Official Norwegian Assimilation Policy

As the kingdom of Norway solidified, a cry for nationalism swept the country. From the mid-1800s until World War II, the Sámi were forced to assimilate into many aspects of Norwegian culture, including its religion and education system [Davies & Dubinsky, 2018]. Initially, missionaries wished to educate the Sámi to convert them from their shaman-like belief system to Christianity, albeit while maintaining use of their native tongue. However, with the influx of settlers and the desire to form a cohesive nation-state, education began to center on the assimilation of Norwegian ideals and language instead