“You must defend me”: The shamans (Noaid or Noaidi in Sami) believe that this is the first will of Mother Earth.

It’s due to this admonition the Sami are fighting a real battle today against what is risking to harm or puzzle the place they live in and, how they like to underline, it’s the one and same for all of us. 

The most recent case is the one involving the Repparfjord where the Nussir Asa mining company tried (is still trying) to set up a copper mine. A group of activists created the Markopp Camp with the goal to block the mine building works. Between the activists there are Reindeer and Sea Sami as even Norwegians which are sensitive to the sustainability topics.

The major concerns are that the building process and the future mine waste management could destroy the habitat of the fjord menacing the biodiversity either as a fishing area or as summer reindeer grazing point. It’s a Reindeer Sami chief guiding the protest: Utsi, a man in his 60s who devoted his life at the reindeer herding. 

It’s him explaining us that this area has already been used as a mine site during the 1970s: the outcome was that the pollution killed all the fishes. Today the expected waste to be dumped into the fjord is around 20 times higher than the first mine. 

In fact, it’s just since the 2018 that the Norwegian law forbid the mining waste disposal into the fjord’s waters, but at that time Nussir ASA already had the permits. Today, thanks to the joint intervention of the activists and the Government, the construction works has been halted and they are on hold for the 2022, so far. 

During the last July Greta Thunberg, known Swedish activist for the sustainability and climate change fights, gave her support to the cause. 

One of the most important leaders of the protesters for the Repparfjord is Beaskka Niillas who is even personally involved in the curatorial management for the Sami Pavillion at the 2022 Biennale di Venezia.

Together with him there is his wife: Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska, famous traditional “joik”singer and always part of those fights defending the environment.   

She has even dedicated one of her joiks to the endangered fjord and she sings it in front of us during a grey and rainy Arctic July. Surrounded by a perfect silence, it’s like the sound is coming directly from Sara’s soul. Maybe that’s the secret of the “joik”, the traditional songs that are inspired by the nature and everything it belongs to. They are “songs of the soul” as Sara defines them “listen to the natives, we know what to do”. 

Riddu Riđđu: a little storm by the coast, from the Arctic to Venice

The Riddu Riđđu Festivàla is an international natives’ festival that takes place every year in Manndalen in the Kåfjord Municipality –  Nord-Troms. “A little storm by the coast”, that’s the meaning of Riddu Riđđu.

And it’s really like a strong wind, a real “tsunami”, the cultural awakening of this arctic people.

For over 30 years, since1991, the festival has worked to create more awareness and pride within the Sami. Today it’s an international reality and on 2009 it has received the status of national hub therefore it’s one of the 12 Norwegian festival who are granted a support by the State.

The origins of this festival trace back to 1991, when some of the young local Sami meet up for a night between friends. There starts a discussion of one of the most argued topics: awakening and the celebration of their own identity with the recognition of their roots. 

There are still many that associate the idea of being Sami with something negative, a shame. This feeling is shared by many young and elders, and many don’t know their own language. They speak just Norwegian and barely can understand the mother tongue of their grandparents.

It’s this group of young who feel the urge to give life at a real “awakening” through the art, music and the expression of their own traditions The Festival is not well received. Those young find a lot of resistance and frictions, they are mocked, seen as dreamers or fools. The boards showing the Festival are burnt, and they have been subject of sabotage actions from other Sami too. The community is divided: from one side the wish of re-discovering their past and roots, on the other side the habit of denial. 

No matter what, those young don’t quit and the Festival becomes bigger and bigger every year in numbers and scopes. The resistance towards this event weakens and the Festival becomes to receive support from the local community, audience and artists. The desire of learning the Sami language brings to Sami language classes and so the workshop for handcrafting Duodji, the traditional handcrafts tools and objects.

During the last 2017 Her Majesty The Queen of Norway, Sonja Haraldsen opened the edition. But it’s during this April 2022 that the Sami will be living another very important moment: for the first time ever they will be at the Biennale di Venezia with an entire Pavilion dedicated to their culture and history.    

The artist involved are: Pauliina Feodoroff, Máret Ánne Sara, Anders Sunna.

