The role of museum institutions in relation to research on Sámi culture, history, and society in Norway until the post World War II years

Abstract

This article examines the roles of two Norwegian museums; the Ethnographic Museum in Oslo and Tromsø Museum in Northern Norway, in relation to the production of Sámi research from the end of the nineteenth century until the Post World War II years. By emphasising the academic development of Ole Solberg, Just Qvigstad, Gutorm Gjessing, Knut Kolsrud and Ørnulv Vorren and the development of professional networks, the article calls attention to the establishment of a research strategy in 1913, the establishment of the Institute of Comparative Research in 1923, and the effects of these for studies of Sámi culture and society. Moreover, the article argues that the ethnographer Ørnulv Vorren and Tromsø Museum became important contributors to the advancement of Sámi research and the bolstering of the Sámi ethno-political movement.