Alta controversy
Encyclopedia
The Alta controversy refers to a political controversy in Norway
in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river
in Finnmark
, Northern Norway.
(NVE) that called for the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant that would create an artificial lake and inundate the Sami
village of Máze. After the initial plan met political resistance, a less ambitious project was proposed that would cause less displacement of Sami residents and less disruption for reindeer
migration and wild salmon
fishing.
In 1978, the popular movement against development of the Alta-Kautokeino waterway (Folkeaksjonen mot utbygging av Alta-Kautokeinovassdraget
) was founded, creating an organizational platform for first opposing and then resisting construction work. This group and others filed for an injunction in Norwegian courts against the Norwegian government to prevent construction from beginning.
In the fall of 1979, as construction was ready to start, protesters performed two acts of civil disobedience
: at the construction site itself at Stilla, activists sat down on the ground and blocked the machines, and at the same time, Sami activists began a hunger strike
outside the Norwegian parliament.
Documents that have since been declassified, show that the government planned to use military forces as logistical support for police authorities in their efforts to stop the protests.http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article1280217.ece
The prime minister at the time, Odvar Nordli
, pre-empted such an escalation by promising a review of the parliament's decision, but the Norwegian parliament subsequently confirmed its decision to dam the river. More than one thousand protesters chained themselves to the site when the work started again in January 1981. The police responded with large forces; at one point 10% of all Norwegian police officers were stationed in Alta (during which time they were quartered in a cruise ship). The protesters were forcibly removed by police.
For the first time since World War II, Norwegians were arrested and charged with violating laws against rioting. The central organizations for the Sami people discontinued all cooperation with the Norwegian government. Two Sami women even travelled to Rome to petition the Pope.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government in early 1982, at which point organized opposition to the power plant ceased, and the power plant was built.
in 1972, the Alta controversy was important in several ways:
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river
Altaelva
The river Altaelva has carved out Sautso, one of the largest canyons in Europe on its way from the High Plateau of Finnmarksvidda down to the Altafjord. It lies in the municipality of Alta in Finnmark county, Norway...
in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
, Northern Norway.
Key events
The background for the controversy was a published plan by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy DirectorateNorwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate
The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate is a Norwegian government agency established in 1921. It is under the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and regulates the country's water resources and energy supply. Its mandate includes contingency planning for floods, serving as a centre of...
(NVE) that called for the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant that would create an artificial lake and inundate the Sami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
village of Máze. After the initial plan met political resistance, a less ambitious project was proposed that would cause less displacement of Sami residents and less disruption for reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
migration and wild salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
fishing.
In 1978, the popular movement against development of the Alta-Kautokeino waterway (Folkeaksjonen mot utbygging av Alta-Kautokeinovassdraget
Folkeaksjonen mot utbygging av Alta-Kautokeinovassdraget
Folkeaksjonen mot utbygging av Alta-Kautokeinovassdraget was a Norwegian organisation created on July 12, 1978 to work against the building of the Alta power station in the Alta River. The NGO organised the opposistion against the construction in the Alta controversy, and had at the most 20,000...
) was founded, creating an organizational platform for first opposing and then resisting construction work. This group and others filed for an injunction in Norwegian courts against the Norwegian government to prevent construction from beginning.
In the fall of 1979, as construction was ready to start, protesters performed two acts of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
: at the construction site itself at Stilla, activists sat down on the ground and blocked the machines, and at the same time, Sami activists began a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
outside the Norwegian parliament.
Documents that have since been declassified, show that the government planned to use military forces as logistical support for police authorities in their efforts to stop the protests.http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article1280217.ece
The prime minister at the time, Odvar Nordli
Odvar Nordli
is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He was Prime Minister of Norway from 1976 to 1981.Nordli grew up in Tangen in Stange, Hedmark. After World War II he served in the Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany, part of the Allied forces occupying post-war Germany...
, pre-empted such an escalation by promising a review of the parliament's decision, but the Norwegian parliament subsequently confirmed its decision to dam the river. More than one thousand protesters chained themselves to the site when the work started again in January 1981. The police responded with large forces; at one point 10% of all Norwegian police officers were stationed in Alta (during which time they were quartered in a cruise ship). The protesters were forcibly removed by police.
For the first time since World War II, Norwegians were arrested and charged with violating laws against rioting. The central organizations for the Sami people discontinued all cooperation with the Norwegian government. Two Sami women even travelled to Rome to petition the Pope.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government in early 1982, at which point organized opposition to the power plant ceased, and the power plant was built.
Legacy
As the first serious political upheaval since the debate about Norwegian EC membershipNorwegian EC referendum, 1972
A referendum on whether Norway should join the European Community was held on 25 September 1972. After a long period of heated debate, the "No" side won with 53.5 per cent of the vote. Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli resigned as a result of the defeat...
in 1972, the Alta controversy was important in several ways:
- It put the rights of the Sami as an indigenous people with distinct rights over the lands in Northern Norway, onto the national political agenda. This process reached a key milestone in 2005, when the Finnmark ActFinnmark ActThe Finnmark Act transferred about 95% of the area in the Finnmark county in Norway to the inhabitants of Finnmark. This area is managed by the Finnmark Estate agency....
was passed. It is considered that though the Sami lost the battle over this particular issue, they made important long-term gains. - It unified formerly disparate environmental groups with respect to a common cause.
- Revived Sami interest in their culture and rolled back efforts of the Norwegian government's NorwegianizationNorwegianizationNorwegianization is a term used to described the official government policy carried out by the Norwegian government against the Sami and later the Kven people of northern Norway to assimilate non-Norwegian-speaking native populations into an ethnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population...
policy. - It raised for the first time in the modern era actions of civil disobedience, and the potential of violence as a political tool in Norway.