Sami Church Council (Church of Norway)
Encyclopedia
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...
responsible for Sami church life. It answers to the General Synod of the Church of Norway.
Background
The history of the SamiSami history
The Sámi people are the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia...
people is a painful history of marginalisation and Norwegianization
Norwegianization
Norwegianization is a term used to described the official government policy carried out by the Norwegian government against the Sami and later the Kven people of northern Norway to assimilate non-Norwegian-speaking native populations into an ethnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population...
- the government policy of forced assimulation of the Sami into Norwegian society. Christian mission among the Sami people go back to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, but from 1700 the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
and pietistic
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
mission among the Sami, together with state colonialism, brought lasting changes to the Sami society (as well as religion). From around 1850 a very rough assimilation policy held the Sami people in a firm grip until 1980. This period may be referred to as the Dark Ages of the Sami people. This assimilation policy permeated the public officials, schools and the Church of Norway. In parts of Sápmi
Sapmi
Sapmi can refer to:* Nation of the Sami people* Sápmi , the area where the Sami people live in northern Europe* A Sami cultural park located in Kárášjohka...
the Sami culture and language was eradicated during this period.
Throughout the nineteen-eighties an increasing awareness of the rights of the indigenous peoples became visible both in the Norwegian and the Sami society. The awakening had begun for the Sami people in the beginning of the 20th century and during the so-called Alta controversy
Alta controversy
The Alta controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark, Northern Norway.-Key events:...
it became a hot topic among the Norwegian politicians as well. In 1989 the Sami people were granted their own parliament, the Sámediggi
Sami Parliament of Norway
The Sami Parliament of Norway is the representative body for people of Sami heritage in Norway. It acts as an institution of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sami people....
.
In 1992 the General Synod in the Church of Norway decided to establish an organ to oversee and work for the Sami church life. In 1997 the General Synod acknowledged its role in the assimilation process and declared it would make good of its mistakes.
Organisation
The council has seven members. One member is to be a bishop appointed by the Bishops’ Conference, and one appointed by the Sami Parliament.The General Synod elects five other members, among these there is to be a representative from some of the Sami languages in Norway (Southern Sami
Southern Sami
Southern Sami is the southwestern-most of the Sami languages. It is a seriously endangered language; the last strongholds of this language are the municipalities of Snåsa and Hattfjelldal in Norway...
, Lule Sami
Lule Sami
Lule Sami is a Uralic, Sami language spoken in Lule Lappmark, i.e., around Luleå, Sweden and in the northern parts of Nordland county in Norway, especially Tysfjord municipality, where Lule Sami is an official language...
and Northern Sami
Northern Sami
Northern or North Sami is the most widely spoken of all Sami languages. The speaking area of Northern Sami covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland...
).
The leader of the council is elected by the General Synod.
The Secretary General and the rest of the staff at the Secretariat of the council holds currently offices together with the National Council in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. A process to move the Secretariat is currently in motion.
The current leader of the Sami Church Council is Tore Johnsen
Tore Johnsen
Tore Johnsen is scince 2009 the general secretary of the Sami Church Council, former leader of the council , and a central figure within Sami church life.-Background:...
and the Secretary General is Rávdná Turi Henriksen (temporary constituted).
Main aims of the council
According to the statutes of the Sami Church Council (KM 12/92) the main aims are:- to further, protect and coordinate Sami church life in the Church of Norway
- to respond to issues that according to the council is of relevance to Sami church life or indigenous people
- to further knowledge of particular values that Sami church life and the heritage of Sami Christianity represents for the Church as a whole, and to work with issues the church needs to related to the Sami culture, tradition and history
- to contribute to the strengthening of the culture and language of the Sami population, and to further knowledge and commitment to the role of the Sami people in the Church of Norway.
- to care for relations with churches that has Sami congregations in ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and the Kola PeninsulaKola PeninsulaThe Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
, and to further work and coordination of issues that are of common interest of the Sami Christians - to oversee the work with indigenous question, together with the Council on Ecumenical and International Relations on behalf of the Church of Norway.