In June this year, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee presented the results of a year-long effort to rebuild the relationship between the Norwegian state and the indigenous population that has been exploited and oppressed. Forced assimilation has meant that what is now the middle generation has not learned either Sami or Kven. The oldest generation speaks the original languages together, but not with younger people. Those who are adults now have not learned Sami or Kven, even though it was the language of their parents. Because they didn't want their children to go through what they themselves had gone through, where they were sent to boarding schools and forced to speak Norwegian. Norwegian was the entry ticket to society and Sami was seen as a burden, something they were ashamed of. The situation today is different. Many young people have learned Sami on their own initiative and want their children to learn Sami at school. It is thus a common situation today that children can now speak Sami with their grandparents. The story of the revitalization of language and culture and attempts at reconciliation between the state and the indigenous population is what I want to convey in this paper through what informants in the area have told me in (13) qualitative interviews carried out this fall. People from different areas in Finnmark each tell their own stories that show how language, both Sami and Kven – in different areas- can suffer under political oppression, and that show the hard struggle many are fighting to reclaim their language, culture and dignity.