Lapp Codicil of 1751

Lapp Codicil of 1751 is an addendum to the Strömstad Treaty of 1751 that defined the Norwegian-Swedish border.

[1][2] This special codicil formalised the rights of the Lapps or Sámi people to continue with their traditional migratory reindeer herding across the newly formalised border between the then Danish territory of Norway and Sweden.

[3] When Finland was ceded from Sweden to Russia, the Lapp Codicil lost its formal value along the Finland–Norway border, and in 1852, the border of Norway–Finland/Russia was closed, causing trouble for the Sami, who needed the Finnish forests for reindeer winter grazing.

Norwegian farmers disliked the reindeer, and since most Sami south of the Norway–Finland–Sweden tripoint were Swedish, the Norwegian government tried to limit these reindeer.

The codicil has been considered to guarantee Sami rights in traditional Sami areas and is still considered of importance in the debate about these rights.