Saami Norway

Since the XIII century , the ownership of the territories in which the Sami live, as well as issues of taxation of the local population have been the subject of disputes between Norway , Russia (first - Novgorod land ) and Sweden (which included Finland until 1809) ^[1] .

The border agreement of 1826 made South Varanger - the area where the Sami population lived - a Norwegian territory, in connection with which the community of Nyavdaman and Pazretsk Saami was cut in half by a new border. At the same time, the area of ​​the Nyavdema Sami was divided across, so that the spring and summer settlements on the coast moved to Norway, and located in the depths of the mainland autumn and winter - to the Russian Empire . The territory of the Paszrek Sami, on the contrary, was divided longitudinally along the Pasvik River (Pasvikelv) , but in this case, the coast turned out to be in Norway.

Neyavdema Sami became Norwegian subjects, and Pazretsk became Russian. In the continuation of the transition period, the entire population of the divided regions retained the old rights, in connection with which the Nyavda Sami retained the Orthodox religion in the territory of Norway's dominant Lutheranism .

The demarcation of the border has affected the Nyavdema Saami in many ways. The Norwegian government ensured that a settled Norwegian-speaking population settled in the new province, in connection with which the Norwegian population began to oust the Saami from their ancestral lands. In addition, the Saami reindeer herders began to come from the west, occupying pastures in the south of Sør-Varanger and gradually displacing the Skolt Sámi from these lands (from the 2000s, the Nyavda Sami have been requesting their right to pasture in their original territory).

The fate of the Pazretsk Sami was even more dramatic. Conflicts especially arose over salmon fishing in the fjords , where Norwegian fishermen occupied the traditional places of fishing for Pazretsk Saami. In addition, at a time when Finland forced the Soviet Union to cede its land corridor along the Norwegian border, to the freezing harbor of the Petsamo region at the mouth of the Pechenga river , the Norwegian government in 1924 ensured that Finland signed an agreement, in which the Saami lost the right to fish in the fjords in exchange for compensation in the amount of 12 thousand gold crowns. The percentages (about 900 CZK) were to be distributed among the Sami. For each of the approximately 140 Pazrek Sami, there were 6 kroons a year. During the period of hostilities between Finland and the USSR ( 1939-1940 and 1941-1944 ), the Saami finally left this region, and after the war ended, Finland provided a new region for settling the Saami in the area of ​​Lake Inari .

After the end of World War II, the Saami communities in Norway and the USSR were completely isolated from each other by state borders, with the exception of two curious cases: in 1960 the chairman of the Norwegian Saami reindeer herders was a communist who, in cooperation with the authorities of the USSR, agreed to travel seven Norwegian Saami to share the experience of breeding deer in the area of Lovozero , where in the wake of collectivization moved most of the Kola Saami. Several Saami were also part of the Norwegian delegation at the “Days of Peace and Friendship of the Northern Calotte” in Murmansk in 1977 ^[3] .

In 1997, King Harald V of Norway formally apologized to the Sami for their discrimination ^[4] .

From the middle of the XIX century, the policy of the Norwegian state in relation to the Sami population changed, depending primarily on two factors: national interests and, especially in the second half of the XX century , global trends. It should be borne in mind that the rights that formally had the Sami population of Norway were very different from the rights that they could actually use in a certain historical period, while the government in Norway hardly took these differences into account. The Norwegian state proceeded in this matter from the principle that real equality automatically follows from the formal equality of the country's citizens before the law , disregarding the fact that in a society divided into a majority and a minority, rights and duties are far from evenly distributed among the population ^{[5 ]} .

Norwegian researcher Eystein Steinlien ( Norwegian Øystein Steinlien ) notes that the formal equality enjoyed by the Sami people in Norway is very different from what can be called genuine equality. Moreover, according to Steinllen, the Sami population of Norway, in principle, cannot achieve true equality in the current legal situation in Norway, that is, without real political and territorial rights ^[6] .

Bodies and institutions

In 1989, the Sami Parliament, Sametinget , was founded in Norway and is the largest elected Sami body responsible for matters related to the Sami, their language and culture. Parliament is elected on the basis of voter lists, the number of which was over 10 thousand (2006). Most political parties in Norway participate in elections to the Sami Parliament ^[7] . Parliament annually receives financial support from the Storting ^[8] . The funds go to the support and development of traditional Sami culture. Sametinget is actively involved in cooperation in the Barents region and the activities of the Arctic Council , as well as in UN activities related to the rights of indigenous peoples.

In 2000, the was established in Karasjok , in which three Sami parliaments participate - Sweden , Norway and Finland . The main direction of work is the elaboration of the Northern Sami Convention. The Norwegian Sametinget is also actively involved in complying with - the Law on the legal framework for the use of land and natural resources in Finnmark (adopted in 2005).

