At a glance:
- No national laws or policies on repatriation
- National collections are viewed as property of the state. Permission from the government must be sought to repatriate
- There have been a couple of returns in recent years, but there is no established way to approach repatriation at the moment
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Overview
There is no formal policy or law on repatriation in Finland. In a repatriation case from 2020, which involved returning ancestors to Tribal Nations in Mesa Verde, the then US Ambassador to Finland, Robert Pence and the US Embassy had to step in to support the return. This suggests that some national government support is likely helpful when making a claim from Finland.
Finland was never a colonial power overseas, but some Finns have struggled to accept the country’s own colonisation of the Indigenous Sami people that live in the north of the country.
Collections held in national collections are considered property of the state. As a result, permission must be sought from the government to repatriate.
Previous Returns
As there is no national policy or law, included below are examples of previous returns that have occurred from Finland.
In 2018, the US Department of State sponsored an International Visitors Leadership Programme ‘to build relationships between Native American Tribes and European Museums’. As part of this programme, Heli Lahdentausta, from the National Museum of Finland, met with representatives from the Hopi Tribe and other cultural institutions in New Mexico.
Following contacts with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, the National Museum of Finland conducted a re-inventory of their collection in 2018. This inventory determined that the collections contained 20 ancestors and 28 funerary items. Finland then notified the US Embassy in Helsinki that it would consider an official request for their repatriation. The Mesa Verde Native American Tribal Consultation Committee determined by consensus that the Hopi, Acoma, Zia and Zuni tribes should take the lead to see the ancestors returned home.
It’s important to note that not all of tribes felt included in this decision and return.
2021 – National Museum of Finland return of more than 2000 artefacts to the Sami in Lapland
In 2021, the National Museum of Finland repatriated its entire Sami collection of more than 2000 belongings in total to the Sami Museum Siida in Inari, Sápmi.
The two museums also worked together with members of the Sami Nation to create an exhibition, Mäccmõš, maccâm, máhccan – The Homecoming.
Elina Anttila, the Director General of the National Museum of Finland said ‘Repatriation is currently a hot topic in the museum sector around the world and challenges us to rethink the role of museums and the power that they wield. While the focus has shifted to cultural diversity, people’s and population groups’ ability to determine their own cultural heritage and decide on its use has become increasingly important.’
Where to find collections
National Museum of Finland
There are over 40,000 items in the museum’s ethnographic collection, but they are not searchable. There is, however, the name of a Curator and how to contact them at the bottom of this webpage. It could be worth getting in touch with them to try to find out whether they are holding any ancestors or belongings. The museum doesn’t currently have a Repatriation Policy or a formal procedure for making a claim.
If you are from a Finnish museum, and you are open to inventory requests or repatriation claims, please contact me so that I can update this page.
Routes to Return 