Deep in the Arctic Circle, not far from the top of the globe, a new generation of indigenous Sami are learning to herd reindeer and fish for salmon.

Like Australia's Indigenous people, the Sami are the custodians of an ancient culture — and they have been subject to discriminatory policies and coordinated assimilation attempts.

Unlike in Australia, however, the Sami have been granted representative bodies in Nordic parliaments that entitle them to varying degrees of self-determination.

Such a voice was a key goal of the Uluru Statement of the Heart. The concept was rejected by Malcolm Turnbull and later by the Morrison Government — though a bipartisan committee has urged Parliament to reconsider.

Referendum Council co-chair Pat Anderson (pictured right) presents the Uluru Statement at the national convention in 2017. ( ABC News: Stephanie Zillman )

But what would that look like, and how would it work? The Sami parliaments of Norway, Sweden and Finland offer interesting examples — and, possibly, lessons for Australia's future.

From exclusion to activism

The Sami have been living on the northern fringes of Scandinavia for thousands of years.

In a 16th century treaty between Norway and Sweden, the Sami were recognised as a distinct people — but they were often assumed to be inferior.

During the 19th century Norwegian Sami were subject to an assimilatory regime intended to erase their culture.

Sami language was banned in schools, and the right to hold a fishing licence or own land was restricted to Norwegian speakers.

"It was the degradation and the shame that people were subjected to," says Eva Josefsen, a Norwegian academic of Sami heritage.

In 1970s a proposed hydro-electric dam on the Alta-Kautokeino River ushered in a period of mass protest which forced the Norwegian government to change its policies.

The planned development ran directly through the core Sami area of Alta, an important part of the reindeer herding industry.

It triggered a wave of protests from environmentalists and Sami alike.

The demonstrations reached their climax when a group of Sami women orchestrated a sit-down strike in the prime minister's office, while others went on a hunger strike in front of the Norwegian parliament.

Sami go on hunger strike in front of the Norwegian Parliament to protest the development of the Alta-Kautokeino river basin in 1981 ( NPK Archives )

"These protests confronted the picture that the Norwegian society had of itself as a country that was concerned about human rights," says Veli-Pekka Lehtola, professor of Sami cultural studies at the University of Oulu in Finland.

The movement forced the Norwegian government into a dialogue with Sami organisations, and the proposed dam was scaled down.

In 1987 came the Sami Act, which created a special elected body that would review "any matter that in the view of the parliament particularly affects the Sami people".

The first Sami Parliament in Norway was opened two years later by his Majesty King Olav V.

The right to decide

The aim of the Sami Parliament is to strengthen the political position of the Sami people, paving the way for them to develop their language, culture and society.

The plenary, the highest body in the Sami Parliament, has 39 representatives elected by direct vote from seven constituencies across Norway.

The representatives from the largest Sami party form a governing council and select a president.

Aili Keskitalo, President of the Sami, speaks at the Nordic Council Session in Copenhagen in 2006. ( Wikipedia Commons: Magnus Fröderberg )

Over the past 30 years the plenary has developed a strong dialogue with the Norwegian government.

"It doesn't just advise. It debates, it forwards claims and it demands answers from the Norwegian government," Ms Josefsen says.

"All in all, I think in these 30 years there have been huge developments of Sami rights, in terms of language, culture, land rights, industry."

Finland and Sweden

While the Norwegian Sami Parliament is the most prominent in Scandinavia, it was not the first.

The Sami political movement was born in Finland after World War Two.

The Sami Parliaments in Sweden and Finland do not have the same power foundation as they do in Norway. ( SaamiResources.org )

In the '70s the Finnish Sami Parliament became one of the first of its kind in the world.

The 21-member board served as an elected body for Sami decision making.

However, unlike their Norwegian counterparts, the Finnish Sami were not granted political independence.

The Sami Parliament has instead functioned as an agency of the national parliament.

"It could only make papers, it has no real control of Sami policy areas," Professor Lehtola says.

The Swedish Sami Parliament, formed in 1993, has suffered from a similar lack of political autonomy.

"In Finland and Sweden, the Sami Parliament there doesn't have the same power foundation as we have in Norway," Ms Josefsen says.

"They don't have that autonomy and can't necessarily be labelled as a political Sami self-determining body."

Australia and the future

While the established Sami parliamentary 'voices' of Scandinavia offer a representative passage denied to Indigenous people in Australia, in practice, the Sami still have much to fight for.

Consultation with Sami leaders is often legally required for development and environmental projects that impact Sami livelihood, but these obligations are not always honoured.

Last year, a Sami artist from Norway drew attention to country's reindeer culling program by hanging a curtain made of 400 bullet-riddled reindeer skulls outside the nation's parliament.

An art installation by Norwegian-Sami artist Maret Anne Sara made of 400 reindeer scalps hanging in front of the Parliament building in Oslo ( Getty Images: Gorm Kallestad )

Ms Josefsen's advice to Indigenous Australians who are seeking a voice in Parliament centres around the importance of having the rights of the indigenous parliament stipulated in legislation.

"If there's one thing that's important, it's having a legal foundation," she says.

"The Sami Parliament here in Norway has prioritised getting Sami rights into legislation.

"That serves as a much more concrete foundation than any government decision."