The Indigenous Sámi Parliament in Norway

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Sametinget

On this tour we will tell you a little about the background of the Sami Parliament in Norway. The history and culture of the Sami go back several hundred years, and the Sami Parliament is today the result of a long struggle for Sami rights. The Sami Parliament building is a symbol of this struggle, and is a recognition that the nation state of Norway is established in the territory of two peoples: Norwegians and Sami. Download and start the route. When you move inside the red circles, the content is plays automatically.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

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Points of interest

#1

From the Alta Conflict to the Sami Parliament

The Alta conflict was an intense political dispute in the 1970s and 80s. It marked an important transition in Sami politics in Norway. The Norwegian government first presented plans to dam the Alta-Kautokeino waterway to build a hydropower plant in 1968. The development would have negative consequences for, among others, Sami cultural monuments, residential areas, and the reindeer husbandry industry. What’s more, the proposal included flooding the Sami village of Máze. Máze was excluded from the plans and permanently protected in 1973. For many, the project became a symbol of Norwegian colonization of Sami lands, which led to major protests and various actions by Sami and environmental politicians, including civil disobedience at the construction site and hunger strikes outside the Norwegian Parliament, or “Storting.” Sámi peoples’ struggle for their rights received attention in the Norwegian and international media, and took place at the same time as an internationally growing indigenous movement. Opposition to the development grew into a nationwide action where Sami and Norwegians stood together against the Norwegian authorities. Many people still remember the TV coverage from when 600 police officers closed in on around 1000 activists who had chained themselves to constructed ice barriers in the Stilla construction area in January 1981. This has been called the Norwegian police's largest action in peacetime. Construction work was later resumed and the Alta dam was opened in 1987. Although the Sami lost the dispute over development, the conflict led to a total reform of Norwegian Sami policy. Due to the massive protests, the authorities set up two committees to investigate Sami rights and cultural issues: the Sami Law Committee and the Sami Culture Committee. The Sami Law Committee's recommendations laid the foundation for the Storting's decision in 1987 to establish separate Sami law and thus the Sámediggi, the Sami Parliament. In 1988, a new provision was made in the Norwegian Constitution, Section 108, which establishes a principled equality between Norwegians and Sami. It says, "It is the responsibility of the state authorities to create the conditions for the Sami people to secure and develop their language, culture and social life.” Do you want to know more? Listen to NRK's Norwegian-language podcast series "The whole story" about the Alta conflict in the link below:

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#2

Why the Norwegian kings open the Sami Parliament

The very first Sami Parliament was opened on October 9th 1989 in Karasjok by His Majesty King Olav the fifth. It was 11 years before the Sami Parliament building you see in front of you was completed. A memorial plaque of tanned reindeer skin with King Olav's signature hangs in the Sámi Parliament library. In 2020, the memorial plaque was formally accepted as part of Norway's documentary heritage, as it is an artifact of a historical event and recognition of the Sami political status in Norway. The memorial plaque demonstrates traditional Sami material use and design where sustainability is central. It reminds us that the Sami are an indigenous people with their own values and traditions. The name feature is embroidered with pewter thread by Sámi expert craftsperson, or duojár, Martha Jåma. The wooden frame is made by the Sami duojár Jon Ole Andersen. It has become a tradition for the King of Norway to open the Sami Parliament after each election, and this is broadcast live on NRK. His Majesty King Harald the fifth said during the 1997 opening of the Sami Parliament that, «The Norwegian state is founded on the territory of two peoples - Norwegians and Sami. Sami history is closely intertwined with Norwegian history. Today we must apologize for the injustice the Norwegian state has previously inflicted on the Sami people through a harsh Norwegianisation policy. "

