Since the other half of 20th century, Sami peoples are organised in a local authority called Sami Parliament .

History

The Sami peoples had the following hierarchical organisation structure about 17th century. Siita or Kiile, Særvve and Riikka. Masters was termed Ised, and each Siite had its own chief termed Siite-ised or Siite-olmai. He was chosen on larger trading days during the winter period, thus not only by the local inhabitant but also foreign traders had influence in the election. Særvve is a collection of Siitas and corresponds to (Finnish) seurakunta. Riikka or Riikkagodde corresponds to (Finnish) kihlakunta and was larger than Særvve. As Siites had their Siite-ised, so did Særvve had their Særvve-olmai and Riikka had their Raadeädje.

Source: "Anteckningar under min vistelse i Lappmarken Del I-IV", Jacob Fellman (1795--1873)