“I remember that we weren’t allowed to speak Sami in Norwegian language classes. — We understood Norwegian, but we couldn’t speak. If we said something wrong, others laughed”
These memories are from a report by the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, published on Thursday 1 June. The commission has investigated the Norwegianization actions aimed at the Sámi, Kven and Forest Finns.
With the Norwegianization measures that started in the middle of the 19th century, minorities have been tried to assimilate into Norwegians. Norwegianization efforts continued for more than a hundred years.
For example, the use of one’s own language was restricted. The children were taken to boarding schools, where Norwegianization was easier to implement.
– Norwegianization has caused more large-scale and harmful effects in many areas of society than what was previously known, the report states.
Many people who have shared their memories of Norwegianization have said that they still experience discrimination.
In present-day Norway, decisions have been made to support minorities, but according to the Commission, the implementation of the decisions has been insufficient. For example, many children do not have the right to education in the Sami or Kven language.
Many municipalities admit that they are unable to meet the statutory requirements regarding education. The municipalities state that the biggest challenge is that they do not have enough staff with Sami or Kven language skills.
The entire report will be read aloud in the theater
The Norwegian National Theater will read the entire 658-page report on its main stage together with the Kvaäniteatteri of the Kven and the Beaivvás of the Sámi. It includes stories from minorities about Norwegianization. According to the Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK, it takes about 30 hours to read the report. NRK shows the show live.
– Especially in Northern Norway, people can gather in auditoriums and cinemas to watch the event and discuss the report and the future reconciliation process, said a researcher working in the commission’s secretariat Anna-Kaisa Räisänen before the report is published.
People came from Finland to watch the event Hannele Pokka. He heads the Sami truth and reconciliation commission in Finland, which has been operating for about two years. Pokka says that he learned from the Norwegians that the commission’s work requires time. The Norwegian Commission started its work in 2018.
– The patient grassroots work they have done, the interviewers have traveled from village to village, it has been helpful, says Pokka.
The language of the Finnish-born Kvens is in danger of disappearing
One of the minorities affected by Norwegianization is the Kvens of Finnish origin. Queens immigrated to Norway especially from Tornionjokilaakso in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is difficult to estimate the number of Quenes, because the Norwegian state has not conducted a census of its minorities.
– According to conservative estimates, the number of Kveeni is up to 50,000 people, Kveeni Institute’s information and culture worker Mervi Haavisto tells.
On the other hand, there are fewer speakers of the Kween language. The estimate varies between 2000 and 8000 depending on the definition. Kveeni is similar to old Finnish, but it got the status of a minority language in Norway in 2005.
Kveen has been used as a nickname
One of the consequences of the Norwegianization policy is that little is known about the Kven in Norway.
General secretary of Ruija’s Queen’s Association Vilde Christoffersen Walsø says that as a child he was not told about the family’s Queen background. Walsø, who lives in central Norway, does not know the Kven language herself, but hopes that her children can learn it at school.
The name Kveeni has also been used as a mocking name, and that is why some people of Finnish background do not want to call themselves Kveeni.
In Norway, there are also Norwegian-Finns who immigrated to Norway after the Kvens, who identify with the Finns, unlike the Kvens, who have distanced themselves from Finland.
In addition, the report also discusses Metsä Finns, who come from the South Savo region. The Queens consider themselves to have separated themselves from the Nordic culture. However, Metsä Finns have already lost their language. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hopes that the report itself will help minorities by providing information about minorities.
The Commission proposes, among other things, the establishment of a center focusing on information, research, communication and reconciliation related to Norwegianisation.
The background of the problems of the Kven language and culture are determined Norwegianization efforts. The attitude of the Norwegian authorities towards the Kvens became negative in the middle of the 19th century.
The reason was growing nationalism and the ideal that everyone living in Norway should speak Norwegian. In addition, it was claimed that the northern border areas were particularly vulnerable because of the large “foreigner” population, i.e. the Sámi and the Kven.
Already in the 19th century, the use of the Kven language was restricted. The Norwegian Parliament decided in 1936 that Finnish or Kven language could no longer be used at all in school. On the other hand, the use of the Sámi language at that time was not viewed as negatively.
By gathering Norwegians, Sámi and Kven students in boarding schools, the school was able to control Norwegianization.
From the 1940s, the policy of Norwegianization gradually began to relax.
Sources: Kveeni Institute, Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.
What thoughts did the story evoke? You can comment on 2.6. until 11 p.m.