Hegemonic Humans? The Norwegian Sami struggle for indigenous rights and a close-to-nature theology of creation.

Historically, Norway was constituted from two different peoples: nomads and reindeer herders (the Sami), and hunters, farmers, and sailors (Norse settlers). These historical groups are to a certain degree still distinct, having inherited different languages and ways of life. In 2013 a new conflict evolved between Sami tribes and the Norwegian government on its decision to erect 277 wind turbines at a specific coastal site, Fosen, not taking into account that this location is an important Sami winter pasture for 2000 reindeers.

The wind turbine case has been going on for 10 years. In the process, it was tried before the Norwegian Supreme Court. It concluded that the concession is illegal as it interferes with the Sami's right to exercise reindeer herding. Depriving the Sami of pasture is also a breach of the UN's human rights convention, to which Norway acceded. The Sami therefore took the case to Norway's Supreme Court. It upheld that their indigenous rights have been violated and that they have the right to use the Fosen land as pasture, without turbines.

The Norwegian government did not agree and the turbines at Fosen were not removed. The Sami were instead offered monetary compensations and new pasture land elsewhere. I will discuss the implicit notion of “the human” in this conflict in light of Sami nature spirituality and Scandinavian creation theology - including Grundtvig's theological position. I will also discuss why Grundtvig is read so critically by contemporary Sami theologian Tore Johnsen. According to Johnsen, Norwegian theologians have historically used Grundtvig to downgrade the Sami ethnicity as inferior.

The Sami have herded reindeer in the northern regions since the glacier started to melt 10.000 years ago and the land could “invite” human settlement. Those called “Sami” and those called “Norse” (both eventually called “Norwegians”) came to the country via different paths, two ethnic groups of mixed origin, speaking different languages, and practicing different customs. Yet, they lived side by side until the country became Christianized and Norway was united into one kingdom. The Sami reindeer herds do, however, continue to be moved back and forth to different pastures across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

The Danish theologian N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) was significant for the development of an open and inclusive version of the Christian religion in both Denmark and Norway. Not least is he known for the thesis "human first, Christian then", which refers to a form of creation theology that recognizes the (equally good) creation of life in/for every human being as the basic premise for the Christian faith. God has created all people and all lifeforms, and through this very creation and its character as a gift, God calls on all people to come forward. Such simple gestures are seen as a prerequisite to hearing the gospel, which at its core both conveys a new creation (Christ) and recounts the conditions of life (life/death). In other words, a new interpretive framework opens the door to possibly valuing every human as relative, and don't sort people negatively by reference to religion (pagan versus Christian)

In other words, Grundtvig's theology opens a wide acceptance of the enormous cultural diversity of human life and reads historical variation and diversity as the necessary and implicit prerequisites for Christian meaning-making. With this positive theological and historical attitude towards what could be called "an obvious variation" in cultural practices and human outlook between different groups of people, it is reasonable to assume that so-called Grundtvigian Christianity is also without racist elements.

According to the Sami theologian Tore Johnsen, this is not the case. Johnsen thoroughly documents that the 19th century's liberal theological Norwegian view of the Sami made them second-rate people and that the claim "human first - Christian then" should not be understood as a horizontal development that benefited all people but as a vertical relationship. The way of life of the Sami people, for example by being nomadic reindeer owners, was a "sign" that they were not just ordinary people "like us", but that they were closer to the animal kingdom. Thus, the Sami population first had to be made “civilized” and normal (resident) people before they could be converted and become real Christians. Thus, Grundtvig’s famous theological formula "Human first, Christian second" was not a description of the state of nature of any human being and his/her salvific process, but purely of those already civilized. This is a dark analysis of Norwegian (and Swedish and Finnish) history, formulated via Johnsen’s application of post-colonial theory. At the same time, Norse and Sami people engaged in active trade, and in their pre-Christian life had overlapping ritual practices of a shamanistic nature. The Sami shaman was often a man and called noaide. The Norwegian shaman was often a woman (volve), and her practice was called seid. Both used a flat drum and singing. While the Norse Norwegian pre-Christian religion was eradicated/forbidden by the onslaught of the Christian mission, the Sami Norwegian pre-Christian religion lived longer. It has also influenced Christian practices through its forms, its song tradition, and its anchoring in the natural landscape "as a space" where God's "place" is in the center of the circle, or at the center of the church. I will argue that contemporary Sami theology's interpretation of Sami spirituality and practice are important, critical contributions to an expansion of the eco-horizon of Scandinavian Creation Theology, and to rethink, "what is a human being” really (before she is baptized).

Broadbridge, Edward (2018) Human Comes First. The Christian Theology of N.F.S.Grundtvig,                                                                                  Bugge, K.E.(2001) "People first - Grundtvig and the heathen mission"                                                                                                                  Johnsen, Tore (2021) "People first, Christian then" About theology, racism against the Sami and the need for decolonization" 2021                                     Johnsen, Tore (2022) "Theological decolonization in light of Grundtvig's main theme and counter-theme"                                                               Johnsen, Tore (2022) Sami Nature-Centered Christianity in the European Arctic: Indigenous Theology Beyond Hierarchical Worldmaking,                Løgstrup, Knud Ejler (1997) The Ethical Demand,                                                                                                                                               Webber, Torbjørn Brox ( 2021), “Creation and relations – A Sami perspective on Scandinavian creation theology”, Dialog