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#3

Sámi Indigeneity

Did you know that the Sami are considered the only indigenous people in Europe? The Sami settlement area, which we call Sápmi, extends over large distances and into four countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia. The Sámi call themselves a borderless people, with strong family and friendship ties regardless of the nation states in which they live. After all, the Sami people lived in these areas long before the borders were established. The traditional Sami industries are reindeer husbandry, small farms and fishing, as well as the outfield industry [non-agricultural land management]. There are still many who work in the traditional industries, but today the majority of Sami in Norway have completely ordinary occupations and live in ordinary houses just like Norwegians. Sami are modern people just like you. One misunderstanding that crops up in debates about Sami rights in Norway is that the term “indigenous” means that the people in question must have been the first people to reside in the place. Another is that that people must live without modern technology, "as in the old days". These are both incorrect. According to ILO Convention No. 169, which Norway ratified in 1990, indigeneity relates to whether the group has a connection to a specific area from before the current state borders were established. In recent decades, the rights of indigenous peoples have been increasingly recognized both internationally and in Norway, and there have been a number of legal provisions and international conventions important to Sami rights. Legal provisions ensuring that the Sami language, culture and social life are protected can be found in the Sami Act, the Human Rights Act, the Education Act and the Reindeer Husbandry Act. The term “indigenous” defines about 370 million people around the globe. A common feature in the history of many indigenous peoples is that their culture has been suppressed by central authorities, and that they have experienced long-term assimilation policies. This is true for the Sami in Norway.

Audio guides available in:

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Fornorskningspolitikk – samer skulle bli nordmenn

#4

Norwegianisation: the idea that Sami should become Norwegian

You may have heard of the Norwegianisation policy, but did you know that it lasted for more than 100 years? From around 1850 to the end of the 20th century, the Norwegian authorities pursued a policy towards the Sami, Kvens and Norwegian Finns that had serious negative consequences for their cultures, languages, identities, and living conditions. The Norwegianisation policy was based on the view that "the only salvation for the Lapps is to be absorbed by the Norwegian nation" . That the solution to their hardships was for Sámi people to forget their identity and become Norwegian. In the 19th century, the Sami were defined as a foreign people, often characterized as uncivilized, wild nomads. Racist attitudes and notions of racial hierarchy helped to shape the policies the authorities implemented. For example, the Sámi language was not allowed in schools from the second half of the 19th century, until the 1960s. King Olav, King Harald and former Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik have all officially apologized for the abuses the Sami people were subjected to during the Norwegianisation period. A number of legal and practical measures have been implemented over the last three decades to remedy the policy and its consequences. Language loss is one of the most concrete and devastating results of the Norwegianisation policy. A large part of the Sami population lost their original language due to not being able to speak or hear it at schools, where children resided without their parents. A large proportion of the Sami population does not speak Sami today due to Norwegianisation. This policy also impacted Sámi students’ academic potential, as many Sami children went to school for years without understanding their teachers. For many at that time, being Sami was associated with shame, and so they left their Sami identity. Today, many find their way back to their Sami roots, and more learn the language they were not allowed to grow up with. In June 2018, the Storting decided to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate the Norwegianisation policy and the injustices that were committed. Among other things, the Commission studies the long-term effects of Norwegianisation policy, and presents measures to promote greater equality between minorities and majorities in the population.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#5

The role of the Sami Parliament

The Sami Parliament (Sámediggi) is the Sami people's elected parliament in Norway, an independent elected body that identifies and develops its own policies and priorities. The Sami Parliament strengthens the Sami political position, promotes Sami interests in Norway, and contributes to an equal and fair treatment of the Sami people. The Sami Parliament is governed under the parliamentary principle, where the sitting Sami Parliament bases its activities on trust in plenary. The Sami Parliament in plenary is the Sami Parliament's highest body and authority. The Sami Parliament's plenary session determines the Parliament's rules of procedure, with rules and guidelines for all other activities under the auspices of the Sami Parliament. There are usually four committee and plenary meetings a year at the Sami Parliament in Karasjok, and all meetings are open to the public. The plenary meetings are also streamed online. The President of the Sámediggi is elected by the plenum, and he or she appoints his or her council members. The Sámediggi Council functions as the Sámediggi's «government», which governs as long as it has the confidence of the majority of the Sámediggi plenary. The Sami Parliament is also an administrative body, allocating funds for various Sami businesses, cultural, and linguistic purposes according to its own priorities. The Norwegian government allocates funds annually for Sami causes in the state budget, and the Storting receives the Sami Parliament's annual report. The main administration for the Sami Parliament is located in Karasjok, but also has offices in Kautokeino, Nesseby, Kåfjord, Tromsø, Skånland, Tysfjord, Hattfjelldal and Snåsa. There are approximately 150 employees in the administration. The Sami Parliament is the Sami people's voice nationally and internationally, and participates in the UN Permanent Indigenous Forum in New York. The Sami Parliament is also a close partner of the other two Sami parliaments in Finland and Sweden, as well as other Sami organizations in Russia through the Sami Parliamentary Co-operation Council (SPR). The Sami Parliament also takes part in various working groups in the Barents area and the Arctic. As indigenous peoples in Norway, the Sami have the right to be consulted in matters concerning them. In June 2021, the duty to consult was enacted, which means that the Norwegian authorities are obliged to include Sami people early in decision-making processes. This obligation applies to the state, county, and municipalities. Read more about the consultation obligation in the link below:

