Ragnhild Elise Nymoen Kuru Eltervaag (55) is one of many Norwegianized Sámi who found out in adulthood that she is actually Sámi. From 1850 until 1960, Norway had a targeted Norwegianization policy. Sami were to be forced to become Norwegian. They were told that their children had a greater chance of succeeding in society if they only taught them the Norwegian language. Many children were thus Norwegianized, and grew up without Sami language and culture. This also happened to Ragnhild. – I knew little about my Sami background when I was little, she says. She has long wondered if she can be the same. Five years ago, Ragnhild searched her family history, and there she found several Sami great-grandparents. But it was only when Ragnhild heard a hymn that her great-grandfather had written in Sami that she was truly moved. It made such a strong impression on her that she started to cry. Not just one tear. She wept bitterly. Feeling suspicious, Ragnhild chose to register with the Sámi Parliament’s electoral roll, so that she can vote in Sámi Parliament elections. But there she feels suspicious. She experiences that people like her, with distant Sami ancestry, are not seen as real Sami after news wrote the case about “The fake Sami”. news’s investigations showed that a number of people have been approved for the Sami Parliament’s electoral roll without being Sami. Ragnhild could no longer contain her feelings and decided to write a chronicle. “People who have signed up for the census on the right basis must not feel that they do not belong to Sápmi, that they are not Sami enough. A large part of the Sami population was coastal Sami. Descendants of these, and who are not too distant from their ancestors, have real Sami background”, writes Ragnhild Elise Nymoen Kuru Eltervaag in the chronicle. Now Ragnhild is calling for better control of the registrations for the number of electors. She doesn’t want to be teased for not being good enough at Sami. As a 12-year-old, Ragnhild got the first hints that she had Sami and Kven ancestry. Photo: Odin Omland / news The search for family history Ragnhild grew up in Mosjøen in Nordland. She assumed the family was Norwegian. But then, as a 12-year-old, she went on a fishing trip with her father. As they walked across a bog, she spotted a reindeer antler sticking halfway up the bog. She was thrilled when the antlers were perfect. Ragnhild remembers that her father turned around, came over and said: “We’re going to hang this on the wall in the cabin.” Ragnhild was proud of the find. Then the father said something that made Ragnhild very curious: “At home with us, they spoke both Sami and Finnish.” The following year, Ragnhild’s father drowned at sea on the coast of Helgeland. She never got the chance to ask him more about the past. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation. When Ragnhild turned 15, she asked her mother for advice. The mother asked her to contact the church in Tromsø. They invited her north to look in the church register herself, but nothing ever came of it. It took a long time before she picked up the thread again and looked further. – Sample tests are too bad news has asked the group leaders in the largest parties in the Sámi Parliament whether the control of the Sámi Parliament’s number of electors should be strengthened. The majority agree with Ragnhild. In order to be able to join the Sami Parliament’s electorate, one must be of Sami descent, with at least one Sami great-grandparent. This is one of the criteria for signing up, and the only thing that can be checked. But today the Sámi Parliament only conducts individual random tests. The Center Party’s group leader Elisabeth Erke thinks that is far too bad. Center Party group leader Elisabeth Erke. SP has one representative in the Sami Parliament. Photo: Eilif Aslaksen / news – There has been one person responsible for the registration. It goes without saying that you then do not have the capacity to carry out the necessary investigations, says Erke. The group leader calls for more resources for the control work. The Sámi Parliament informed at the last plenary meeting that registrations from November to December last year had increased. In just one month, there were 250 registrations for the number of voters, or eight registrations per day. Erke sees a tendency which she believes can be an explanation for the increase: – I have heard people say: “I will also register with the Sami Parliament’s electoral roll.” I’ll check if I can find any ancestors, because this is about Sami interests and development, it’s going too far,” says Erke. Based on the statement, Erke fears that people who are not Sami will join the electoral roll. She believes that this can destroy Sami democracy, because these people lack the Sami perspective. – You come in with a majority mindset where the goal is to reduce the Sami Parliament’s power, she says. – Breaking the law – Those who are in the number of voters and who do not meet the criteria, of course, break the law and should not have the right to vote in Sami parliamentary elections, says group leader Beaska Niillas in the Norwegian Sami National Confederation (NSR). It was NSR that asked the Sami Parliament to investigate the number of electors after news revealed that people had entered under false pretenses. This proposal received a majority, and it is clear that the Sámi Parliament will now investigate the size and scope of false registrations. Norwegian Sami National Association group leader Beaska Niillas. NSR is the largest party in the Sami Parliament, with four representatives in the Sami Parliament. Photo: The Sámi Parliament – We do not know how