They all, through their art, wish to transfer a fundamental message for the Sami People: listen to the natives, they have always lived with the Earth, they know what to do. 

Political activism meets art and vice-versa. The pieces that will be taken there have all the goal to spread more environmental awareness and protection, environment considered as “home” of those arctic people that on this land they have always founded their story. 

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Sami Parliament

Just only in the 1989 a Norwegian Sami Parliament has been funded and so, recognizing their rights. It has been built in the town of Karasjok and its architecture reminds a lovvo, even if modern and avant-garde.

While since 1956 a Sami Council exists. It’s a voluntary NGO that has the goal to promote the culture, the defense of rights and interests of this people. 

The constitution of a Sami Parliament is particularly important as even the Sami shared the same grim fate of many natives around the world. Therefore, having officially their own political entity is fundamental.

The former Sami Parliament President Aili Keskitalo (Oct 2017- Oct 2021), is a strong supporter of the fight against and non-environmentally respectful modernization. We met her on last July during the Riddu Riđđu Festival and she expressed the desire that any green economy really keeps in mind the needs of the native people: “Without our environment, without our lands, without our waters we have no reason to live here, we have no reason to exist”. These are her words.

The new President, Silje Karine Muotka, backs the Aili Keskitalo ideas. Preserving their principles, the environment, their lifestyle and traditions is what is today really worrying this people. 

Julhs Silver Gallery: worlds crossings at the end of the world 

It’s 1959 when Frank and Regine founded “Juhls Silver gallery”. They come from two totally different worlds; Frank from Denmark and Regine from Germany. They don’t know each other, they never met before, but both leave their own country pushed by the wish of finding a pristine nature and a lifestyle away from the chaotic cities. 

They arrive in Kautokeino when this small village is still lost in the tundra, without paved roads and the Sami still live on their traditional lifestyle. Regine begins to works helping a family of reindeer herders and learns the art of reindeer herding.

Frank lives out of nomadic herders’ silver jewels reparation; their only precious items. It’s important to notice that none of these jewels has been made by Sami themselves, but reached them through barter. During the transhumance in fact the herders had the chance to meet other worlds and they adopted other cultures symbols and objects. Within these jewels isn’t rare to find silver spoons or Christian crosses, Bergen filigree brooches and a symbol called “solar wheel” from Siberia.

When Frank and Regine met during a rigid arctic winter a love is born and with it an art partnership which made them work together until the last days of Frank’s life who passed away on 2020. 

Together they build Juhls Silver Gallery “brick by brick”. This place begins to become a point of reference for the Sami community. Here they can repair their silver objects and deposit them when they leave for the long and tough transhumance from the tundra to the coast. Soon Frank and Regine understand they can do more than just repairing jewels, they can make new and original ones following the tastes and wishes of the Sami.  

The more work they have the more they become attracted by the endangered cultures and Jhuls Silver Gallery begins to host rare manufactures from all over the world. Inside this house “at the borders of the world” there is a wing dedicated to India, another one to Afghanistan, one more to China and so on for as many places as possible.

Regina and Frank sell the crafts and donate a portion of the proceeds to their home communities that are struggling.

Away from an archaic and touristic vision, today the Sami are fully involved in the society of their country and in all the economic activities perfectly integrated in the Norwegian society.

Culture and tradition live together with a modern lifestyle, but keeping some fix points and always taking a good care of the environment.

Reindeer herding is still an important activity in the Sami economy. But it’s not just that: there the Sea Sami. At the beginning they used to deal with agriculture, sheep herding and some fishing, and traded these goods with the reindeer Sami. Due to their herding activity the Reindeer Sami adopt a nomadic lifestyle, while the Sea Sami are sedentary and they settle in fjords and valleys. 

The barter was commonly used until not so many years ago as it was a place that had no road infrastructure. Sledge was a common way of transportation and in order to trade some primary goods like wool, knives and other handcrafts, the Reindeer Sami met the Sea Sami along the reindeer transhumance.  

