Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen has just won the Fritt Ords Honnør award, NRK reports. With her combination of traditional Sami music and more modern elements, Ella Marie has made a name for herself as one of Norway's foremost musicians and advocates for Sami culture. In addition to her musical successes, Ella Marie has also made herself known as a leading activist and campaigner for Sami rights.
Focus on activism
As a basis for the motivation, Fritt ord has focused on Ella Marie's work with indigenous peoples' issues and Sami rights, where Repparfjord (2021) and the Fosen demonstration in Oslo (2023) were particularly highlighted. On both these occasions, the activists used civil disobedience as a means of influencing government decisions on Sami issues.
Youngest recipient of the award
At 24, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen became the youngest winner of Fritt Ords Honnør. Frank Rossvik, board member of Fritt ord, remarks in his speech that "Ella Marie cannot be blamed for wasting her youth", referring to her work with both music and activism.
Ella Marie herself tells NRK that she is very proud to win Fritt ord's prize precisely for her fight for the rights of indigenous peoples.
"It is a great honour to receive this award. It's probably not very common for an activist to win something like that. I share this with everyone who participated in the actions. They should know that this award is for all of us," says a smiling Ella Marie.
Want to legitimize civil disobedience
In her acceptance speech at the award ceremony, she notes that she hopes this will help legitimize the use of civil disobedience as a democratic tool. Ella Marie then concludes the speech with the remark
"At the beginning of the Fosen action, I turned my colt inside out in protest. Today, in gratitude, I turn it back.