Norwegian National Minorities Unite—We Lose by Fighting Each Other
During the summer national holiday season for Norway’s national minorities, including the Sámi and Kven, a discussion took place for the first time about uniting these unrelated peoples in the fight against Norwegian state bureaucracy, which aims to “Norwegianize” these distinctive peoples, and the onslaught of capitalist forces on the rights of peoples whose main industry is salmon fishing in rivers and seas.
In Norway, which has a notorious reputation at the UN for its widespread violations of the rights of the Sámi and Kven people, in the early 1990s, when the UN adopted binding documents to protect the rights of minority peoples, successive governments continued to maintain repressive practices against national minorities.
They were forced to change their emphasis and forms, without, however, abandoning their primary goal: to gently (previously quite harshly) assimilate the indigenous people, the Sámi, who inhabited northern Norway long before the arrival of the Norwegians, a people of Germanic origin, and the Kven, descendants of Finnish settlers who have lived in the north of the country since the 16th century.
The different ethnic origins, the distinct languages of these two national minorities in Norway, and competition for fish resources have, until now, hindered the protection of the common interests of these two most oppressed peoples in “democratic” Norway.
It is gratifying that their representatives have finally found common ground and set the goal of coordinating joint action against Norwegian businesses that are seizing their land (which is prohibited by UN documents) and are linked through corrupt ties to the country’s political elite with their sinister plans to assimilate the 40,000–60,000-strong Sámi people and the 30,000–50,000-strong Kven people (according to Kven organizations).
To minimize the scale of violations of these peoples’ rights, the Norwegian government fudges statistics, using the figure of 10,000–15,000 Kvens and manipulating the number of registered Sámi voters in local elections (25,700).
For the same purpose, Norway does not conduct censuses that indicate the ethnic composition of the country’s population, in order to manipulate statistics and distort the data submitted to the UN.
”Can the Fjords and Rivers Carry Our Cultures Forward?”
During this year’s Riddu Riđđu festival, Kven and Sámi representatives met for discussions about common interests.
The moderator was Sofie Axelsen Osland, a board member of Bivdu and leader of the Tromsø Women’s Association. The discussion was an extension of the seminar “Salmon People Without a Livelihood” at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
The indigenous festival Riddu Riđđu was held for the 35th time in Kåfjord in Troms. The anniversary celebration focused on indigenous people’s connection to rivers, and marked this with various exhibitions, seminars, and concerts.
One of the events was the panel discussion on fishing rights, “Can the Fjords and Rivers Carry Our Cultures Forward?”
The message was clear: if cultures are to survive, forces must be united against the major capital forces.
In a press release, the Norwegian Kveners’ Association—Ruijan Kvääniliitto—writes that there was great engagement and exciting conversations during this year’s festival.
We Must Be Able to Unite
Rune Sundelin, deputy chair of the Norwegian Kveners’ Association, says it was great to meet for conversations about fishing rights both in the river and at sea.
“We must not turn the fight for local fishing rights into a fight between fjord fishermen and river fishermen when it comes to salmon,” says Rune Sundelin. “The conflict should not be between the Sámi and the Kven. We will lose out on that.”
The discussion brought together key voices from both Sámi and Kven organizations, as well as local fisheries organizations. The panel also included Inge Arne Eriksen, leader of Bivdu; Arne Pedersen, leader of the Øst-Finnmark coastal fishermen’s association; and Rebecka Ekeland, leader of Kvääninuoret—Kvenungdommen.
“We have common interests, and must be able to unite our forces,” says Sundelin.
He believes that the Sámi and Kven must gain control of the resources that are the basis of life for their culture.
“There are strong capital forces that are trying to control these resources, which are the basis of life for both Kven and Sámi culture. If we are going to succeed, we must be able to unite.”
Area Rights
Osland fully supports Sundelin’s call for cooperation.
“It’s about area rights. This means that Sámi and Kven have the same rights and will benefit from standing together in the fight for the survival of coastal and river fishing,” she says.
She shared her experiences from the demonstrations in Repparfjord, and made a blunt exhortation to the assembly:
“We must take care of the fjord. If we don’t do something now, we will soon not have much to fight for.”
Ekeland is one of the activists who have been sentenced to pay a fine after the demonstrations against mining in Repparfjorden.
Who Owns the Kommagan?
The tensions and the complex relationship between the Sámi and the Kvens were also highlighted during the panel discussion “Who Owns the Kommagan?”
The title does not refer to sewing and leather, but serves as an image of the deep discussions that arise in the aftermath of Norwegianization.
The leader of the Norwegian Kveners’ Association, Kristin Mellem, participated here, together with former leader Kai Petter Johansen, who is now mayor of Kvænangen.
The conversation was led by Kjetil Skog, editor-in-chief of Framtid i Nord.
The other panelists were Risten Anine Gaup, duojár and artist, and Hanne Svinsås Magga, project manager at Suodji.
Source: NRK (in Norwegian)