The marking

During the summer, when the calves begin to appear in the herd, it comes the moment of the counting and marking: every Sami family prepare to follow the herd and direct it through huge fences where every young reindeer will be marked by the symbol of the Sami that will be able to catch it. Every family has a mark and that’s defining the ownership of that single reindeer. Today these family marks are registered on a specific app.

It’s a tiring job, lasting for days: gathering the reindeer within the fences is everything but a simple task. 

After the marking has been handmade with the traditional Sami knife made of wood, bone and iron, the reindeer are immediately freed.

It’s during the winter, between December and February, that they get back to the Tundra to choose which animals will be used to give meat, skin and everything needed for the living of the families.

This report was carried out in July 2021 and is part of a more extensive work project which lasted three years. This is a preview of the entire project.

According to the ancient Sami religion the Akhá are “The mothers”. Their names are Maderakka, Juksakka, Sarakka, Uksakka. They are the bearers of life, they decide who will give birth to a man and who to a woman. They take care of families, they live with the people of the earth, they mingle in the same spaces, yet do not show themselves to the human eye. They are the deities of nature. A Nature which dominates these vast frozen lands swept by the North winds. Spirituality and tradition, innovation and redemption of one’s roots, magic and reality. The Mother Land of a people without borders, a Earth Mother of a nomadic people.

Beyond the Arctic Circle, in the world’s far north, between Tromsø and the North Cape, there live a people with ancient roots who are deeply connected to the Earth: the Sami. In a sort of mystical solidarity, their lives follow nature’s rhythm, abiding by it every day. In truth, living in such an extreme environment, man finds himself continually challenging himself more than nature. The Sami have lived in close contact with their land for hundreds of years: a testimony to this are the engravings at the Rock of Alta, the UNESCO site of the homonymous city, in the Norwegian state of Finmark. These rocks have a composition similar to those of the Val Camonica, in Lombardy (northern Italy) , and testify that these ancient people has always lived here. Despite the Sami today being perfectly integrated within the modern lifestyle, ancient crafts, such as reindeer breeding live on, as do the whispered beliefs of shamanism.

From the Tundra to the cities

A “route 66” of ice runs between Tromsø and the North Cape. It is the road which leads you to the northernmost part of Norway. Woods, lakes, fjords, mountains: a breathtaking scenery compelling you to stop over and over again and take in its beauty in deep breaths. Yet there is a point which is a both a passage and border. An unperceived frontier.

It is the Manndalen Valley: one of the areas which is home to the coastal Sami. A café, a gas station and a supermarket, not much else. Yet, this land is rich in history, tradition and magic. From here, by taking one of the hidden roads through the woods you will climb to where the earth becomes similar to the moon’s surface and the sky looks so near you think you can touch it: the tundra.

Golden eagles, arctic foxes, reindeer and, on the horizon, a few cabins, a fence and a few men. They are the Sami of the tundra, nomadic shepherds who dedicate themselves to breeding reindeer. Because, while this is Norway, it is also “Sápmi”. The “Sápmi” territory comprises an area which includes the borders of four states: Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The area has its own flag, and its colors identify the different areas: red for Sweden, green for Finland, yellow for Russia and blue for Norway, where most of the Sami live.

The Sami are also known as Lapps, but few know that, originally, this was a derogatory term. Lapp derives from the Swedish word meaning “tramp, hobo”. Crossing the Norwegian tundra we finally reach Kautokeino and Karasjok: the former is the cultural capital of the Sami, and here 90% of the population speaks Sami, while the latter is the seat of the Sami Parliament.

Norwegianization: the loss of roots

Between 1850 and 1970, the Sami people were subjected to a harsh policy which went by the term “Norwegianization”. During this period, the Sami living in Norway were prohibited from speaking their own language and forced to take on a Norwegian surname in order to purchase land and integrate with the rest of the population. Belonging to the Sami people was seen as something shameful.

Adults assimilated the Western way of life and, only with extreme difficulty, some of them – especially the Sami of the tundra – continued to work with reindeer and to safeguard their traditions.

