New York Times, When the Tax Agency Won’t Let You Deduct Your Reindeer-Herding Dog:

Svonni v. the Swedish Tax Agency (5:15 video)

Indigenous Sami tradition v. Swedish bureaucracy — who wins this dogfight?

I learned about Ida-Maria Svonni’s struggle against Sweden’s tax agency while researching a film about my late grandmother. Like my grandmother, Ms. Svonni is Sami, an Indigenous people who reside in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia.

Reindeer herding has always been central to Sami culture, but the practice has grown increasingly challenging in Sweden. For decades, the Sami way of life has faced discrimination and intolerance from the Swedish government. Herders today also deal with land exploitation, the rapid expansion of the mining industry and climate change.

(Hat Tip: Michael Talbert)