This week the members of the Sami truth commission gathered for the first time. Around the table in Umeå sat a group of experts led by the lawyer Kerstin Calissendorff. In the audience sat around fifty private individuals who listened to the presentation of their mission.
Few Sami in the group
But before the members even had time to start their journey through Sápmi, criticism came from the audience. The audience in Umeå was not least critical of the fact that the Sami are in the minority even among the members of the commission. Not even a handful of the 12 members are Sami.
– Is it then that there wouldn’t be enough educated Sami, I don’t know, says Åsa Simma, theater director at the Sami Theatre.
Ulla Barruk Sunna, who is close to eighty years old, stood up during the meeting and narrowed his eyes at the members.
– We are the most well-researched people there is, something has to come out of this, otherwise it is completely reprehensible. Then they can become a bigger wound than it heals, she said.
“We have to look ahead”
Most still seem to agree that several must now dare to open up and testify before the commission. The hope is that it can lead to a reconciliation.
– We have to look ahead. We in our culture must be able to raise our children without them having to carry the trauma we have carried, says Åsa Simma.
However, no promises about what the Truth Commission’s work should lead to in the long term were forthcoming in Umeå.
– This is only a truth commission. It is up to the politicians to decide what the next step will be, says Kerstin Calissendorf.
Large amount of interviews
During the coming year, the Truth Commission will travel around Sápmi to call on the people to give testimony. The Commission has hired one person and will hire another person who will conduct a large number of interviews.
The interviews must be able to be conducted in Sami, but must be recorded in Swedish. The truth commission has until December 2025 to have the Sami testimonies documented.