tourism has been a topic of academic attention for some time and has been addressed inmultiple publications (e.g. Butler & Hinch, 1996, 2007a; Ryan & Aicken, 2005). As Hinch and Butler(2009) summarize, particular focus has been on tourism as a way of empowerment, and in a recentspecial issue of Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Whitford and Ruhanen (2016) claim that there is aneed for approaches that acknowledge Indigenous tourism stakeholders and their interests. Lemelinand Blangy (2009) provided a step toward this by presenting a collection of papers co-authored byIndigenous and non-Indigenous authors in a special issue of the Journal of Ecotourism. Though it iseasy to agree to these claims, there is an inherent risk that Indigenous peoples are homogenized, notacknowledging the role of geographical context and what this means for Indigenous peoples interms of accomplishing a sustainable livelihood. Obviously, there is no single way of achieving suc-cessful Indigenous tourism (Butler & Hinch, 2007b; Getz & Jamieson, 1997) and indeed even the dom-inant understandings of tourism development as solution and as threat for Indigenous peoples, donot necessarily match Indigenous realities everywhere (M€uller & Huuva, 2009). For the IndigenousS�ami of northern Europe, it has been said that they are modern and emancipated in terms of

CONTACT Traian C. Leu traian.leu@umu.se

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the originalwork is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2018.1466894

JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, 2018 VOL. 26, NO. 8, 1468–1482

opportunities and career choices (Keskitalo, 2017; M€uller & Viken, 2017; Viken & M€uller, 2017). Hence,an engagement in tourism is just one of many opportunities for the members of the Indigenous com-munities, and it is certainly not the only way of making a living. This raises questions regarding whatother life strategies may accompany an engagement in tourism.

Indigenous tourism is most positive when there is Indigenous control and the product offered isIndigenous-themed (Butler & Hinch, 2007a). Having an Indigenous-themed product with Indigenouscontrol, however, might not be enough to guarantee positive outcomes. In northern Sweden forexample, the positive effects of tourism involvement by S�ami Indigenous people are mostly shown interms of employment (Leu & M€uller, 2016; Lundmark, 2005; M€uller, 2013). Tourism and tourism-related activities such as handicrafts are being promoted as a viable economic strategy helping main-tain a stable population and functioning services for people living in northern Sweden, a sparselypopulated area characterized by unfavorable demographic changes such as an aging population andoutmigration (Lundmark, 2005; Statistics Sweden, 2017b). The Swedish S�ami Association, an organi-zation looking out for the interests of reindeer herders and other S�ami enterprises, has initiated tour-ism programs aimed at providing alternative sources of income to support reindeer herdinghouseholds (M€uller & Hoppstadius, 2017). A diverse portfolio of economic activities would allow S�amiIndigenous people in northern Sweden to maintain their desired lifestyle and their links to the his-toric homeland. Hence, the question regarding tourism as part of a diverse portfolio of economicactivities is an important one; but so are also the non-economic outcomes as experienced from thepoint of view of tourism workers (cf. S€orensson, 2008; Veijola, 2009). Only when all components areseen at the same time can we get a true understanding of tourism as a livelihood strategy (Tao &Wall, 2009). Thus, this paper aims to uncover the different roles and meanings of tourism as part ofthe livelihood strategy among S�ami tourist entrepreneurs, and as such add important insights to thisless understood component of Indigenous tourism in northern Sweden.

In this paper, tourism is investigated by studying the lived experiences of S�ami Indigenous touristentrepreneurs in the sparsely populated areas made up by the three northernmost counties of Swe-den: J€amtland, V€asterbotten and Norrbotten. Additionally, a sustainable rural livelihoods approach isused in this paper, as a conceptual framework to investigate the role tourism plays among the S�amiIndigenous people in sparsely populated areas in Sweden. This approach goes beyond the most com-mon approaches to tourism research and looks at tourism as a livelihood strategy, where in order forit to be a sustainable livelihood it must not only induce economic capital, but also social, human andnatural capital (Scoones, 1998). Current research on tourism development in northern Sweden mostlyuses a restructuring lens to investigate tourism in terms of employment potential (Lundmark, 2006;M€uller, 2013). The sustainable livelihood approach is widely used in rural development research inwestern countries, especially in regards to the agriculture sector, but less often in tourism research(Tao & Wall, 2009). This paper continues as follows: after this introduction, tourism as a livelihoodstrategy is presented as a conceptual framework shaping this study, after which the theory is beingcontextualized with reference to S�ami Indigenous people in northern Sweden. The paper then goeson to explain the methods. Following that, it presents an analysis of the results. Finally, the paperconcludes with some remarks on the most relevant findings.

The sustainable rural livelihoods framework

The concept of sustainable livelihoods (SL) has been adopted by many scholars researching ruraldevelopment. Scoones regards livelihood as:

the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living.A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, maintain or enhance itscapabilities and assets, while not undermining the natural resource base. (Scoones, 1998, p. 5)

Scoones (1998) more specifically introduced a sustainable rural livelihoods framework consisting of afew key components, see Figure 1.

JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 1469

The first one is the context in which rural life is taking place; this, for example, includes thehistory, demography and politics that exist in a place. The livelihood resources available makeup the second component. These are the various forms of capital: natural, economic, humanand social capital, including reliance on the social support of family and community members(Helmore & Singh, 2001, quoted in Tao & Wall, 2009). An important element in Scoones’ SLframework is the importance given to institutions and organizations. Scoones (1998) adopts thedefinition of institutions from Davies (1997), which states: “institutions are the social cementwhich link stakeholders to access to capital of different kinds to the means of exercising powerand so define the gateways through which they pass on the route to positive or negative [liveli-hood] adaptation” (p. 24, quoted in Scoones, 1998). Reaching SL is complicated and is oftendependent of mediations between and within formal and informal institutions. Concealed andunconcealed rules as well as social norms form a complicated institutional blend that can serveas both barriers and opportunities to reaching SL (Scoones, 1998). As planning and policies caninfluence institutions, which in turn influence the way livelihood assets are transformed (e.g.agriculture policies, infrastructure and services) (Kinsella, Wilson, de Jong, & Renting, 2000),looking at rural development through a sustainable livelihood lens provides a way of under-standing how policies can affect demographic patterns in rural areas.

Next, as outlined by Scoones (1998), are the livelihood strategies that are adopted from the avail-able livelihood resources. Examples of livelihood strategies are agricultural intensification, migrationand livelihood diversification. Livelihood diversification refers to diversifying the household incomesources to offset the income variability that is often present in rural economies based on agriculture.Tourism as a livelihood diversification strategy has been found to be common among S�ami living innorthern Sweden (cf. Leu, 2018; Leu & M€uller, 2016). Finally, the result of transforming resources intostrategies will produce the livelihood outcomes. The outcomes can be observed in the form of pov-erty reduction, increased number of working days, general lifestyle improvements as well as sustain-able use of natural resources and resilience (Scoones, 1998). Importantly, the sustainable livelihoodapproach has as part of the set of successful outcomes not just economic benefits but also conceptsof personal welfare. In this paper, it is argued that SL must also imply social and cultural aspects.Such dimensions would see that involvement in tourism as a livelihood diversification strategyshould also contribute in positive ways to such components as self-esteem, vulnerability, power and

Financial independence

Maintain a high standard of living

Continue herding

Remain in Sápmi

Preserve natural resource base

Enhance resilience

Reduce vulnerability

Improve well-being

Reduce stress

Advance recognition

Livelihood outcomes

Livelihood diversification

Reindeer herding intensification

Migration to the south or coastal

areas

Livelihood strategies

Institutions

Organizations

Institutional processes and organizational

structures

Human capital (including cultural

capital)

Social capital

Economic capital

Natural capital

Livelihood resources

History

Geography

Demography

Politics

Labor market

Climate

Context and conditions

Figure 1. The sustainable rural livelihoods framework adopted from Scoones (1998, p. 4)

1470 T. C. LEU ET AL.

exclusion (Scoones, 1998). The latter aspect is given very little attention in previous research on tour-ism development in sparsely populated areas of Sweden. Below, the sustainable rural livelihoodsframework is contextualized in relation to northern Sweden.

The sustainable rural livelihood framework in northern Sweden

Context and conditions

The history and geography of northern Sweden provide the context in which tourism takes place andthe consequences it has on the livelihoods of S�ami Indigenous people. While S�ami reindeer herdersare also found in Norway, Finland and Russia, due to different histories and contexts the results ofthis study are not necessarily valid in the other countries. For example, in Finland, reindeer herding isnot a right exclusive for S�ami people (Keskitalo, 2008); in Northwest Russia, reindeer managementstrongly resembles Soviet-style state farms (Konstantinov, 2000); while in Norway, herding takesplace on a larger scale and has a more dominant position than in Sweden (Keskitalo, 2008). Norwayalso differs in legislation where subsidies tend to favor owners of large herds, which are least likely toengage in other activities, and tourism is not included in value-added programs supplying importantfunds (Ulvevadet, 2004).

The S�ami have lived in northern Sweden since time immemorial, subsiding on a diverse livelihoodof fishing, hunting, reindeer herding and handicraft trade (Eira et al., 2008). Colonization of the area,implying a shift from reindeer pastoralism to agriculture and an immigration of non-S�ami people,began in the seventeenth century and was most intense during the nineteenth century (Br€annlund &Axelsson, 2011). Research on place identity and place attachment shows how place and belonging toa place may become more complex for people with histories of displacement and dispossession,such as Indigenous groups (Massey, 2005; Nash, 2002). This together with the fact that the S�ami are anon-visible minority relying on external signifiers as identity markers makes a connection to S�apmi,the S�ami homeland, alongside language and dress, important indicators of Indigeneity (Olofsson,2004).

