Identification of the South Saami in the Norwegian 1801 Census: Why is the 1801 census a problematic source?

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine why the Norwegian 1801 census is a problematic source for South Saami history. Both the notion that archival sources necessarily reflect Saami presence and the trust in ethnonyms are refuted. These notions still have repercussions in court decisions and historical narratives. The chapter is based on studies of the Norwegian 1801 census compared with church registers contemporary with the census from areas on both sides of the present Nordland-Trøndelag county borders in Norway. Comparison with the church registers shows that ethnonyms are inconsistent. Often, the census and the church registers did not register the same people as Saami, and there are more people registered as Saami in church registers than in the census. I explain the erratic registration of the Saami by interpreting it as an expression of an identification process, as exclusion and inclusion of the Saami by others as well as a part of colonialism. It exemplifies why non-indigenous sources should be critically interpreted, and how identification of ethnicity constitutes a challenge. I suggest that the 1801 census cannot be treated as a census of the South Saami.