Silje Karine Muotka (born 12 April 1975) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...

politician from

Nesseby or (also unofficially ''Uuniemi'' in Kven) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Varangerbotn. Other villages in Nesseby include Gandvik, Karlebotn, Nesseby, an ...

who lives in Alta, Norway. Muotka is the president of the

Sámi Parliament of Norway sje, Sámedigge sju, Sámiediggie sma, Saemiedigkie sms, Sääʹmteʹǧǧ no, Sametinget , legislature = 9th Sámi Parliament , coa_pic = Nordsamisk_farge_symmetrisk_stor-01.svg , house_type = Unicameral , foundation ...

and was formerly a member of the Sámi Parliament's executive council.

Education

Muotka has been involved in Sámi politics and activism since her youth, and she has worked with Sámi organizations since the 1990s. She studied law and culture at the University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway, and administration and leadership at the

Bodø Graduate School of Business Bodø Graduate School of Business (Norwegian (language), Norwegian: Handelshøyskolen i Bodø) or HHB is a business school and faculty (university), faculty of University of Nordland located at Mørkved in Bodø, Norway. The business school has abo ...

. She works at the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...

Political career

Sámi Parliament

From 1993 to 1997 she served as a substitute member in the Sámi Parliament, and in 1996 she was named to a working group on Sámi youth. From 1997 to 2000 she served as a substitute for the leader of the Sámi cultural council. From 2006 to 2008 she served as president of the

Norwegian Sámi Association The Norwegian Sámi Association ( se, Norgga Sámiid Riikasearvi , no, Norske Samers Riksforbund), also known as NSR, is the largest Sámi people, Sámi organization in Norway. The association was founded in 1968. Purpose The NSR actively ru ...

(NSR). In 2009 she was elected as a regular member of the Sámi Parliament, representing the Nordre electoral district for the NSR. She chaired the Child Development, Care, and Education Committee and sat on the Control Committee. In 2013, she was re-elected and joined the executive council, with

Inger Elin Utsi Inger Elin Kristina Ivarsdatter Utsi (born 1975) is a Norwegian-Sami politician and actor who has appeared in several films. Utsi grew up in Kautokeino and lives in Alta, Norway. She works at the University of Tromsø, and has previously worked ...

taking her place as substitute member of parliament. She served in the executive council until 2016, after which she resumed her duties as member of parliament.

President of the Norwegian Sámi Parliament

Following the 2021 election, she became president of the Sámi Parliament. After a year in office, she criticised the government's proposal for the 2023 state budget, which included a 4% increase for the Sámi Parliament, which in reality were cuts in means for it. The Sámi Parliament's budget chief, Runar Myrnes Balto, went further and called the cuts "discriminating".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muotka, Silje Karine 1975 births Norwegian Sámi politicians Norwegian Sámi people Members of the Sámi Parliament of Norway People from Nesseby Living people