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Swedish state policies backed reindeer herdingas the quintessential S�ami trade. Only S�ami involved in reindeer herding were registered as S�ami,families involved in other trades such as agriculture were not and gradually lost their Indigenousidentity (Axelsson & Sk€old, 2006). As a result, today reindeer herding in Sweden is an exclusive rightreserved for people of S�ami descent and is closely associated with S�ami identity (Beach, 2007; Labba& Jernsletten, 2004). Today only around 10%–15% of S�ami in Sweden are engaged in reindeer herd-ing (Beach, 2007). Out of those members of the Indigenous community that are involved in herdingit is frequently considered to be more than an occupation but a way of life (Nordin, 2007), and formany giving up this lifestyle is not an option (Kaiser, N€ackter, Karlsson, & Renberg, 2015). The totalS�ami population of Sweden is around 20,000 (Axelsson & Sk€old, 2006), although by some estimatesthat number is at least twice that (Hassler, Johansson, Sj€olander, Gr€onberg, & Damber, 2005).

The research area is comprised of the three northernmost counties in Sweden: J€amtland,V€asterbotten and Norrbotten. Sparsely populated, with a population of almost 650,000, the threecounties together equal about 6.5% of Sweden’s population (Statistics Sweden, 2017a). Employmentin the long-established forestry and other extractive industries has generally decreased in the lasthalf a century or more (Lundgren, 2005; €O. Pettersson, 2002). With the decline in employment poten-tial of the primary industry, the region has turned to tourism as a suitable alternative (M€uller & Ulrich,2007); however, the extent to which tourism can replace these industries in terms of employment isoften brought into question (Lundmark, 2006). Public spending on tourism in sparsely populatedareas in Sweden does target specific enterprises such as accommodation but appear to prioritizeregions that already have a diversified tourism industry, further questioning the tourism sector’s abil-ity to restructure the economy of these areas (Almstedt, Lundmark, & Pettersson, 2016). However,while a direct replacement of other declining economic sectors is not being observed, there may

JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 1471

well be other benefits to tourism that remain unrecognized as long as research maintains a focusonly on employment potential.

The tourism industry in sparsely populated areas is mostly dominated by small and micro busi-nesses (Brouder & Lundmark, 2011) and this applies to S�ami tourist companies in the region as well(M€uller & Hoppstadius, 2017). The reasons why tourist companies remain small are not necessarilydue to any socioeconomic constraints as for many it is a lifestyle choice (M€uller & Brouder, 2014).

Livelihood resources

Various forms of capital make up the livelihood resources available for S�ami tourist entrepreneurs.Regarding human capital, S�ami people’s skills and credentials linked to Indigeneity become a valu-able resource. Touristic interests in S�ami-related experiences is increasing as it becomes a larger shareof the overall tourist demand (Pettersson & Viken, 2007; R. Pettersson, 2002), placing those entrepre-neurs offering S�ami Indigenous products in an advantageous position. In reference to the naturalcapital, the sparsely populated areas of northern Europe possess features related to nature-basedtourism such as hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and dog-sledding (Niskala & Ridanp€a€a, 2016), andperipheral features perceived as remote, natural and unspoiled which are strong tourist attractions(Blomgren & Sørensen, 1998). It has been shown that for some S�ami tourist entrepreneurs the rea-sons why they got involved in tourism relates to the fact that they already possess the competitiveedge by being familiar with the area, for example, knowledge on where to find moose or the bestplaces to hike (Palomino, 2012). The successful pursuit of any livelihood strategy is highly dependenton availability and access to economic capital. In contrast to many Indigenous groups worldwide, theS�ami do not differ much from the Swedish population in general when it comes to factors such asmaterial standards (Axelsson & Sk€old, 2006). With respect to social capital, an increased emphasis onS�ami identity is being observed among young S�ami (Jacobsson, 2012). Affiliations and links to herd-ing are also of importance. Herder families are dependent on collective community values (A

�hr�en,

2008; Nordin, 2007). The S�ami community, in general, is considered to be more communal in naturethan the population at large (Rønning, 2007).

Institutional processes and organizational structures

Institutional processes and structures are what make all components of a rural livelihood bindtogether (Scoones, 1998). In Sweden, the welfare policy that the state abides by means that insparsely populated areas public resources play a vital role (Wiberg, 1994). Sweden’s public sector islarger than that of many western countries. Public sector employment in such sparsely populatedareas just before the turn of the century was around 40% (Wiberg, 1994). In the latter half of thetwentieth century, Sweden has seen a general trend toward deregulation. The importance of publicsector employment, which experienced substantial increases in the 1970s has seen sizable reductionsduring the 1980sand 1990s, which affected Sweden’s sparsely populated regions the hardest (€O. Pet-tersson, 2002). With Sweden joining the European Union in 1995, regional development policieshave also been heavily influenced by EU’s structural funds. Institutional powers were redistributed tolocal and regional authorities, municipalities were suddenly responsible for their own development,leaving some municipalities to outperform others (Eriksson, 2010), enhancing uneven regional devel-opments. Outmigration and an aging population still characterize the majority of municipalities inthe sparsely populated areas of Sweden. In many of these areas, tourism may be seen a way to getmore job opportunities to the region; however, only in a few municipalities has tourism contributedto positive development cycles where in-migration leads to infrastructure improvements, better pub-lic facilities, which in turn contributed to investments, tourists and more in-migration (Lundmark,2006).

