Tomorrow, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will present its report on the state’s Norwegianisation of the Sami, Kven, Norwegian Finns and Skog Finns. Immediately after the commission has delivered the report to the Storting, they will take it with them to the National Theatre, where the more than 700 pages will be read aloud from the country’s main stage to the whole of Norway. It will take around 30 hours to carry out the reading, and the entire performance, “Norge listens”, will be broadcast in its entirety directly on news TV. There are a hundred different people who will take part in the reading exercise and read each part of the report. news has spoken to six of them to hear how the reading will be. Marte Hallem Marte Heie Hallem is a screenwriter and director. In 2021, she came out with the film “Foreign blood”, which is about Hallem’s and her daughter’s journey through forest Finnish culture and history. Like many others, she only became interested in her forest Finnish ancestry in adulthood, she says. – At first I only learned that we had “foreign blood”. And that’s why I also chose to give the film that name, she says. Marte Hallem is one of the first to read her part of the report. It happens on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Espen Storhaug Hallem thinks it is incredibly good that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report tomorrow. She came across quite a few different stories when working on the film, which made her see the need for this type of report – There is certainly a need to find out what has happened in different places and bring these stories out. Over half a million Norwegians originate from a people many have not heard of. Magic, natural rituals and forest Finnish shamanism – this is also Norway. – What kind of experience will the reading aloud be for you? – It is great to be allowed to represent the Skogfinnish minority group. It will probably be a bit impulsive since we don’t know what to read, but there is something nice about that. You get to experience the text while reading – it becomes something special. Since the report is presented tomorrow at 12.00, Hallem or others who will contribute do not get to know what they will be reading in advance. Mother and daughter Marte Hallem and Andrea Hallem Langåssve show swidden farming, the way the first forest Finns worked the land. Photo: Marko Haapalehto Kristin Mellem Kristin Mellem has for a number of years worked to create pride for her own roots among Kvens and Norwegian Finns in Troms and Finnmark. She is a musician and, among other things, a trained violinist from the music conservatories in Tromsø and Bergen. She experiences being both Kven and Sami, but in recent years has mostly worked with Kven. Last year she also received the Troms and Finnmark county council’s “County Culture Award” for her work in highlighting the Kven musical tradition in interaction with the Sami and Norwegian. Kristin Mellem will read her part of the report on Friday afternoon. Photo: Eili Bråstad Johannesen Therefore, it is important to her that both Sami and Kven are treated equally in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report. – It feels like a very important point in Norway’s history. And especially for those people who have been silenced by Norwegianisation. Now they are allowed to be part of the story. – What kind of experience will the reading aloud be for you? – It will be a very exciting one because we don’t know what our part will be about. Whether it will be a story that is Kven, Norwegian-Finnish, Sami or Forest Finnish, says Mellem. – But I believe that no matter whose story you are allowed to give voice to, everyone is equally important – the experience of Norwegianization is just as terrible anyway. In 2021, Kristin Mellem together with Peter Vang and Øystein Fredriksen came out with a new song “Sangen om Ruija” on the occasion of Women’s Day. Photo: Johannes Vang Emma Elliane Oskal Valkeapää Emma Elliane Oskal Valkeapää is a singer, joiker and stage artist from Kautokeino, Guovdageaindu. She has released one album, “Dovddut eai gielies/Feelings don’t lie”, and is now working on a new album together with Georg Buljo. – I have also worked as a Sami Guide in 2021/2022, and have traveled around Norway and communicated about Sami history, culture and society, she says. The Sami guides travel around Norway and give lectures about the Sami and Sami culture, primarily at upper secondary schools. Photo: MADS SUHR PETTERSEN When it comes to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, Valkeapää hopes that the commission has listened carefully to everyone who has gone back in time and dug up memories. – I hope that the report leads to an equal society, without hatred, prejudice and superiority. With more understanding, solidarity and trust, she says. – What kind of experience