Since 1993, the Sámi have been the only recognized Indigenous people within the European Union. However, their official engagement with European politics has been limited. This has recently begun to change as the EU’s ongoing Arctic pivot has made Sámi political actors more prominent in Brussels. Using the English School approach, this case study traces the evolution of Sámi–EU relations from the early 1990s to the present to explore and analyse the mechanisms of engagement that Indigenous political actors utilised to gain access to high-level decision-making and what the EU itself should hope to gain through stronger ties with this Indigenous people. The analysis of these events reveals a clear and growing political relationship between the Sámi and the EU. However, shifting political conditions and the absence of a formal European-level framework for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, which currently exists for external partners, constrain the potential for more stable and equitable relations. Moreover, with the state of Arctic politics being in flux, this lack of policy coherence in regard to an internal Indigenous people could undermine the EU’s claims of legitimacy within the region.