Spanish Version: 
[01.08.2004]: Histórica Ceremonia
de Registro de Pareja en Noruega,
por ©Liowlb/Enkidu
Historical Partnership Ceremony in Norway:
by Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein Borge/Enkidu
photo © Nordlys
A
historical wedding will take place in Kautokeino, a traditional center for
Sámi culture in Northern Norway, next Easter. For the first time ever,
two Sámi women have openly announced the intention to register their
partnership in the Sámi region. In Norway, this engagement has received
some attention since the Sámi people, the aboriginal inhabitants of
Northern Scandinavia often have figured in the press as a homophobic
closed society. Until now, most young gay and Lesbian Sámi with the
ambition to live openly with their sexual orientation have chosen to leave
the traditional Sámi Homelands in the North and build a new life in the
cities in the south. Most openly gay Sámi actually live in Oslo, hundreds
of kilometres away from their regions of origin.
In
an interview with the regional newspaper Nordlys, published in Tromsö in
Northern Norway, on July 15th 2004, the two happy girls Anna
Anita Hivand (37) and Aina Hætta (29) spoke openly about their love and
commitment for each other and their awareness of making history.
Only
a year ago, both of them were living as heterosexual Sámi women. Both had
two children each from previous relationships with men, but they
emphasized that they were never really happy as “heteros”.
“We
lived with suppressed feelings. However, this was not our fault, but due
to the society surrounding us” said Ms Hivland to Nordlys, emphasizing
that she lived as hetero, but with a bisexual identity and a lesbian
sexual orientation. After years in the closet, Anna Anita Hivand was unable to
continue suppressing her feelings and identity and came out openly as
bisexual, a decision which led to considerable attention in the Sámi
region. She talked openly about her sexual orientation in a publication
issued by Sametinget, the regional parliament for the Sámi ethnic group
in Norway, but the administration considered the article to be too
controversial and it was never published.
“Political
and intellectual life in the Sámi Homelands is dominated by a vision or
rather an illusion about Sámi dominance over land and water sometime in
the future. There is little focus on how individual human beings are
living here and now. The gay and Lesbian Sámi need the attention of the Sámi
Parliament now”, says Ms Hivland to Nordlys.
After
all the commotion about this article last winter, Ms Hivland felt a need
to leave the Sámi Homelands and move away. Then she met Aina Hætta
during the Easter holidays and it was love at the first glance. They moved
together to the Western Region of Norway, where Aina already studied, and
they hoped to build a more harmonious life together. They emphasize that
it is extremely difficult to live openly as Lesbians in the Sámi
Homelands. They are still determined to return and publicly register their
partnership at home next year despite the prejudice and gossip they have
experienced. Family members as well as friends have expressed that they
are not anymore welcome to visit. They have even been offered healing for
their sexual orientation, but they have also experienced positive
attention and support. Ms Hivand told Nordlys that her father proudly
announced when she told him about her intention to get married that “I
have fours sons, one daughter and five daughters in law”.
The
Norwegian Partnership Law has been in effect since the early 1990s, when
Norway as the second country in the world introduced such a law granting
legal recognition to same sex couples. This law was also introduced
simultaneously in the Sámi areas. The regional Sámi Parliament cannot
overrule Norwegian legislation, but until now all couples that have
registered their partnership in the Sámi Homelands have been ethnic
Norwegian with few or no links to the traditional Sámi community.
Probably many Sámi gays and Lesbians have registered their partnerships
elsewhere in the country, but Ms Hivland and Ms Hætta will be the first
ethnic Sámi couple to do so within their traditional Homelands with a
partnership ceremony in the Sámi language conducted by the Sámi city
authorities. The date for the ceremony has already been settled: Easter
Sunday 2005.
If
you are interested in more information about the Sámi peoples of
Scandinavia, Enkidu recommends the following article giving an extensive
overview in English about Sámi history and culture in Norway and their
experiences with Norwegian colonialism since the Viking age:
By Wenke Brenna
The Norwegian state was founded on the territory of two peoples -
Norwegians and Sami. It is clear that the Sami, as an indigenous people in
Norway, have a special right to cultural protection. Norway's Sami
policies mark the consolidation of this goal. The name Sami stems from
sapmi which denotes both the geographical territory for the traditional
Sami settlement areas and the people themselves... more
Information about the Sámi
Parliament in English, Norwegian and Sámi:
http://www.samediggi.no/default.asp?menuID=8&lang=no
Sources:
www.nordlys.no [Publisert 15.07.2004
- 22:31]
Sam(m)en ut av lavvoen
Av: Elin
Vinje Jenssen