Kvens

Kvens (Kven: kvääni; Finnish: kveeni; Norwegian: kvener; Swedish: kväner; Northern Sami: kveanat) are a Balto-Finnic ethnic group in Northern Norway. In 1996, Kvens were granted minority status in Norway, and in 2005 the Kven language was recognized as a minority language in Norway.

The term Kven is sometimes used more broadly to include the Tornedalians, a closely related Balto-Finnic minority group in northern Sweden.

Name

The ethnonym Cwenas is mentioned in the Old English Orosius from the 9th century, and the Old Norse forms kvenir and kvænir occur in some Icelandic sagas, such as the Orkneyinga saga and Egil's Saga. From the 16th century onward, a small number of Kvens appear in tax records from northern Norway under the names Quæn or Qvæn. The number of Kvens increased with migration from northern parts of Sweden and Finland between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Due to the Norwegianization policy that began in the late 19th century, the term Kven became to perceived as derogatory and the stigma led many to deny or conceal their identity as Kven. With the revitalization of the Kven culture in the 1970s, the term was readopted. However, even in the 1990s there was a debate whether the Norwegian terms finne, finsk, or finskætted (respectively a Finnish person, Finnish, and of Finnish origin) should be used instead. Today, the term Kven is used as an official designation, and also within the group itself.