Elsa Laula Renberg – Nordlige folk

Pioneer woman Elsa Laula Renberg is one of the most important advocates for the Sami people of all time. She was determined and extremely skilful at engaging people. Elsa Laula was the main person behind the first Sami national meeting on 6 February 1917. The opening date of the meeting, 6 February, is now celebrated as Sami National Day in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

Elsa Laula Renberg (1877-1931) was born near Vilhelmina on the Swedish side. Her parents were nomadic reindeer herding Sami between Helgeland and Västerbotten counties, at a time when the colonisation of Scandinavia had reached all Sami areas. Elsa Laula's childhood was characterised by the conflict between the reindeer herding Sami and the settlers. Population growth and the scarcity of land meant that the settlers were encroaching on the best grazing land, pushing the reindeer herding Sami up into the mountains.

Elsa Laula realised early on that she needed to find allies and started building a network. While studying to become a midwife in Stockholm, she became part of a Sami student community working for Sami rights. Together they founded the first Sami association: Lapparnas Centralförbund (1904) and Brurskanken Sami Association in Mosjøen in 1907.

Life or death

Elsa Laula was only 27 years old when she wrote her own manifesto: For life or death. She highlighted issues such as land ownership, reindeer grazing rights, drunkenness and school conditions. She believed it was a matter of life and death for her people who were subjected to so much injustice.

The book is the first to be written by a Sami woman and was published in 6,000 copies.

There is only one way,
and it goes through a unified Sami association
that works in every lifeblood of
the Sami population.

To you young men and women
I want to say words.
The future of our people is in their hands.
With their power, our people will
and countries are kept in power.
Get educated and support
the weak in the fight
for life and think about our future goals.

Quotes from Elsa Laula's manifesto (translated from Swedish)

Elsa Laula married Thomas Renberg, a reindeer herder, and they settled just south of Mosjøen. Here they practised intensive reindeer husbandry, milking the sows and herding reindeer, while both travelled extensively in their political work. They had six children, four of whom grew up.

It was not until the Brurskanken Sami Women's Association was founded in 1910 that things got moving. With Elsa Laula as chairman, they were strong and active, and plans were made for the first Sami national meeting in Trondheim in 1917. In the invitations, women were especially encouraged to participate, and the number of women was formidable: as many as 40 % of the 150 participants were women.

The invitation was accompanied by a special request to Sami women to support the organisation's work:

Not a single woman should be missing from our organisation. We believe that when Sámi women join together with the great goal of doing something for the people, they will soon find the means whereby they in their own way will contribute to the realisation of that goal.

Elsa Laula died of tuberculosis at Brønnøy nursing home in 1931, aged just 53. She is buried in Mosjøen.

Facts about Elsa Laula Renberg

Networker, activist and politician
Born: 1877 in Vilhelmina on the Swedish side
Trained as a midwife in Stockholm
Helped found the world's first Sami organisation: Central Union of Lapps, 1904
Published the campaign leaflet: Ifor life or death: Words of truth in the Lappish context, 1904
Participated in the formation of Brurskanken Lapforening, 1907
Married Thomas Pedersen Toven, 1908, took the surname Renberg
Settled in Vefsn, had 6 children
Practised intensive reindeer husbandry, with milking of the sows and herding of reindeer
Initiator of the foundation of Brurskanken Sami Women's Association, 1910
Initiator of the first Sami national meeting in Trondheim, 6-9 February 1917
Key issues: property rights, reindeer husbandry, school conditions, drunkenness, gender equality
Died of tuberculosis in 1931, aged 53