The Commission to Investigate the Norwegianisation Policy and Injustice Against the Sámi and Kven/Norwegian Finnish Peoples (The Truth and Reconciliation Commission) was a Norwegian state commission established by the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

in 2018. It was led by

Dagfinn Høybråten Dagfinn Høybråten (born 2 December 1957) is a Norwegian politician. He was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party 2004–2011. He was also Parliamentary leader from 2005 when he was elected as Member of Parliament representing Rogaland. ...

and with a committee consisting of eleven other professionals. The purpose of the investigation was to lay the foundation for recognition of the experiences of

Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

and

Kven KVEN (1520 AM, "") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Port Hueneme, California and serves the Ventura County area. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language talk/sports format. By day ...

(Norwegian Finns) subject to Norwegian authorities' policies of Norwegianization, and the consequences these experiences have had for them as groups and individuals. On 9 May 2019, the commission's mandate was extended to include the

Forest Finns Forest Finns (, Bokmål, Norwegian bokmål: ''skogfinner'', Nynorsk, Norwegian nynorsk: ''skogfinnar'', ) were Finns, Finnish migrants from Savonia (historical province), Savonia and Northern Tavastia (historical province), Tavastia in Finland w ...

. The commission completed its work and submitted the report to the Storting's Presidency on 1 June 2023. In November 2024, the Storting issued its own 17 resolutions to begin addressing the commission's findings, beginning with a formal apology to the Sámi, Kvens/Norwegian Finns, and Forrest Finns peoples.

Mandate

The commission had a three-part mandate: # To produce a historical survey Norwegian authorities' policy and activities towards Sámi and Kvens / Norwegian Finns both locally, regionally and nationally. # To investigate the effects of the Norwegianization policy, including how it has affected the majority population's views of Sami, Kvens / Norwegian Finns, and the significance of Norwegianization to this day. # To suggest measures further reconciliation. On 9 May 2019, the commission decided to include the

in its mandate.

Report

The commission delivered its 700-page report to the Storting at the start of June 2023. The report examined the lingering effects of official Norwegianization policies, including the ways those policies continued indirectly after the official repeal of the policies in 1963. It also identified the indirect assimilation pressures in terms of language, health and socio-politics, culture, and traditional livelihoods and businesses like Sámi reindeer herding and Kven and Sea-Sámi small-scale fisheries. In November 2024, the Storting released its own 98-page report on the commission's findings, outlining 17 decisions the government intended to pursue to address past wrongs. The first step was the apology delivered on 12 November 2024 by First Vice President

Svein Harberg Svein Harberg (born 30 July 1958) is a Norwegian businessman and politician for the Conservative Party. He has served as a member of Parliament for Aust-Agder since 2009, and the Storting's first Vice President since 2021. He was also mayor of ...

on behalf of the Storting to Sámi, Kvens/Norwegian Finns, and Forest Finns. King

Harald V Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the line of succ ...

in 2020 provided an apology to the Sámi, but this was the first apology to the Kvens and Finns.

Structure

A secretariat for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Liss-Ellen Ramstad, was established at

University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway ( Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway a ...

Membership

* Secretary General

Members
TRC * Professor Ivar Bjørklund * Fellow

Håkon Hermanstrand Haakon, also spelled Håkon (in Norway), Hakon (in Denmark), Håkan (in Sweden),Oxford Dictionary of First Names Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges - 2006 "Håkon Norwegian: from the Old Norse personal name Hákon or Háukon, from hā ...

* Bishop Emeritus

Per Oskar Kjølaas Per Oskar Alfred Kjølaas (born 25 May 1948 in Kirkenes, Norway) was the bishop of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland in the Church of Norway from 2002 until 2014. Kjølaas studied at the MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo, having graduated w ...

* Professor Pia Lane * Senior advisor

Anne Kalstad Mikkelsen Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

* Museum director

Marit Myrvoll Marit Myrvoll (born 1953) is a Sami social anthropologist who is researcher at the Sámi Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Mental Health and Substance Use (SANAG/SANKS)/Sami Klinihkka in Northern Norway. For the period 2020 to 2022, she is proje ...

* Professor Emeritus

Einar Niemi Einar Niemi (born 16 September 1943) is a Norwegian historian, born in Nord-Varanger, Finnmark. Biography Niemi is known for his study of the history of ethnical minorities, and for his contributions to administration of cultural heritage of ...

* Professor

Anne Julie Semb Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

* College lecturer

Liv Inger Somby Liv Inger Somby (born 1962) is a Norwegian Sámi educator, writer, and journalist. She specializes in indigenous journalism which she teaches at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino Municipality in the north of Norway. Born in ...

* Professor Emeritus

Aslak Syse Óslác is a theophoric Anglo-Saxon given name, cognate to Old Norse ''Ásleikr''/''Áslákr'' (Latinised ''Ansleicus'', modern Scandinavian ''Aslak'') and to Old High German ''Ansleh'' (''Anslech'', ''Ansleccus''). It is composed of '' ós'' "god ...

* Associate Professor

Ketil Zachariassen Ketil is a Norwegian masculine given name, and may refer to: * Ketil Askildt (1900-1978), Norwegian discus thrower * Ketil Bjørnstad (born 1952), Norwegian pianist * Ketil Flatnose (9th century), Norwegian hersir * Ketil Haugsand (21st century), ...

References

External links

Norwegian Parliament's news release about the commission's final report
(english) {{Authority control Truth and reconciliation commissions 2018 in Norway Truth and reconciliation reports