many there are. We also don’t know if it’s a big problem or not. An investigation is therefore necessary, says Beaska Niillas. The Sámi Parliament is now hiring a lawyer who, among other things, will take a closer look at the illegal registrations that news has uncovered. It may also be appropriate to insert a separate reminder in the registration form that it may be a criminal offense to provide incorrect information to public authorities. Those who provide incorrect information to public authorities risk punishment with a fine or imprisonment of up to two years, the Ministry of Justice states on a general basis. Beaska Niillas is also clear that control of the number of voters must be strengthened. – It cannot be the case that everyone can just sign up. If there is a wide problem, then the number of voters is no longer legitimate, says Niillas. In comparison, both Sweden and Finland have their own boards that go through the applications and check that the applicants are actually qualified. The Sámi Parliament will look into the possibility of putting something similar in place in Norway. – No need to examine the number of voters Nordkalottfolket (NKF) was the only major party in the Sami Parliament to vote no to an investigation of the number of voters. – It was completely unnecessary, because this is the plenum leader’s job, and should have been done by the plenum leader anyway. – Making a political decision to “do investigations” I see as an attempt to show further dynamism, but for most Sámi it appears as if everyone who has signed up recently should be made suspect. This is what NKF group leader Toril Bakken Kåven in NKF writes in an e-mail. Nordkalottfolk group leader Toril Bakken Kåven. The party, which had three representatives in 2017, has now grown to become the Sámi Parliament’s second largest, with 9 out of 39 Sámi Parliament representatives. Photo: Åse Pulk/news Bakken Kåven assumes that the control of the number of voters follows normal quality assurance routines, as is the case in most other areas of social life. She is therefore unsure whether the control should be improved. – Impossible to answer, without knowing how the plenary leader has followed this up in recent years, writes Bakken Kåven. The responsibility for checking registrations for the Sámi Parliament’s electoral roll currently rests with the Sámi Parliament’s administration, which is led by the chairman of the plenary session. – If you haven’t had checks at all, you haven’t done your job, she adds. The Sámi Parliament’s plenary leader, Tom Sottinen, replies that the system for registration has so far been based on trust. When the Sámi Act was adopted, it was taken for granted that it would be sufficient to carry out random checks, as well as put the number of voters on public inspection twice in each election period. – No faith in detective work – I hope that the plenary management’s review will come up with some answers, writes group leader Ronny Wilhelmsen in the Labor Party (Ap) in an e-mail. The Labor Party’s group leader Ronny Wilhelmsen. Ap is the second largest opposition party in the Sami Parliament. Photo: Berit Solveig Gaup / news He believes that the current criteria for who can register for the electoral roll make it difficult to carry out good checks. – I do not believe in solutions such as detective work or lie detector tests in any case, he writes. The genealogical discovery For Ragnhild, however, led to detective work. When she was fifty, the ring was closed. After careful genealogical research, Ragnhild received the final confirmation that she is indeed Sami. She found several Sami great-grandparents in her family, one of whom stood out a little. It was the Laestadian preacher and interpreter Nils Larsen from Kvænangen. He also wrote two hymns in Sami in his time. Nils Larsen (1860–1941) wrote two hymns for the well-known Sami hymn book “Vuoiŋŋalaš lávlagat”, of which the hymn “Leage dorvvus” is the best known. Photo: Private A friend of Ragnhild got someone who knew Sami to sing the hymns. – Tears flowed when I heard the hymns being sung. I didn’t just cry one tear, I cried a lot. That’s when I thought that now I’m going to learn Sami, says Ragnhild. Great-grandfather’s legacy Like her great-grandfather, Ragnhild is also interested in writing. When she learned that windmills were to be built on the homestead and that this would mean that the Sami would be deprived of more land, she had to write a poem. She sat down in Stavanger and wrote, while her mind traveled home to Mosjøen. – It has been a very long battle there, unfortunately the builders won. It was a very strong and negative experience. Then I realized that I was Sami, and when you get to know your own identity, it becomes so strong when you are stepped on. And I felt that on that project in Mosjøen, says Ragnhild. If one day I don’t come I also have my place on earth your country is also my country I can get out of sight go at one with the terrain so beautifully I play on nature’s strings of colors but I am here I know the seasons the seasons know me I know where I will my children come with the spring sun when the time is right to a place that is known if one day I don’t come anymore and the spring sun shines in a valley without calves you will clear your eyes look for a little to hope that I am still on my way if I really one day will not come to your and my valley to my and your mountain if the sound of bells is only memories in the wind and you only see a horn in the grass that I left there for you will you ever understand
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Ragnhild Kuru Eltervaag feels suspected as a fake Sami – news Sápmi
