A few years ago the Norwegian Lapps got their own popular
assembly blessed by the Norwegian authorities. Now some Lapps
are speaking of their own nation. Is this the development the
Norwegian authorities wanted?
First of all it may be necessary to mention that "Lapps" is the
name of the indigenous people who live in Norway, Sweden,
Finland and Russia. "Samedikki" is the name of the relative new
assembly for the Norwegian Lapps. It was opened by King Olav of
Norway in 1989 after an general election among all the Norwegian
Lapps. The Norwegian national assembly, Stortinget, in 1987
introduced a law about the Lapps' rights to have their own
popular assembly. The main purpose of the assembly should be to
secure the Lapps' possibilities to develop their own language
and culture. Furthermore the same law says that Samedikki shall
work with cases that exclusively concern the Lapp people.
Samedikki may also present cases for public authorities as well
as private institutions. In other words, Samedikki has,
according to the law, no authority to make laws, its authority
is limited to give advise to local and central authorities.
Since the birth of the Samedikki in 1989, there have been
several complaints from the Lapps saying that Samedikki's
authority should be curtailed. The Lappish assembly is a member
of the Nordic Lapps-Council, which consists of representatives
from Sweden, Finland and Russia. There are factions in this
council who advocate a nation for all the Lapps in Norway,
Sweden, Finland, and Russia. These factions however, do not have
many listeners, and it would not be very realistic to expect the
development of a Lappish nation state in the foreseeable future.
It might be more interesting to concentrate on the Lapps'
possibilities to develop their own society after the
introduction of Samedikki.
We have talked to two people with considerable knowledge in such
questions. The first one we talked to was Harald Eidheim at the
university of Oslo. He works with the political problems that
arise in the building of the Lapish nation.
The first question we asked was why Lapp matters are so much
stronger related to politics in Norway than in the other Nordic
countries.
Eidheim: That question has a very simple answer; Firstly, two
thirds of all the Lapps live in Norway. Secondly the Norwegian
Lapps had very strong and active leaders at the beginning of
their national uprising in the early 1950s. There were also
several episodes which had a very strong mobilising effect, and
besides, the Norwegian Lapps have achieved more compared with
their brothers and sisters in the other Nordic countries. For
example, Norway was the first Nordic state to ratify the ILO
(the International Labour Organisation) convention about Lapps.
The level of education among the Norwegian Lapps is relatively
higher than in Sweden, Finland and Russia. One should not
underestimate the effect that education has on political
activity.
NL: How strong is the feeling for an independent nation state
for all Lapps?
Eidheim: "Nation" is mostly being used without a linkage to
"state" among the Norwegian Lapps. For the time being there are
no articulated demands for an independent state among the Lapps
in Norway. They are, however, pursuing every possibility which
can give them more power. Some ideas exist about a co-ordinating
council for the Lapp assemblies in Norway, Sweden and Finland,
but no concrete plans exist concerning such a council.
NL: How much legitimacy do the Lapps really have towards
Norwegian local and central authorities?
Eidheim: "Their demands are getting more and more listeners.
With Norwegian authorities, both local and central, the Lapps
have had their political break-through. They have a rather
strong legitimacy, especially compared to the Lapps in the other
Nordic countries. The Lapps are recognised more as a political
factor in Norway.
NL: What is the most sensitive issue concerning the Lapps
rights?
Eidheim: That is a very difficult question to answer. It is most
likely the issues concerning the limitations on Samedikkis
authorities. For the time being Samedikkis authority is strictly
as an advisor to the local and central authorities. There isn't
much doubt about the fact the majority in Samedikki wants to
expand Samedikkis authority but the Norwegian authorities are
not fully prepared to give them such authority yet."
We asked Asle Hogmo at the polytechnic school of Bodo who works
with ethnical issues in Norway what effect it had that last
years Nobel peace prize winner Rigoberta Menchu visited
Samedikki.
Hogmo: Of course it had the effect that they attached the worlds
attention for a few moments, but it is less likely that her
visit had any political effect.
NL: Is there a consensus about the eventual claim of an
independent Lapp nation state among the Norwegian Lapps?
Hogmo: No! On the contrary, that question is very sensitive. It
has been discussed, no one of the members of Samedikki has so
far dared to bring it up in discussion in public. The reason for
this fear is simply that they are afraid that Samedikki might be
so divided on this issue, that further co-operation would be
difficult."Hogmo says further, that when one compares indigenous
peoples' situations around the world, one has to make a
difference between countries which have a democratic leadership
and those which have not. In this respect, when one compares the
Lapps' rights in Norway with the rights of indigenous peoples in
other democratic countries, Hogmo claims that Norway has no
reason to be proud of it's treatment of the Lapps.
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