After the major abuse case in Tysfjord, many people are asking themselves:
«How could this happen? And how could skepticism toward mainstream society be passed down through generations?»
Anne-Britt Harsem is now back with a new book about the Lule Sami community in Tysfjord, entitled Lena from Tysfjord A story of racism, betrayal, and reconciliation.
Harsem has previously written the book The dark secret of Tysfjord, A report on the sexual abuse cases in Tysfjord and how society failed, conveyed through the story of one of the victims – it was also a story about adults' responsibility for children and the classic conflict between society at large and small, closed communities.
Norwegianization policy, racial hatred, and racism
The new book, Lena from Tysfjord,has a different angle than the first book.
Harsem tells: -Here, readers are taken back one or two generations in time.
We gain insight into what it was like to grow up in the Lule Sami community in Tysfjord after the war, when Northern Norway was a poor region, Tysfjord was a poor municipality, and the Sami were at the bottom of the social ladder. Isolated. Oppressed economically, socially, and culturally.
The book addresses important topics such as Norwegianization policy, racial hatred, and racism. It explores the consequences of belonging to this minority in Norway and how it feels to be born Sami.
He pretended not to see the mocking smiles or hear the shouts.
The descriptions in the book are powerful and intimate, and we hear about oppression, what it does to a person, a people, about the Lule Sami in Tysfjord. Here is a short excerpt that illustrates this:
«They called us troll tamers and other nasty things. Why? We weren't like that. Back home in Bygda, my father was a kind man. He was respected. He had an answer for most things and wanted the best for his family. When we traveled to Kjøpsvik, he became a small man with his head bowed, who slipped into the store and pretended not to see the mocking smiles or hear the shouts. He didn't retaliate when the store owner mimicked his broken Norwegian. So many times I wished he would, that he would retaliate, but he never did. My father was a modest man. When we were in Kjøpsvik, he wasn't my father. He was someone else, and I didn't like it.»
Hamarøy Library organizes tour
In connection with the book, author Anne-Britt Harsem is now on a lecture tour to libraries in Bodø, Hamarøy, Steigen, and Narvik. In her lecture, she tells the story of Lena from Tysfjord and her upbringing as a Sami during the Norwegianization process. She also discusses her previous book, «The Dark Secret of Tysfjord,» in which Lena's daughter Liv recounts her childhood of abuse and neglect.
- -26.8 at 7 p.m. Stormen Library, Bodø
- -27.8 at 6 p.m. Hamsun Center (organized by the Jasska/Trygg Network and Hamarøy Library)
- -28.8 at 6 p.m. Musken School (organized by the Jasska/Trygg Network and Hamarøy Library)
- -31.8 at 7 p.m. Steigen Library
- -1.9 at 7:15 p.m. Narvik Library
Contact information:
Anne-Britt Harsem – h-kunst@online.no – tel. 98048837