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#6

Sami language

The most used Sami languages in Norway today are North Sami, Lule Sami and South Sami. All these languages are used in the Sami Parliament, both by the politicians in the rostrum, and also among employees in the administration. Sami language background is also an important criterion for being able to register in the Sami Parliament's electoral roll, which gives access to participation in the Sami Parliamentary elections. Pite Sámi and East Sámi are currently in a revitalization phase in Norway. In an international context, all Sami languages are characterized as endangered, severely endangered or almost extinct. There are still challenges associated with preserving and developing Sami as a living language in the future. Sami languages are protected by, among other things, ILO Convention 169, Norway's Constitution, the Place Names Act, the Sami Act's language rule in Norway and through the Education Act. The right to be able to use the Sami language in encounters with the public sector, and the right to education in Sami are among the most important rights for the Sami as a people. Sami students have the right to education in Sami no matter where they live in the country. It is the school who has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the pupils' rights to Sami education are fulfilled. No one knows how many Sami people are in Norway, and there are no statistics on how many are fluent in the Sami languages. It is possible to register one's own or one’s children's Sami competence in the National Population Register. This is voluntary, and the purpose is to compile statistics on users of Sami languages.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#7

The Sami Parliamentary election

Elections for the Sami Parliament are held on the same day as the Norwegian Parliamentary elections. A total of 39 Sami Parliamentary representatives are elected from seven constituencies that cover the entire country. Everyone who is registered in the Sámediggi's electoral roll can vote or be nominated for Sámediggi elections. Anyone who perceives themselves as Sami and who either has Sami as their home language, or who has a parent, grandparent and great-grandparent with Sami as their mother tongue, can register in the electoral roll. Admittance to the electoral role is thus based on both objective and subjective criterion. Both must be met, where the former is measurable and verifiable, while the latter is based on emotion and personal perception. There is no one but you who can decide if you perceive yourself as Sami. Due to the state Norwegianisation policy of more than 100 years, there are many Sami today who do not know the language and many Sami who do not feel Sami either. It is therefore important to have a personal connection to Sámi people when registering in the Sámi Parliament's electoral roll. The electoral roll is often called the "Sami census", but this is not a correct term. No one knows exactly how many Sami there are in Norway because the country does not make registers of ethnicity. The Sami Parliament's electoral roll only says how many Sami people have registered to be able to take part in the Sami Parliamentary elections in Norway.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#8

Yoik in the Sami Parliament

Did you know that the Sami Parliament has its own yoik? When the Sami Parliament convenes for a plenary meeting, the Sami Parliament representatives are called in with the Sami Parliament's yoik. Ánte Mihkkal Gaup made this yoik for the Sami Parliament's very first opening in 1989. The yoik addresses the important and honorable role that the elected politicians will play in their duties. In its lyrics, this yoik includes a statement in Northern Sámi that "now you will find your way in both darkness and storm, follow the paths trodden by our ancestors, and in step with nature set out new paths for us". Can you hear any of that here? YOIK AUDIOTRACK (0:54 sec) - BREAK IN READING Yoik is a traditional Sami form of music and is considered one of the oldest vocal traditions in Europe. Instead of saying that you yoik about someone or something, we say that we yoik an object, such as a person, an animal or a landscape. You have just heard Ánte Mihkkal Gaup yoik the Sami Parliament.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#9

