For over 100 years the official policy of the Norwegian government was to eliminate Sáme culture. The old laws were abolished in 1959, but 44 years later, how much has really changed?

On a sheet of white notebook paper with blue lines, the brand doesn't look like much. In shaky handwriting the symbol of an ancient culture takes shape in ballpoint pen. First the Hoangka, which looks like a large crescent from top left to center, dividing the ear in two. Below that is the Luddestat, two small triangles, and on the bottom lies the Rastá, a simple straight line. On the left ear of a young reindeer calf however, the brand takes on much more significance, a symbol, in a sense, of a culture the Norwegian government was determined to eliminate less than 50 years ago.

With the Norwegianization policy of the government as encouragement, Sáme culture was seen as the stuff of jokes, ridicule, and insults, leading even traditional Sáme to question their identity. The Sáme had become ashamed of who they were; children were discouraged from learning their traditional language, history, music, and way of life. Only now, almost 45 years after the end of Norwegianization, has Sáme culture begun to be reborn, like a phoenix from the ashes.

"The ignorance...."

Despite the end of the Norwegianization policy, there is a still a huge amount of ignorance about Sáme culture among most Norwegians. The average person on the street in Oslo, almost 2,000 km south of Sáme territory, is only vaguely aware of the existence of another culture in their country. Truls Nyburg, a young Norwegian raised in Oslo warned, "When you get there, be prepared for anything; they might make you drink reindeer blood, or eat its heart. It's not weird or anything, it's just how they live."

Considering that most of what Norwegians know of the Sáme comes from postcards and calendars, it is hardly surprising, albeit disturbing, that this is stereotype which people have. Nyburg himself admitted to having almost total ignorance about the Sáme.

"Basically we leave the Sáme's alone, and they leave us alone... There's no contact, really."

This sort of attitude among Norwegians infuriates the Sáme, who have tried to show the world, and Norwegian society in particular, that theirs is a culture with an ancient and unique heritage.

"It's an arrogance, and a lot of Sáme's feel that the Norwegians see our issues as 'yet another Sáme problem.' It's that sort of ignorance, which makes you exhausted," says Maret-Laila Anti, a Sáme woman living in the coastal town of Bodø.

With her milky-white skin, and red-hair, Anti certainly doesn't fit the traditional 'indigenous' image. This makes the Sáme unique among indigenous people- aside from certain facial characteristics most Sáme's are indistinguishable to one another. One consequence of this has been a much more rapid assimilation of the Sáme into Norwegian society, something which worries Anti.

Anti also fears that Norwegians don't know what's going on in their own backyard, and that most people aren't aware that there is an 'ethnic issue' in what the UN has rated as the world's most highly developed society.

"Outwardly Norway is a peaceful nation, but at the same time they're trying to solve the problems in Israel & Palestine, they're dropping bombs in reindeer herding grounds as part of NATO," she argues. "They have taken Sáme areas to use for target practice. They forced reindeer herders to move from the military area."

Thomas Erland Nygård, a Sáme student in Tromsø believes that this ignorance is the fault of a flawed education system. Having been raised in a completely Norwegian environment, with little to no knowledge of his heritage, he is perhaps best equipped to be the judge. At 29, he is just beginning to learn the Sáme language, which he studies 2 days a week at the University of Tromsø.

"People don't know anything about Sáme's in Norway- it's not taught in the schools. When I was a kid, we learned about Incas in school, but never about the native people in our own country."

A people reborn...

Within the past 20-30 years, and especially since the Alta conflict the Sáme culture has begun to reemerge. The Alta conflict, where a controversial hydroelectric dam was built in the heart of Sáme territory, led to protests across Norway, culminating in a hunger strike on the lawn of the Norwegian Parliament. The issue led to a rebirth of Sáme identity, and a desire to reconnect with a lost heritage, which people like Anti and Nygård are embracing.
"Preserving our heritage is extremely important- I have a Norwegian passport, but that doesn't mean I'm Norwegian," says Anti.

Indeed- while her birth certificate lists her as 'Maret-Laila Anti,' she is referred to traditionally as Káre-Lásse-Jornna-Maret, a title which tells anyone who speaks Sáme who she is, and where she comes from.

Anti's parents grew up in some of the darkest days for Sáme culture, during the times when the enforcement of the Norwegianization policies was at its strongest

"My parents weren't allowed to speak Sáme, and they were hit if they did," she recalls.

This sort of treatment at the hands of the Norwegians led to a radicalization among many of the older generation of Sáme, and this anger was released in the conflict over Alta. Her family was heavily involved in the protests in Alta- as we talk she refers to an estranged uncle who lost an arm in the violence. While most of the Sáme do not have a connection to Alta which is as personal, they still see it as a rallying point, as the moment when the tide began to turn.

Rediscovering an ancient heritage...

Anti's family is among the approximately 10% of Sáme society which is still actively involved in reindeer husbandry. Her family travels with their reindeer herds every year from their home near the village of Karasjok 150 kilometers to the coastal plains near Hammerfest, considered the northernmost town in the world. She has had her own reindeer she's been responsible for since she was a young adult.

" I'm really proud of the reindeer thing- I still have my own reindeer, and that's the most important thing for me. It's part of my identity," she says.

Continued