The legislation and regulation of reindeer grazing land in the Røros Sámi area had a great adverse effect on the Sámi population. Much of the regulation arose out of heavy local pressure, and was based on the work for the ‘Lapp Commission’ of 1889 and Yngvar Nielsen’s ‘scientific’ input.

Yngvar Nielsen (1843-1916) was Professor of Geography and Ethnography at the University of Christiania. He was director of the Ethnographic Museum from 1877-1916 and one of the leading conservative historians of his time – a person with authority and influence.

With a grant from the University, Yngvar Nielsen set out on a 3-4 week ‘research trip’ around the Southern Sámi area in 1889. The purpose of Nielsen’s journey to the Røros area was to collect Southern Sámi artefacts for the Ethnographic Museum. However, his ‘Treatise’ from the trip said little about the collection of objects. Instead, he presented a ‘scientific contribution’ to the discussion of the ‘Lapp migration to the South’. His theory that the Southern Sámi had only migrated to the Røros area around 1700 provided the authorities with a scientific pretext for limiting their rights to land.

Nowadays, Yngvar Nielsen’s ‘advance theory’ has to be seen more as a response to the 19th century need to cultivate a Norwegian history, rather than a serious piece of research. Both linguists and archaeologists have refuted Nielsen’s claims. His theory enjoyed particular success among historians. Individual historians endorsed Nielsen’s hypothesis and so perpetuated the power of the old science.

Photos (from left):

1. Yngvar Nielsen was director of the Ethnographic Museum in Oslo from 1879-1916. He had great authority by virtue of his position and had close ties to national political circles.

2. Ethnic research was a useful science for politics and nation-building. By categorising people into different races of unequal value, it was also possible to differentiate politically between ethnic groups. Picture from Storelvavollen, Brekken 1922. Dr Mjøen from the Winderen Laboratory in Oslo measuring skulls.

3. Yngvar Nielsen wrote an article in 1889 for the Norwegian Geographical Society Yearbook, in which he presented his theory of a Sámi ‘advance’ into the Røros Sámi area.

4. Morten Mortensen and Lars Danielsen touring the Fæmund reindeer grazing district in 1927 to register old Sámi settlements. This arose out of the many court cases in the area, particularly with Røros copper works. Lars Danielsen’s notes and photos from the survey have been preserved.

5. Throughout the 20th century it was clear that the Sámi people needed to get their own history written down. The teacher Henrik Kvandahl, originally from the Narvik area, write the three-volume Samenes historie (History of the Sámi people) in the years 1925-47. Here he is at work in Røros.

6. Knut Bergsland during his stay at Fjellheim, Brekken in 1941. He gained a doctorate in 1946 with his dissertation on ‘Røros Lapp Grammar’, and the book Røros-samiske tekster (Røros Sámi texts) was a direct result of Bergsland’s many interviews and conversations, particularly with Julie Axman.