The Sami Parliament building

The Sami Parliament building in Karasjok was officially opened on November 2nd 2000 by His Majesty King Harald V. The architects Stein Halvorsen and Christian Sundby won the international architectural competition for the Sami Parliament in 1996, and it was completed in the autumn of 2001. The architects have won the Building Practice Prize and other architectural prizes for this work. The Sami Parliament is a complex building, implemented with strong architectural techniques, materials in pine, slate and glass, and incorporating a lot of light and air. The plenary hall, which is located under the graying cone shape, is the most visual and striking feature of the building, and is clearly visible in the town of Karasjok. The Sami Parliament building holds the library, reception, meeting rooms and offices, and forms a semicircle on two floors. At the end of the semicircle is the Sami Parliament's plenary hall, a low-lying amphitheater for meetings of the Samis’ elected assembly. The main building has a gross area of 5300 square meters and cost approximately 130 million kroner to build. An additional office and administration building was opened in November 2015, and is connected to the parliament building by means of a glass walkway. Stein Halvorsen was also the architect for this building.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#10

The Sami Parliament in the natural landscape

The Sami Parliament building resides in a landscape consisting of pine trees and natural vegetation, and the building naturally embraces this fauna. Elements such as concrete and untreated Siberian larch allow the building to blend in with the surrounding nature. The idea behind choosing these materials is that the building should age and take on character naturally, and that the aging process should give it a natural gray color. Local materials were prioritized in its construction, and all decorative stones used in the building are from Finnmark. Many who visit the Sami Parliament are surprised by the absence of a planted garden with roses and other colorful shrubs, which are usually found outside monumental buildings. Outside the Sami Parliament, there is no such garden, but a natural heather field, and the plateau landscape creeps right up to the building's wall. The building’s embrace of the local fauna and nature becomes part of the architecture. On the other side of the river is Finnmark's oldest wooden church, built in 1807. It is one of the few wooden buildings that remained after large parts of Finnmark were burned by retreating Nazi troops in World War II.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#11

The Plenary Hall - «The Sami Parliament's most sacred space«

The Sami Parliament's plenary hall is a beautiful, solemn and powerful room. In this room, Sami political decisions are made. The chairs on which the Sami parliament representatives sit are made of tanned reindeer skin, a well-known material that is widely used in “duodji,” the Northern Sámi term for Sami handicraft. The plenary hall is cone-shaped and high-ceilinged. The outer wall is tight and light is let in from the top of the cone shape in openings in the construction. The base is shaped like a circle, like the floor of a traditional Sámi lavvo. This is the distinctive part of the main building. The multi-disciplinary artist Hilde Skance Pedersen from Hammerfest has created the artwork that dominates the main wall. The artwork, called Luottat or “Tracks” in English, is made of etched zinc with gold leaf, hammered metal and oil paint. The artist has etched archeological traces from Sami living and burial sites on metal plates. The lectern is made of the unique rock Masi quartzite, Náránášgeađgi, which is found only in Maze, an area near Kautokeino. The emerald green color is due to the fact that the stone contains a lot of a rare mica mineral called fuchsite. Together with white quartz and feldspar, a beautiful wavy pattern is formed on the lectern.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#12

Art in the Sami Parliament

The Sami Parliament owns a number of different artworks, by both Sami and non-Sami artists. The artworks span all types of techniques, including traditional Sami duodji, sculptures and modern photography. The art in the Sami Parliament buildings addresses the Sami way of life and culture. The works have been acquired through gifts, purchases, and the Sami Parliament's art acquisition scheme. The Sami Parliament's procurement scheme for art aims to preserve public works of special artistic interest in Sami contemporary art and crafts, in addition to important reference works. Through the procurement scheme, the Sami Parliament has contributed to a collection of well over a thousand works, which is managed by RiddoDuottarMuseat and Samisk Kunstmagasin. Purchased works help to expand a Sami art collection and are hoped to be placed in a future Sami art museum. KORO (Art in public spaces) has worked with the Sami Parliament in decorating the Sami Parliament buildings. The walls in the passage leading to the plenary hall, are, among other things, decorated with Sami sayings in tin. The artist Kristin Ytreberg has used two elements from Sami culture, tin embroidery and proverbs. The proverbs were collected by the linguist Just Quigstad from Lyngen in the 19th century. One of the sayings says "riggás leat guokte bađa", which translated into Norwegian means that the rich have two back ends. Another says "Stuorra sátni saji ohcá" which means "Big or strong words seek space".