1472 T. C. LEU ET AL.

Livelihood strategies

Reindeer herding has gone through its own process of intensification similar to agriculture in otherrural areas further south. During the 1960s, the government supported a policy of modernization inreindeer herding where emphasis on increased productivity was a main goal (Beach, 1981). Reindeerherding today is not very profitable and the only way to increase income from herding is to increaseslaughtered weight (Nordin, 2007), and since the total number of reindeer allowed in each ReindeerHerder Cooperative is dictated by the county government as a function of the capacity of the land, itbecomes nearly impossible for an individual to increase herd size, making the strategy of intensifica-tion beyond the reach of most S�ami herders. Regardless of these challenges, many reindeer herdersare unwilling to give up the occupation considering its close association with S�ami culture. As aresult, an adaptive strategy to the low profits of herding is the diversification of the livelihood (Leu,2018; Turunen, Rasmus, & Bavay, 2016), meaning additional income from non-herding sources.Locally, for example, mining is an important employer and despite conflicts with reindeer herding,herders frequently work in mines because of the need for additional income (Revelin, 2013). Tourismas a livelihood diversification is a common strategy among S�ami reindeer herders as well as S�amiIndigenous people living in sparsely populated areas in general (Leu, 2018). There is an Indigenouscomponent to tourism demand in northern Sweden (R. Pettersson, 2002), and representations ofS�ami culture in tourism are often related to reindeer and reindeer herding (M€uller & Pettersson,2001) placing S�ami people, and reindeer herders in particular, in an advantageous position to getinvolved in tourism. Indeed, income from tourism has been shown to be more common amongherder families in the Swedish north than geographically matched farmers (Leu & M€uller, 2016). Atthe same time, the non-economic roles and meanings of those tourism jobs continue to be less wellunderstood.

Livelihood outcomes

The success of all livelihood strategies will influence a variety of different outcomes. As laid out byScoones (1998), livelihood outcomes can, for example, increase the number of working days.Which among S�ami living in sparsely populated areas can lead to financial independence or forthose who are also involved in reindeer herding can help the household to continue involvementin the tradition. While the original sustainable livelihood framework included poverty reductionas an outcome, in the Swedish Indigenous context, it is best rendered as maintaining a standardof living that matches the Swedish population at large. Outcomes related to well-being gobeyond material conditions and include elements of stress, happiness, power and exclusion. Theadoption of livelihood strategies can also enhance resilience in the face of environmental andeconomic shocks, due to bad winters in herding or employment loses in forestry or mining. It canalso reduce the vulnerability that reindeer herders face due to the various pressures they con-front. Coping successfully with such pressures will inevitably affect the ability of people to con-tinue living in S�apmi. Indeed, place attachment to the area has been shown to be a strongmotivator for involvement in tourism among S�ami living in the north (Schilar & Keskitalo, 2017).Some of the long-standing industries in sparsely populated areas in Sweden, such as those basedon resource extraction as well as reindeer herding, depend on natural resources. Livelihood strate-gies that help maintain a viable natural resource base become critical to promoting and maintain-ing a sustainable livelihood. Obviously, desired outcomes vary according to specific preferences;the outcomes highlighted in the sustainable rural livelihood framework do not make up anexhaustive list nor are they necessarily weighed equally in importance. Additionally, they mostlyfocus on individual benefits and not any potential communal ones, shown to exist in Indigenoustourism in many parts of the world (Gr€unewald, 2002; Suntikul, 2007). As Scoones (1998) explains,what a sustainable livelihood should entail is highly debated and by revealing the many potentialoutcomes this framework makes a negotiation between these elements possible.

JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 1473

Methods

This study is based on 13 semi-structured interviews with S�ami tourist entrepreneurs in sparsely pop-ulated areas of Sweden, representing almost a third of all S�ami tourist companies in the country (cf.M€uller & Hoppstadius, 2017). Nine of the interviewees are currently or have in the past been involvedin reindeer herding. Even among those not involved in it, reindeer herding featured prominently andpositively in their responses. The interviews were conducted during October and November 2016.Seven interviews were conducted in the county of Norrbotten, four in V€asterbotten and two inJ€amtland. Four of the respondents were women and nine were men. The youngest was 41 years oldand oldest was 73, while the average age was around 53 years. Eight of the respondents were entre-preneurs offering nature-related tours, guiding or other amenities, four were artist entrepreneursinvolved in the production and selling of handicrafts and one was both, offering tours as well as mak-ing handicrafts. The typical interview duration was around 30 min. This was mostly due to time con-straints among the respondents, something to be expected among individuals holding multiple jobs(cf. Leu, 2018) and given that interviews took place during busy times in herding and hunting. In fact,numerous individuals declined to be interviewed citing lack of time. Three out of the 13 interviewswere conducted in English, the rest in Swedish.

