Inez Svonni Fjällström looks up at the window of the worn yellow house in Kiruna, which was her room in the Sami Parliament’s first chancellery. The house was one of the first houses built in Kiruna at the beginning of the 20th century. Many businesses have been housed in the building, apart from the Sami Parliament, there has been a photo gallery and a coffee shop.
– I chose the house because I thought it was good that the Sámi Parliament takes place in the area where the Sámi lived before the city of Kiruna was built, says Inez Svonni Fjällström.
“I started up an authority in a month”
Inez was hired on the first of August 1993 and on the 26th of the same month the Sami Parliament was to be inaugurated. To help her, she had a compendium that she received from the National Audit Office, which was called “How to start up an authority”.
– I remember that it said that if you are going to start an agency, you should have started the work at least six months before – I barely had a month!, laughs Inez and continues:
– I had to start from scratch, I didn’t even have a phone. But it was also fun, I was young and I was part of something historic.
“We focused on Sami issues in Sweden”
Today, the office of the Sami Parliament has close to 70 employees and the main office is still in Kiruna, but with offices in many different locations in Sápmi. Inez Svonni Fjällström worked for nearly 25 years at the Sami Parliament, the last time she worked as head of office before she retired – and the Sami Parliament has meant a lot to her.
– The fact that they were able to focus on Sami issues, even though the Sami Parliament has no decision-making rights and some believe that it has been slow, the Sami Parliament has raised Sami issues on the political agenda, says Inez Svonni Fjällström.