A passer-by stops in front of one of the stories Nystad has written down. “Standed in the queue at Narvesen by Torget with a cardigan on, and someone said take it now and lift up that skirt” is written in green letters. He sighs and says, “Incredibly sad that it is like this. You just have to be strong and resist” Elle Nystad is project manager for “RomsaDál – TromsøNu” which works to contribute to increased pride around Sami language, culture and identity. Photo: Eva Ersfjord – Not one hundred percent safe in the pedestrian street It is a sunny Saturday in October. Elle Nystad walks through Storgata in Tromsø with a bucket of chalk in her hand. – Then we move on, says the project manager for “RomsaDál – TromsøNu”. Through the project, work is being done to contribute to increased pride in Sami language, culture and identity. In a video shared on the project’s Facebook page, Nystad shows the stunt where she fills the pedestrian street with discriminatory statements that the Sami have experienced. All the statements are experiences Sami people have had on the pedestrian streets in the city during the past five years. Several of them have happened this year. “Was spat on and asked to go back to Sámi land””Standed in a queue at Narvesen by the square with a cardigan on, and someone said take your skirt up””Damn Sámi” – It was sad to see so many experiences and inquiries that have accumulated, and it was powerful to see that there were so many experiences just in that street in Tromsø, says Nystad. She got the stories through social media. Those who have sent them in have also told where they were subjected to harassment – and this is how they decided on placement. – People stopped and reacted that this actually happened and was said in the pedestrian street. That was what we hoped for, that people would be enlightened and curious. – You don’t feel 100 percent safe when you walk in a pedestrian street, for example with a cardigan. You feel that you constantly have to be alert and prepared for a fight, or to be shouted at or jockeyed for, she says. “Sorry, I didn’t know that Sama could be so pretty” Photo: Per-Henning Mathisen/RomsaDál “She’s half Sama, so she’ll probably drink some shit” – Asked us to lift our jackets to show our bottoms In May, Nystad himself was subjected to homophobia. She and three other friends had dressed in cardigans and were on their way home from a graduation party. Then some younger boys started shouting “Same ladies” after them, she told news in May. The friends at first ignored the boys. – Eventually they came closer and asked us to lift our jackets to show our bottoms. It was very uncomfortable. Now this is the experience written down in chalk in Storgata in Tromsø. The aim of the written stories along the pedestrian street is for people to stand up against Sámi, and stop it if they witness it, she says. – When I myself was provoked, it was only my own friends who intervened. The others just watched and laughed, whispered and pointed. “Was knocked down here in the pedestrian street because I was wearing a cardigan” “Heard a Glød concert: We didn’t even come to listen to joik!” The Norwegian Institution for Human Rights (NIM) presents research on “Attitudes towards Sami and other minorities in Norway”. The survey shows that there is hatred of the Sami and prejudice against the Sami. Other minorities, such as Taters, Kvens/Norwegian Finns, Skog Finns and Jews, also experience hate speech and prejudice. Among people living in Northern Norway, the proportion with a negative impression of Sami and Kven/Norwegian Finns is 11 per cent, which is almost four times more than the rest of the country. On a national basis, 15 per cent of the population have observed hate speech or incitement against the Sami in the last 12 months. In South Sami areas (central Norway and the north-eastern parts of the interior) this increases to 24 per cent. In Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, 33 per cent state that they have observed hate speech or incitement against the Sami. Mayor of Tromsø, Gunnar Wilhelmsen, supports the stunt and the initiative of Nystad and RomsaDál. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen Supported by the municipality Mayor of Tromsø, Gunnar Wilhelmsen, thinks the initiative from Nystad and RomsaDál is very good. – We have to get it up and to the fore when it comes to that type of statement, which it does all too often. He points out that Tromsø is a city with a number of minorities and with 140 different nationalities. Wilhelmsen has not studied the numbers, but stresses that incitement is not okay anyway. – Regardless of whether it is more or less, it is not enough that we experience this in Tromsø, which is supposed to be a generous city. We must be generous and not offensive, he says. And to those who hurl offensive comments around them, the mayor has a clear appeal. – I ask everyone to stop doing that and instead embrace everyone who lives in the city, regardless of whether they are minorities or other nationalities, concludes Wilhelmsen.
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Elle drew Samihets in the pedestrian street in the center of Tromsø – news Troms and Finnmark