The interviews were recorded and analyzed by using thematic content analysis. Themes commonfor the different interviews were identified, topical stories connected to livelihoods, meanings andchanges in their relation to the local community. While interview responses are varied according toindividual experience, the focus and attention can be maintained on certain recurring narrative pat-terns (Sandberg, 2011). Epistemologically, interviews may “open up” the hegemonic meanings ofS�ami tourism and livelihoods (Sandberg & Tollefsen, 2010). The analysis below is organized bythemes. The recruitment of interviewees stopped when new themes or concepts stopped emerging;therefore, the validity of the results should not be suspect due to the relative small sample size (for adiscussion on sample size and “redundancy”, see Baxter & Eyles, 1997). While, the concept of satura-tion can always be questioned (Caelli, Ray, & Mill, 2003), given that the study population is fairlyhomogenous with similar experiences and perceptions, a sample this size is considered adequate foruncovering the most important themes (Guest, Bunce, & Johnson, 2006).

Meanings of tourism work

Throughout each interview, the respondents were asked questions about what it means to work intourism for both themselves and the S�ami in general. The responses varied but at the same time cer-tain common themes emerged. First off, not surprisingly, for some respondents working in tourismwas part of a livelihood diversification where it simply meant a source of much needed income.According to the SL Framework, diversification is a common strategy among rural households andfinancial independence is an important livelihood outcome. Income from rural occupations can varyboth from year to year and within the year making the need for reliable additional sources of incomegreat (Ellis, 1998). Importantly, tourism work considered a diversification strategy complementary toherding, does not have to be full-time in order to provide the desired benefits. In this study, all ofthose who were involved in reindeer herding mentioned income from tourism was used to someextent to support reindeer herding. In a lot of cases, all household income was pooled together soincome from any non-herding source would inevitably be used for herding when required. For amore detailed analysis of livelihood strategies of diversification among S�ami tourist entrepreneurs,see Leu (2018).

One of the distinguishing factors of the SL framework, as opposed to other approaches focusingonly on income diversification (cf. Blad, 2014; Kelly & Ilbery, 1995), relates to the importance given tooutcomes of well-being. Another meaning given to tourism work by the respondents is that it is notreally tourism per se. For those tourist entrepreneurs whose business product revolved around thereindeer, that is, reindeer sledding tours, petting, etc., their business was not regarded as a separate

1474 T. C. LEU ET AL.

occupation but looked upon as a continuation of herding. Given the cultural significance of herdingto S�ami identity and culture (Nordin, 2007), such branding gives tourism work meanings that arehighly relevant culturally, not just to individuals but also to an entire community. Reindeer herding inthe traditional sense of the occupation is not very profitable and using the reindeer for tourists wassimply considered a new direction within reindeer herding. In such instances, the respondentsreferred to their ability to innovate and prided themselves for figuring out how to use existing naturalcapital for a successful livelihood. As one respondent put it: “instead of selling my bulls to a slaughter-house I sell them to tourists instead, and I can sell them again tomorrow […] This way it also meansthat I can live off a smaller herd instead of having to build up a large one”. In such instances, tourismis presented as a sustainable livelihood strategy that brings positive outcomes without underminingthe natural resource base upon which households depend on, an important component of the sus-tainable livelihood definition provided by Scoones (1998). At the same time, this illustrates the use ofexisting cultural capital, where skills and knowledge linked to tradition are used in the pursuit of live-lihood strategies, which in turn induces cultural capital by advancing a traditional occupation. Thismeaning assigned to this specific kind of tourism work acknowledges first, the fact that a traditionaloccupation such as reindeer herding is constantly evolving over time, even evolving in ways peoplesometimes have a hard time to recognize. Second, this understanding of tourist entrepreneurshipwhere tourism is not seen as a separate sector but as a continuation of an unrelated industry, hints ata unique versatility of tourism work, where it is able to mold and remake itself in different ways. Italso gives an understanding that the line between tourism and another sector is blurred and whereone occupation ends and another begins is not always as straight forward as commonly believed.

