Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
thest north'), and its peoples as
skridfinns,
who hunted, herded reindeer and travelled about
on skis. The medieval Icelandic sagas confirm trading between Nordic peoples and the
Sami; the trader Ottar, who 'lived further north than any other Norseman', served in the
court of English king Alfred the Great and wrote extensively about his native country and
its indigenous peoples.
During medieval times, the Sami people lived by hunting and trapping in small com-
munities known as
siida
. While the 17th- and 18th-century colonisation of the north by
Nordic farmers presented conflicts with this system, many newcomers found that the Sami
way of life was better suited to the local conditions and adopted their dress, diet and cus-
toms.
Around 1850, with Sami traditions coming under increasing threat from missionary
activity, reforms were introduced, restricting the use of the Sami language in schools.
From 1902 it became illegal to sell land to any person who couldn't speak Norwegian; this
policy was enforced zealously and Sami culture seemed to be on the brink of extinction.
After WWII, however, official Norwegian government policy changed direction and
began to promote internal multiculturalism. By the 1960s the Sami people's right to pre-
serve and develop their own cultural values and language was enshrined across all govern-
ment spectra. Increasingly, official policy viewed the Sami as Norwegian subjects but also
an ethnic minority and separate people. Their legal status improved considerably and the
government formed two committees: the Samekulturutvalget to deal with Sami cultural is-
sues; and the Samerettsutvalget to determine the legal aspects of Sami status and resource
ownership.
From 1979 to 1981, an increasingly bitter Sami protest in Oslo against a proposed dam
on Sami traditional lands drew attention to the struggle for Sami rights. In 1988 the Nor-
wegian government passed an enlightened constitutional amendment stating: 'It is the re-
sponsibility of the authorities of the State to create conditions enabling the Sami people to
preserve and develop its language, culture and way of life.' It also provided for the creation
of an elected 39-member
Sámi Parliament
to serve as an advisory body to bring Sami is-
sues to the national parliament (similar bodies also exist in Finland and Sweden).
In early 1990 the government passed the Sami Language Act, which gave the Sami lan-
guage and Norwegian equal status. Later the same year, Norway ratified the International
Labour Organisation proposition No 169, which guaranteed the rights of indigenous and
tribal peoples.
