Indigenous People, National Minorities and Assimilation in Norway

Contrary to popular belief, Norway did not use to be an ethnically homogenous nation prior to the arrival of the first substantial number of migrants in the 1960s. In this lecture Elisabeth Stubberud will talk about indigenous people and national minorities in Norway, and the assimilation and Norwegianisation that these groups have been subject to. Focusing on the S¨¢mi and Kven people, she outlines some assimilation policies as well as the legal protection that these groups have today. She then discusses the consequences of assimilation policies, historically and presently, as well as the role of revitalization movements since the 1970s onwards.