The idea of a cultural canon comes from the Tidö Agreement. In the government's directive to the inquiry, it states that the committee, led by investigator Lars Trägårdh, should have "a dialogue with the indigenous Sami people and the organizations of other national minorities".
However, the minorities believe that they have no influence whatsoever over the inquiry. Annette Kohkoinen, vice chairman of the Swedish Tornedalians' National Association-Tornionlaaksolaiset, refers to the paragraph of law stating that national minorities should have the opportunity to influence matters concerning them.
A Swedish cultural canon affects us greatly. It is part of writing Sweden's history, but we are not allowed to participate in the work. It is absurd, we are living in 2024. This is not acceptable. It is continued oppression, she says to Dagens Nyheter.
Helen Kantokoski Kviby, operations manager at the Sweden-Finnish Archives, also believes that the inquiry does not follow the law.
It seemed like a way for the intellectual elite to once again point out that we national minorities are not educated enough, she says to DN about a meeting between representatives of the minorities and Lars Trägårdh.
Trägårdh tells DN that he equates national minorities with the general public:
Everyone can make their voice heard, from Sami to stamp collectors.
The committee is to deliver the Swedish cultural canon on August 31, 2025.
