destroyed. After the Second World War, the process of Russification was accelerated and was promoted by reorganizations of economic and change to the traditional ways of life for the Saami.
Finland opened their borders and encouraged the Kola Saami to relocate to their country to enlarge own Saami community after World War Two. Many Saami, remembering collectivization and the repressions of 1937 to 1939 and World War Two took the chance and decided to move out, leaving behind relatives and the land of their ancestors.
In 1970, the traditional nomadic way of Saami life had come to the end because of destruction of their inhabiting territory. Saami had lost thirty-two settlements in which they were an ethnic majority.
Government used orders to relocate most of Saami families into the Lovozero area. Officials promised to them jobs, housing, and service – everything to convince them to move. However, more than one hundred reindeer breeders lost their jobs by moving into Lovozero village, and housing is still a problem.
Now, sixty percent of the Saami population living here suffers from unemployment. Resettlement has been associated with needs of the state industry, mines, building of military facilities, and transformations of collective farms to state farms.
Rachel Madorsky, an internationally published award-winning author of several books.
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