The terms ‘Sami, Kven, and Forest Finn’, recently seen in the news, refer to:

The correct answer is option 1.

In News

• Norway’s Parliament recently issued a formal apology for its assimilation policies targeting the Sami, Kven, and Forest Finn peoples. These policies, known as Norwegianisation, were implemented between the 1850s and 1960s to suppress indigenous languages and cultures.

Key Points

• Sami, Kven, and Forest Finn are indigenous and minority communities residing in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Hence, option 1 is correct.
• The Sami are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people with distinct languages and cultural traditions.
• The Kven people are a Finnish-speaking minority in Norway, descended from Finnish immigrants.
• The Forest Finns were Finnish-speaking settlers who migrated to Sweden and Norway in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Additional Information

• Norway has repealed discriminatory laws and established symbolic rights, such as a Sami Parliament.
• However, Sami languages remain endangered, and indigenous groups still face inequities in healthcare, education, and land rights.
• The situation of Nordic indigenous groups parallels that of many tribal communities in the Himalayan region, where rapid resource exploitation has led to cultural and environmental challenges.