In 1948, the (NRL) was created. Its main task is to resolve issues related to the professional activities of reindeer herders , and the development of the reindeer industry in the light of modern technology.

Since 1968, there is the Norwegian Sami Association (NSR) whose main task is to rally all Sami groups, improve the cultural, economic and social conditions of the Sami population. The association is actively fighting for the political rights of the Sami.

Founded in 1988, is a Saami women’s organization. With her participation in 1989, the World Council of Indigenous Women was created. The purpose of the organization is to emphasize that in traditional culture the roles and tasks of women and men are fundamentally different, and in the process of modernization there is a risk of loss of customs and norms that go back to traditions. Since 1996, there is also the Sami Women's Forum (Samisk kvinneforum) as an extensive network of projects related to the Sami women’s population.

In 1990, the Sámi Sports Union (Sámiid valáštallanlihttu) was founded, organizing competitions in both summer and winter sports. Since 2003, there is the Sami Football Union (Sámi spábbačiekčanlihttu).

The international body that unites Saami organizations from different countries is Samerådet ^[9] , located in Utsjoki , Finland. The Sami congress (Samekonferansen) is held every three years. Samerådet has official status in the UN system and is actively involved in the work of the commission on the rights of indigenous peoples.

As a result of the development of the mining industry and the growth of the industrial city of Kirkenes , the Saami have become a minority in South Varanger . Mixed marriages, combined with discrimination against the Sami and their culture, have led many Saami to lose their ethnic identity. The Skolt Saami language was on the verge of extinction.

Currently, a number of enthusiasts are working to revive the culture and identity of the Saami-Schelts in Norway.

Literature

In 1912, the first novel in the Sami language of the Norwegian writer Anders Larsen, Bæivve-Alggo (Breaking Dawn), was released, but until 1970 the number of literature published in Sami languages ​​was minimal.

Thanks to the establishment of its own Sami publishing houses and the support of the Northern Council for Culture, the volume of published literature has increased significantly in recent years. The largest of the Norwegian publishing houses that specialize in publishing fiction and textbooks in Sami languages is the publishing house Davvi Girji located in Karasjok . On average, from 10 to 20 books in Sami languages ​​are published in Norway per year.

Of the modern Sami authors, the most famous are the poet Rauni Magga Lukkari and lives in Tromsø.

Music, theater

The traditional Sami yoik singing is represented by the works of the famous historian and performer of the yoyk . Joik also became a source of inspiration for modern musicians - Marie Boyne and . In 1980, the Norwegian performers Sverre Hjelsberg and reached the final of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “ ”, which featured elements of yoika and which became one of the most popular children's songs in Norway.

Sami musical life is represented by a number of festivals, the most famous of which is “Riddu Riđđu” , which takes place in Mandalen and unites the musical culture of various indigenous peoples. The kyutukein Easter Festival brings together mainly Sami artists.

In 1979, the Sami theater group Beaivváš was founded, the activity of which formed the basis for the professional theater , which was created later in Keutukein .

Media and Television

From 1873 to 1875, the first Sami language educational newspaper “ ”, founded by , was published in Norway, and in 1898, a newspaper in the Northern Sami language “ Nuorttanaste ” was published , which, in addition to materials on Christian themes, contained news and announcements.

The newspaper Saǥai Muittalægje, which was published from 1904 to 1911, played a large role in the unification and political consolidation of the Saami in the beginning of the 20th century. From 1956, the Norwegian-Sámi newspaper Ságat began to appear, but currently there are no materials in the Sami language in it.

The Ávvir newspaper , which has been published in North Sami with a frequency of 5 issues per week since 2008, combined the previously published newspaper (published in Karasjok ) and (published in Kёutukeinu ).

Television and radio broadcasts in the Sami language are regularly published on NRK . The most popular was the news program Ođđasat , which is watched by the Saami of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

After 1989, the communities of the Norwegian and Russian Sámi established communication with each other through Karasjok and Lovozero , which included courses in the North Samo language , which allowed Sámi from Russia to further study in Sámi schools in Norway.

From March 26 to March 29, 2012, an international conference of indigenous journalists was held in Kёutukeinu ( Finnmark ) in the building of the Saami High School. Within its framework, seminars and master classes were held for journalists working in editorial offices broadcasting in indigenous languages. The conference was attended by delegates from more than ten countries, including from Canada , Finland , Sweden , Russia , and the USA ^[10] . The forum was also attended by the Prince of Monaco Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene ^[11] .

• Samene i Norge (Nor.)
• Winfried Dallmann. Saami Norway