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#13

The Sami National Day

February 6 is the Sami National Day, a day that is common to all Sami in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia. It was celebrated for the first time in 1993, and over the years its importance has increased. The Sami National Day is not an official holiday like the Norwegian National Day. It is nevertheless common for kindergartens, schools and other institutions to mark the day, often with Sami food and Sami cultural experiences. February 6 was adopted as the Sami National Day by the Sami Conference in 1992. The day is comemorates the first Sami national meeting held in the Methodist Church in Trondheim in 1917. This was the first time that the Sami people gathered to work on common Sami issues across state borders. Some also call the national day "Sami people's day". This concept has come about partly as a result of poor translation, and partly because the concept of a "national day" is perceived by some as controversial. However, the Sami Conference assumed that the Sami are one people - ie a nation, and that the use of the concept of nation thus does not presuppose a separate state. Both the Sami Council and the three Sami parliaments officially use the term «national day». See more about the Sami National Day in our animated film by clicking the link below:

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Elsa Laula Renberg – kvinnen som samlet samene

#14

Elsa Laula Renberg - the woman who gathered the Sami people

The woman who braved public disapproval to gather the Sami for the very first Sami national meeting was named Elsa Laula Renberg. This was the meeting in which the Sami political struggle was awakened and so she is considered an important advancer of Sami rights. Elsa Laula Renberg was born in 1877, and she grew up in the small village of Kanaaen in Västerbotten. Renberg founded the world's first Sami association in Sweden in 1904, and three years later she gathered the Sami for the historic first cross-border Sami meeting on 6 February 1917. The meeting was held in the Methodist church in Tråante, Trondheim, and the delegates discussed, among other things, organization, reindeer herding rights and schooling for Sami children. Renberg demanded equal rights for the Sami and an end to discrimination. These were, in fact, radical ideas at the time. In 2017, the Sami Council decided that Renberg's birthday of November 29th should be an official Sami flag day.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#15

The Sami flag

The Sami flag is raised here on several official occasions. February 6 became the official flag day in Norway in 2003, and the Norwegian flag is flown alongside the Sami flag on this day. The Sami flag has official status, but it is not a national flag that under international or constitutional law represents the Kingdom of Norway. The Sami flag is an important symbol in the celebration of the national day on February 6th. The flag is common to all Sami, regardless of which country they live in, and was approved on August 16th 1986 by the 13th Nordic Sami Conference in Åre, Sweden. The flag was designed by the Sami artist Astrid Båhl from Skibotn in Troms. The main motif is taken from markings on traditional Sámi drums and from the poem "Paiven parneh" ("Beaivvi bártnit” in Northern Sámi) by the southern Sami Anders Fjellner. In this poem, Fjellner portrays the Sami as the sons of the sun. The circle in the flag symbolizes the sun and the moon. The colors used in the flag are also commonly used in Sámi traditional dress, called gákti.

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

#16

The Sami national anthem

Far up North 'neath the chariot constellation, Gently rises Saamiland. Mountain upon mountain. Lake upon lake. Peaks, ridges and plateaus Rising up to the skies. Gurgling rivers, sighing forests. Iron capes pointing sharp Out towards the stormy sea. This is the first stanza of the Sami national anthem, «Sámi soga lávlla”. The song is a poem by Isak Saba written in 1906. Isak Saba was a Sami political activist, and was the first Sami to be elected to the Storting, where he held office from 1906 to 1909. At the 1986 Sami conference in Åre, the text was adopted as the Sami national anthem. The poem was set to music by Arne Sørli, and the melody was approved at the 15th Sami Conference in Helsinki in 1992. The text has been translated from Northern Sami into the other Sami languages. The Sami people's song is used today as the national Sámi anthem in all countries, and is sung in celebration of the Sami National Day. Each plenary session of the Sami Parliament also begins with the Sami Parliament representatives singing the national anthem. Listen to the Sami national anthem and read the lyrics in the links below:

Audio guides available in:

Norsk bokmål, English (British)

The Indigenous Sámi Parliament in Norway

Points of interest

#1

From the Alta Conflict to the Sami Parliament

#2

Why the Norwegian kings open the Sami Parliament