Advancing recognition and issues of power and exclusion are rarely discussed within the frame-work of rural restructuring and change in northern Sweden (Hedlund, 2017; Lundmark, 2006; €O. Pet-tersson, 2002). This is likely due to a focus on individuals and households when discussing ruralchanges while issues of exclusion are expericned at a larger scale, such as the community. Yet, suchoutcomes should be investigated and debated alongside more frequent ones related to employmentand the economy (Scoones, 1998), and are particularly important among Indigenous peoples, whichhave a history of colonization and displacement (Butler & Hinch, 2007a). An important aspect men-tioned most often by the respondents regarding their work in tourism was that of cultural ambassa-dorship. The respondents commented that part of their job as tourist entrepreneurs was educatingthe tourists, both Swedes and foreigners, about S�ami people, S�ami culture and reindeer herding. Asone entrepreneur stated: “[tourism] becomes a channel through which one can inform […] ignoranceis the absolute worst enemy; the more information out there the better it will be”. Previous studieshave shown that tourist entrepreneurs in the small northern town of Jokkmokk see themselves asambassadors responsible for showing their town in a positive light to visitors (Brouder, 2012). Thisapplies also to Indigenous culture where S�ami tourist entrepreneurs regarded visitors coming toJokkmokk as having little knowledge regarding S�ami culture but keen to learn about it (Tuulentie,2006). Misinformation or lack of knowledge about the S�ami everywhere in northern Sweden is com-mon and Indigenous modernity is often downplayed while traditional S�ami stereotypes are repro-duced for touristic purposes (Eriksson, 2010). Therefore, the interaction between the tourist and theS�ami entrepreneur becomes the medium through which information is disseminated cross-culturally.As one respondent expressed: “What is great [with tourism] is that it shows our everyday, the reality;we don’t live in the tent [Swedish: ka

�ta] […] but we are exactly like a typical Swede.”

The respondents discussed the importance of passing factual information, information that doesnot perpetuate a stereotypical view of the Indigenous as age-old, traditional and unchanging butmodern and comparable to any other Swede. Revelin (2013), investigating the nexus between tour-ism and the extractive industry in S�apmi, has had at least one of her interviewees, a S�ami touristentrepreneur in G€allivare, Sweden, discuss the importance of having S�ami themselves present S�amimaterial to tourists. Information is passed from host to tourist regardless of who is delivering it, tou-rists come willing to learn, they ask questions and listen to what is being told to them. If a non-S�amientrepreneur hosts tourists, they inevitable will answer questions regarding the local population

JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 1475

including the indigenous component. Some of the respondents in this study mentioned observingthis and then also wondered why should they, the S�ami, not be the ones to educate others aboutthemselves. “I think it is wrong to get information about S�ami and our land from a foreigner […] thatis something we should do ourselves”, said one respondent. This way they have more control overthe information being passed out; making sure that it is more authentic information than would be ifa non-S�ami was to deliver it:

“One has to be a herder or be member in a [Reindeer Herder Cooperative] to be able to explain; because there isso much misunderstanding and false information in society […] I can tell my guests that which I think is true. I tryto hold myself to the right facts, etc.”, explained another S�ami tourist entrepreneur.

Even if some knowledge regarding S�ami reindeer herding is present among visitors there might stillbe less awareness regarding the full geographical extent of it. For instance, respondents from thesouthern part of the study area discussed visitors’ surprise, even of those from Sweden, at findingout that there are S�ami reindeer herders in J€amtland as well not just in the far north. They discussedtheir desire to break down geographical stereotypes where the traditional S�ami homeland and rein-deer herding are believed to exist only in the northernmost county. This shows some frustrationamong S�ami living in the southern part of S�apmi toward persistent images that S�ami reindeer herd-ers, and sometimes by extension S�ami people in general, live only in the high mountain regions ofnorthern Sweden. In reality reindeer herding encompasses approximately 50% of Sweden’s land area(Statistics Sweden, 2008) with much variety not least between forest and mountain herding areas. Inaddition, S�ami people in general live all over the country, including large urban centers in the south(Pedersen & Nyseth, 2012). The findings show that the respondents could tackle some of that igno-rance through tourist entrepreneurship. Such proclamations demonstrate how livelihood outcomescan also affect communities and not just individuals as commonly detailed in the SL framework.

Misunderstandings and lack of adequate information does not exist only among the general pub-lic, there was expressed concern that also local politicians at the municipal level did not have a goodunderstanding of reindeer herding especially regarding land use and predators. While not stateddirectly, the respondents discussing this implied that by bringing awareness to such issues and coun-teracting the ignorance that exists among the guests on the plight of herders, more public supportcould be rallied behind the cause leading to policy changes. In such instances, the tourist companywas almost seen as a political tool:

“We hope the rest of the world can see the problem with having too many predators, […] wherever we go, on anexhibition or we have people here, we always try to talk with them about the whole culture and but also thoseissues, because they didn’t know there were so many reindeer killed every year [by predators]”, stated onerespondent.

Even by those tourist entrepreneurs who were not at all involved in herding it was stated that thedeath of reindeer herding in Sweden would to some extent also be the death of S�ami culture. Thelivelihood approach emphasizes that outcomes such as these are essential for rural developmentthinking and can at the very least serve as points to be negotiated within any rural development dis-cussion (Scoones, 2009). At the same time, applying a framework that favors the inclusion of such ele-ments of visibility and recognition will permit the potential understanding of other, more recentoccupations as important to S�ami culture as reindeer herding.