will the reading aloud be for you? – I am prepared for it to be a difficult day, or days, while you watch the report being read out. But I am also very excited about what will be said about the topic of reconciliation. – It is also very special that this report is presented two days before the marking of “600 days of ongoing human rights violations”. How can a reconciliation be achieved between Sápmi and the State? Emma Elliane Oskal Valkeapää is one of the first to read your part of the report on Thursday. Photo: MADS SUHR PETTERSEN Minda Marie Kalfoss Minda Marie Kalfoss is a trained dance artist at the University of Stavanger, and grew up in Kongsvinger, which is part of Finnskogen. Right now, she is working on a dance performance together with the Association of Ancient History. – During the pandemic, I found out that the association has taken over the Skogfinn farm where my grandmother was born. It was the start of an artistic collaboration with them. Minda Marie Kalfoss will take part in the reading twice. Photo: TS Foto & Design – The performance is about my way into the Finnish forest. Although I have always known about my forest Finnish roots, it was never something we talked about in the family. You didn’t learn anything at school either, even though I lived in the Skogfinnish area. Kalfoss says that her experience says something about the Norwegianization process. She therefore believes that the report also has great informative value. Minda Marie Kalfoss in the solo Perspektiv during the Volume Festival. Photo: Line Billa Ljøstad – There are many people who know nothing about the forest finches. It is therefore important that the report is released tomorrow. It will hopefully increase understanding and information. – What kind of experience will the reading aloud be for you? – I think it will be very special. I will go in and read twice. One part is obviously more formal and informative, but the other is a personal story submitted. It can be quite powerful to hear and read, she says. Minda Marie Kalfoss in Solisten under TILT by Panta Rei Danseteater. Photo: Lise Skjæraasen Nils-Einar Ørnebakk Nils-Einar Ørnebakk is a pensioner from Lyngen who has lived in Oslo for many years. There, for a number of years, he has led the local women’s association, Kven Østlandet, which, among other things, organizes language cafes and various events for Oslo-based women. – For us, it is important that Kven people, who live in Eastern Norway, also get the opportunity to learn about their language and culture. Kven Østlandet uses to organize a Kven language cafe in Oslo S. Photo: Anne Mari Rahkonen Berg / news Ørnebakk is excited to see what kind of measures the commission will propose to contribute to further reconciliation between the minorities and the state. The linguistic measures are particularly important for the Kven language, which is dying out, he says. Unlike others, Ørnebakk knows what his part of the report should contain. He will read aloud the story that his own brother sent to the commission before he died near Christmas. – It will certainly be moving, but also a very nice experience. It is important that it is I who will read his story, says Ørnebakk. Nils-Einar Ørnebakk will read his part of the report on Friday night. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news Bernt Bjørn Bernt Bjørn a Sea Sami actor and one of the founders of Northern Norway’s first Friscenic group, Totalteatret. He is now in charge of Ferske Scener and was recently in the film “Ellos eatnu – Let the river live”. Revitalization of Sea Sami culture and self-understanding has always been important in Bjørn’s work, and therefore Ferske Scener’s performances often focus on the Sea Sami. He himself did not find out about his Sami ancestry until he was very old, he says. – It didn’t happen until the end of the 80s. Our family was Norwegianized like many others. Katja Brita Lindeberg and Bernt Bjørn in “Kappe Land” at Nordland Teater Photo: Bjørn Leirvik / Nordland Teater Bjørn hopes that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has delved a little deeper into the consequences of the hard-line Norwegianization policy. There are many wounds that are still open, he says. – I hope that the report gives an understanding not only to people who are not involved, but also to those of us who have been involved and felt the Norwegianization first hand. – What kind of experience will the reading aloud be for you? – It is an honor that I am involved. I’m really looking forward to reading, but I have a mixed feeling – a tension in my body simply about what the report will say. I reckon it can be quite a strong experience. Bernt Bjørn will also participate in the reading aloud twice: the night of Friday and Friday evening. Photo: Marius Fiskum
ttn-69
They participate in a 30-hour reading of the report on Norwegianization – news Kveeni
