The parliament opened on 9 October 1989 and its seat is in the village of Kárášjohka (Karasjok) in Kárášjoga Municipality in Finnmark county.

In 1978, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate published a plan that called for the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant that would create an artificial lake and inundate the Sámi village of Máze.

In addition, the Sámi Rights Committee resulted in the 1988 amendment of the Norwegian Constitution, and the adoption of the Finnmark Act in 2005.

[4] The Sámi Parliament of Norway is located in Karasjok (Kárášjohka), and the building was inaugurated on 2 November 2000.

There are also offices in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Unjárga (Nesseby), Gáivuotna (Kåfjord), Romsa (Tromsø), Skánik (Evenskjær) Ájluokta (Drag), Aarborte (Hattfjelldal) and Snåase (Snåsa).

[5][6] The building was designed by the architects Stein Halvorsen and Christian Sundby, who won the Norwegian government's call for projects in 1995, and inaugurated in 2005.

Hence the peaked structure of the Plenary Assembly Hall resembles the tipis the Sámi used as a nomadic culture.

[7][8] The parliament works with political issues it considers relevant or of interest to the Sámi people.

[4] The extent of responsibility that was assigned and transferred from the Norwegian government at the time of establishment was modest (1989).