The ambassadorship component is not limited to the physical interaction between host and guest.Respondents dealing with handicraft production and other traditional artifacts told of various exhibi-tions either in large cities in the south of Sweden or abroad where their products were shown. Along-side the products some of the respondents themselves would be traveling where they werepresented with the opportunity to talk to people about S�ami culture and ways of life. Overall, thesemeanings relate to visibility at a larger scale; as one respondent declared, “all publicity is great; wecan take a larger place in society [than just as reindeer herders]”.

1476 T. C. LEU ET AL.

A livelihoods-based approach to Indigenous tourism development brings into focus the variousavailable capitals that allow the adoption of different strategies; at the same time, the successfuladoption of different strategies can relate back to, and reinforce, forms of capitals. A related meaningthat people attributed to working in tourism and with handicrafts is that it was a way for S�ami toexpress themselves and keep certain traditions alive. For example, one respondent whose productsoffered to guests include a variety of reindeer and traditional S�ami-related activities, has also experi-mented with milking the reindeer, a practice, the respondent explains, that has not been done formany decades in Sweden. While the choice to re-learn reindeer milking might not directly be linkedto the tourist company, it is part of an effort to try to develop the company in different directions tosee what works best. “[We did it] for our own knowledge first of all but on the other hand it’s alsovery important that you always develop things, you must have new products, you must have newthings to tell people”, the respondent explained. Keeping traditions alive was also done through thecollection, preservation or re-discovery of traditional patterns and motifs. One respondent, who hadthe most years’ experience in handicraft production out of all participants in this study, discussedowning a large pattern assortment, collected over decades, that s/he would like to eventually havepassed on to a museum. Through the tourist company, another respondent, together with the part-ner, discussed in detail and with pride their attempts to revitalize different patterns and traditions.For example, a story was told of finding a lost pattern in an old photograph and now using it in someof the products they make. In such ways, tourism as a livelihood strategy resulted in a positive feed-back, where existing cultural assets enabling tourism development to begin with, are being furtherreinforced and expanded through tourism development. As a result, the SL framework as illustratedin Figure 1, could potentially also be understood as a circular loop where successful livelihood out-comes also reinforce or become part of the generating context and resources.

As already mentioned, formal Swedish institutions and national politics failed to improve andextend the livelihoods in northern Sweden, hence the lack of employment opportunities. The SLframework highlights the importance of informal institutions. Analyzing such institutions “allows theidentification of restrictions/barriers and opportunities to sustainable livelihoods” (Scoones, 1998, p.12). Among Indigenous communities, informal institutions play an important role creating a morecomplex institutional setting that would not be present in the population at large (Dana, 2015). Noneof the respondents in this study mentioned any serious problems related to their relationship withthe local community since getting involved in tourism. However, the responses show that there is areaction by the local community to emerging entrepreneurs that is best characterized as cautious orskeptical. Many of the respondents talked about certain challenges they faced at the beginning ofstarting their tourism venture. When asked about potential problems experienced as a S�ami andworking in tourism one respondent stated: “At the beginning people didn’t really believe in it”;another said when he started “they [the family and community] thought I was a little crazy.” The resis-tance encountered by some as they started working in tourism could have many explanations. Eventhough certain aspects of S�ami tourism have a long history in northern Scandinavia (Whitford &Ruhanen, 2016), tourism is often watched with vigilance by many local S�ami (Viken, 2006). Onerespondent felt that the S�ami community in general is more collective in nature, a lot of decisions arenot made at the individual level but at a communal one. He stated: “it is a little uphill, as a S�ami onehas the S�ami community to which one has to keep, to his friends, to others or […] to neighbors”.Because of that, it is more difficult to try something new that has not been done before; a problemthat a non-S�ami Swede would not have, explained the respondent. He personally encountered someresistance from some individuals in the local S�ami community and was frustrated because it is notonly him that needs additional sources of income besides herding, they all do, yet nobody wants totry new things. Additionally, the same respondent in regards to temporary work in mining and sur-rounding industry said, “that is accepted, while I who is involved in tourism is not yet properlyaccepted”, even as those industries are perceived as enemies to herding, and therefore less sustain-able. Perceptions seem to change over time with tourism being seen in a more positive light as itdevelops (Revelin, 2013). This is reinforced by the results from this study where respondents have

JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM 1477

discussed experiencing a positive change over time as people get accustomed to tourism develop-ment and see its potential. The community is becoming more accepting:

“from the beginning […] we can feel that people are looking, the S�ami people are looking a little [careful],because there were not so many working with S�ami tourism; but today we have so much support from peoplearound, they say that [we] are doing a great job, and it’s so important because we say that the more peopleknow about us the stronger we will be”, stated another respondent.

