OSLO, June 1 — A Norwegian parliamentary commission today delivered a damning report on historial injustices against and attempts to assimilate indigenous Sami, Kvens and other ethnic Finnish people.
Norway’s parliament set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2018 to examine authorities’ historic policies and activities relating to indigenous people.
It was also mandated to look at the repercussions of the country’s “Norwegianisation policy” on languages and culture as well as social and mental consequences for the groups as a whole and for individuals.
Today, the commission presented its findings, in part based on interviews with over 760 people, to the Stortinget—Norway’s parliament.
Dagfinn Hoybraten, head of the commission, in a speech noted that some outside observers might question the need for such commission in a “welfare society characterised by peace and democracy”.
“The truth is that also Norway doesn’t have a history to be proud of when it comes to the treatment of our minorities,” Hoybraten said.
Hoybraten added there was an apparent lack of knowledge among the public about some of the injustices suffered by the minority groups, but hoped the report might help increase awareness.
“Norwegianisation policy” refers to policies pursued by the authorities to assimilate Sami and other minorities into Norwegian society.
For about 100 years, from about 1850, the official Norwegian policy was that the Sami and later also Kvens/Norwegian Finns should be assimilated into Norwegian society, in part by disparaging the use of languages other than Norwegian.
“Many have stopped using their original languages and switched to using Norwegian,” Hoybraten said noting that Sami languages as well as those of different Norwegian Finns were now endangered as a result of “Norwegianisation”.
The commission proposed that a “Centre for Knowledge, Research, Dissemination and Reconciliation” should be created.
But it also called for “institutions in all sectors of society” to look into “how they can contribute to reconciliation.”
Parliament president Masud Gharahkhani said in a speech that the commission had been set up because parliament felt Norway had failed to protect its minorities and indigenous.
“Today we get a serious confirmation of this,” he said. — AFP
