NORWAY: What happens when sámi tradition is turned inside out?

Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen was a central figure during the Fosen demonstrations in Oslo in February–March 2023. Young Sámi activists and supporters carried out protests at the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, 500 days after the Supreme Court ruling that wind power development on Fosen violated Sámi rights. The activists were carried out by the police, but were later acquitted by the Supreme Court.

During the Fosen demonstrations, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen turned her gákti inside out to reveal the “ugly side” of the case. Turning the gákti inside out is an ancient Sámi tradition used to express deep disagreement or resistance—on this occasion as a protest against and expression of disgust at the human rights violations on Fosen.

In addition to occupying the ministry, Isaksen and others continued their protest throughout 2023, including by casting advance votes in turned-inside-out gákti during the local elections. In 2024, she and several other activists appeared in court for their actions in 2023, wearing their gákti inside out to demonstrate the necessity of this form of protest.

Brynhild Bye-Tiller followed the end of a nine-day protest. Hundreds of Indigenous and evvironmental campaigners, including Greta Tunberg, blocked the entrance of The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the main road to Norway's royal palace in Oslo. Norway's supreme court ruled in 2021 that 151 turbines violated Sami rights under international conventions, and they remained in operation 17 months later.