Ethnic Identity and Acculturation Attitudes among Indigenous Norwegian Sami and Ethnocultural Kven Adolescents

Abstract

Ethnic identity and acculturation attitudes were studied in indigenous Sami (earlier named Lapps) and ethnocultural Kvens (descendants of early Finnish-speaking immigrants from the northern part of Sweden and Finland) in Northern Norway. The sample consisted of 674 Sami and 347 Kven high school students ages 16 to 19 years. Ethnic identity was examined by Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and acculturation attitudes by acculturation strategies. Among important findings was the result that ethnic language competence had a strong impact on ethnic identity and acculturation attitudes across the two groups, whereas contextual difference in the population of indigenous Sami was strongly related to acculturation strategies and ethnic identity. The authors’ findings may be transferable to other indigenous groups, such as Native Americans, Inuit, and long-standing immigrants, such as Hispanics in the United States.