Such informal institutions of the S�ami community in the north also means that change happens morein small increments than large leaps (Rønning, 2007) and the benefits must also apply to the entirecommunity not just to the individual (Palomino, 2012). The respondents tried hard to keep a rapportwith their fellow reindeer herders and to show that there is no disturbance to the reindeer or otherconflicts. As one respondent, who is a herder himself, stated, “when I started this company [morethan 10 years ago] there was of course opposition, there will be a lot of people running about themountains, and fish, etc.”; however, he explained as the years passed, people started to see that thereare rules the tourists have to follow while out and there is no disturbance to the animals, then “the[critics] were quiet”. Another respondent, who perhaps experienced the most opposition out of allinterviewees, expressed optimism stating that positive opinions on S�ami tourism are increasing. “It’son the way to change” he states, “but […] it requires strength to continue even though it is difficult,but I see a potential in tourism and at the same time to keep herding.” Overall, the respondents inthis study mentioned that keeping a good relationship with the local herder community and locals ingeneral was very important to them. This can also be interpreted as keeping a good rapport with thecommunity holding a main touristic asset, the reindeer (M€uller & Huuva, 2009) or a consequence ofthe informal institutions that characterize S�ami society (Rønning, 2007) or both.

Conclusions

The SL approach detailed in this study emphasizes a variety of outcomes. It specifically highlights thatthe effects of various livelihood strategies people in rural areas adopt should include aspects of well-being, power and exclusion besides the conventional material and economic aspects (Scoones,1998). According to the framework, besides increasing economic capital, tourist entrepreneurs mightseek to achieve various other forms of capital, namely social, human and natural capital. Guided bythe SL approach, the findings in this study sought to explore the meanings of tourism work amongS�ami tourist entrepreneurs. The results indicate that there are many goals and meanings tourismjobs have among S�ami Indigenous people in the Swedish north. Importantly, tourism can be a meansto achieve profoundly social, cultural and even political ends. The tourist business as simply a contin-uation of reindeer herding, a modern way of herding, grants significant cultural meanings to tourismwork given the high prestige of herding in S�ami culture. Furthermore, the use of reindeer for touristicpurposes ensures a certain sustainability of the product not found in direct meat production. Keepingcertain traditions alive, such as by using old patterns in handicrafts, meant a sense of pride and honorfor some respondents and showed how tourism can reinforce human and cultural capital, creating apositive feedback loop between the conditions that enable tourism as a livelihood strategy, the strat-egy itself, and the outcomes of such a strategy. Additionally, handicraft production is a long-standingS�ami trade, and a very important part of S�ami culture (SOU, 1975). The long historical reputation ofS�ami handcrafts means it is also likely that some of the respondents involved in it do not considerthemselves in the tourism trade even if they own a company that sells the majority of their productsto visitors coming from other localities for leisure purposes. Another conclusion that can be drawnfrom the results of this study relates to the possibility of tourist entrepreneurs as cultural ambassa-dors for S�ami issues. Through presenting information about S�ami people, by showing modernity andby making others aware of the many hardships reindeer herders face, S�ami tourist entrepreneursattribute to their work meanings that are deeply social. These findings illustrate how tourism is ableto benefit a community and not just individuals. In the SL framework, the livelihood outcomes

1478 T. C. LEU ET AL.

discussed link issues of employment and poverty with wider issues of well-being and capabilities(Scoones, 1998), at the same time the framework commonly accepts the individual and household asthe default beneficiary. That is not neccesarily always the case, by showing how livelihood strategiesadopted at an individual scale can have significant outcomes across larger scales, the findings in thisstudy broaden the scope in the negotiation and debate of livelihoods approaches. The findingsrelated to ambassadorship are also important for the S�ami community in general. Many challengesto S�ami tourism development come from within the S�ami community (M€uller & Hoppstadius, 2017;Zhang & M€uller, 2018). Potentially, a greater understanding that tourism, done responsible and underS�ami control, can make the S�ami more visible and lead to indigenous empowerment and inclusion,can also make involvement in tourism more acceptable from within the S�ami community as well.Hence, from a theoretical perspective, it can also be noted that livelihood outcomes reach beyondthe individual sphere and comprise the entire community, providing further proof for the culturalembeddedness of many Indigenous tourism enterprises.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the project From Reindeer Herder to Tourist Entrepreneur, funded by the Marianne and Mar-cus Wallenberg Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation under grant MMW 2012.0193.

Notes on contributors

Traian C. Leu is a PhD candidate at the Department of Geography and Economic History at Umea�University. His scien-

tific interests include tourism in the peripheries and Arctic Indigenous tourism.

Madeleine Eriksson is an associate professor at Umea�University. Her research deals with the unequal geographies of

labor migration, labor rights and postcolonial geographies.

Dieter K. M€uller is a professor in Social and Economic Geography at Umea�University. He has research interests with

respect to tourism and regional development, mobility, second homes, and tourism in northern peripheries and polarareas. Currently, he is chair of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on Tourism, Leisure and GlobalChange.

ORCID

Dieter K. M€uller http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2822-5503

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