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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1357

Part of Session 166: Indigenous Minority Languages in Urban Areas (Other abstracts in this session)

Highly Praised, Strictly Controversial: Implementation of Sámi Language Rights in the Urban Arctic

Authors: Johansen, Åse Mette
Submitted by: Johansen, Åse Mette (University of Tromsø, Norway)

Tromsø is with its 68 000 inhabitants the largest urban area in Northern Norway. The cultural and linguistic diversity of the city embraces people and languages from more than 100 different nations; this includes the historical presence of a rather large Sámi community. The Sámi population is considered indigenous in accordance with the ILO Convention no. 169 which Norway ratified in 1990.

The first part of this paper examines how this legislative context shapes the visual presentation of Sámi culture and language in an official and state-owned institution, i.e. the University of Tromsø (UiT), including the Unversity Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN). The importance of UiT/UNN – both in Tromsø and in the region as a whole – makes its semiotic space particularly interesting. Since the 1990s, the institution has presented itself as Sámi. The semiotic practices of the university have so far caused no controversy whatsoever, neither at the university itself, nor in the city or in the region as such. On the contrary, it has been praised as forward-looking, just and fair.

In 2011, however, implementation of Sámi language rights became a controversial topic in Tromsø. The Municipal Council applied for the city to join the so-called Sámi Administrative Area. So far, nine Norwegian municipalities, none of which are cities, constitute this area. These nine municipalities have specific obligations in relation to the Sámi population and the Sámi language(s): Sámi is an official language on a par with Norwegian. All children have the right to being taught Sámi as a first language or as a second language. All official bodies are obliged to be bilingual; letters written in Sámi should be replied to in Sámi; street signs and signs on official buildings should be bilingual, etc. The application created an enormous stir among the population, not the least when it came to the discussion of the new bilingual municipality sign. The local media was full of angry letters to the editor, some of them with lots of factual errors concerning the ethno-historical background of the area. Finally, last fall, the right-wing parties won the local elections and reversed the application.

All these anti-Sámi expressions and sentiments that found their way to the local newspapers and other forums of discussion form a striking contrast to UiT/UNN’s attitudinal approach to multiethnicity and multilingualism. The institution has for several years practised many of the very same rules and regulations that apply to the Sámi Administrative Area, and which would apply to the municipality if Tromsø became a part of it. The second part of this presentation therefore deals with the following question: How come that the multilingual and multicultural semiotic landscape of the university is so highly praised while attempting to implement the same principles in the city or municipality as a whole is strictly controversial?