Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel specified in his will that he wished to create several prizes to be given to those who were exemplary in their categories. Notably, he chose a Peace category that would be given in Norway rather than Sweden as the other awards were. He did not specify why Norway was chosen for the Peace Award but the Norwegian Nobel Committee has proposed that is was considered to not have the same militaristic and colonial history as Sweden. That is a debatable fact, for although Norway has itself been a colony and has not had their own colony, they have still implemented the practices and oppression of colonization, as seen with the treatment of the Sami people, particularly with the Kautokeino Rebellion.
With
…show more content…
There are several theories held for why the event happened. One explanation is that the leaders of the revolt were motivated by hatred and revenge while others suggest that it was because of a genetic mental illness. Some find this to supported by the fact that the executed men's skulls were sent to Oslo for research purposes, although this is also thought to be a cause of the ‘othering’ seen in Norway at the time and the claim that there must be some marked differences between the Sami and …show more content…
This shows a strong Norwegian viewpoint on what happened rather than the Sami. The Kautokeino Rebellion tells an alternate story, focusing on Ellen Aslaksdatter Skum, one of the Sami rebels, as the film’s narrator. Through her eyes, Gaup shows a picture that invites you to identify with the Sami. Through Ellen’s eyes, the Kautokeino rebels are not religious fanatics nor genetically mentally ill individuals who need to be cured through intervention of the state. Rather, their views are the product of exploitation by a colonizing power that labeled them as primitive and