Children born during the period of “Norwegianization” often did not even learn their own language. Their parents, to protect them and make sure they integrated with the Norwegian population, spoke to them only in the language imposed by the government. To date, there are many adults who feel they have lost their roots

The Sami of the Coast were the hardest hit by the policy of “Norwegianization”, known as “Fornorsking av samer”. In fact, living on the fjords along the country’s coastline, they were among the first to undergo this process. Among them, the percentage of people who do not speak Sami is extremely high.

Generally, people aged between 30 and 60 years of age do not speak their mother tongue. To overcome this, several initiatives for identity recovery have been implemented: the Sami parliament has reintroduced their own language in schools and, with it, also the study of their history and traditions.

The Sami of the tundra, on the other hand, nomads dedicated to reindeer breeding, suffered less from the process of “Norwegianization” and, in cities such as Karasjok and Kautokeino, 85% of the population speak Sami as their first language.

In 1997, in an official speech, His Majesty the King of Norway Harald V, recognized the actions of the Norwegian state and presented an official apology on behalf of the government to the Sami people.

“The state of Norway was founded on the territory of two peoples: the Sami and the Norwegians. The history of the Sami is closely intertwined with that of the Norwegians. Today we express our regret on behalf of the state for the injustices committed against the Sami people through the harsh policy of Norwegianization.” It was a pivotal moment for the Sami: the first official recognition by the Norwegian government.

The Sami language

Having been catalogued into 11 different dialects, one of which became extinct in 1800 and another in 2003, the Sami language is very complicated. Only six dialects can draw on a literary history and we should bear in mind that, for a single word, there are dozens of different expressions. A concrete example is the word “snow”. Living in the Arctic – where snow, ice and little light are predominant for six months of the year – it is vital to be able to better define one of the essential components that determines these people’s ability to travel and work in territories as harsh as the tundra. And so, very different words are used to describe snow depending on whether it is dry, fragile, floury, or frozen.

Spirituality and religion

Although the Sami are prevalently Lutherans, they retain an extremely strong connection with their original religion, shamanism. The Sami’s ancient religion embraces a range of traditions and customs. The creed, in fact, is naturalistic and does not have a founder or a set of rules that regulate the forms of worship.

Shamanism was a polytheistic cult that drew its inspiration from nature. Among the most ancient deities we find Mother Earth (the one who governs births and therefore life) and the God of thunder. This ancient religion was based on an animistic perception of the world and a form of shamanic worship in which the drum and the execution of Joiks, typical songs inspired by nature, were of particular importance. For shamans, nature has a soul and is considered a living being just like mountains, lakes, rocks.

For this population, respect for Mother Earth is still the basis governing all action. Before hunting, before fishing, and at the start of the transhumance season, they thank Mother Nature and ask her for permission to carry out the activities.

It was the missionaries who, between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, wrote down some of the pre-Christian beliefs of these people. With Scandinavian and Norwegian settlers advancing, entire Sami communities were forced to abandon pagan religious practices and become Lutherans or Catholics.

It was in Norway, in 1716, that the Seminarium Lapponicum was established. The organization’s task was to Christianize the Sami by providing them with the Holy Scriptures in the Sami language. This initiative failed because the ecclesiastical majority opposed the preservation of traditional values (including language) and proceeded to the seizure and burning of symbolic objects, such as drums, linked to pagan worship.

It was with the arrival of Lars Levi Laestadius, in the 19th century, that a real turning point took place. The Lutheran pastor of Sami origins founded his own movement, “Laestadianism”. The first precept of this movement was the remission of one’s sins and the encounter with the Holy Spirit.

Following the settlers’ arrival, and with the profound change of life, the imposition of new habits, forced expropriation of land and the loss of the mother tongue, many Sami fell into the spiral of alcohol. Previously alcohol had been used for shamanic practices as it was fundamental to induce a state of trance.

Through to the foundation of his religious movement, Laestadius, helped the Sami find a new salvation from the spiral of desolation into which they had fallen after the invasion of the settlers, but at the same time he imposed on them very restrictive concepts creating fractures within the community.

Those who did not convert were looked upon with suspicion and were in one way or another banned from the community.

To this day, many Sami practice Christianity, although they continue to retain figures such as the “healer”. The difference with the past is that, while then the healer/shaman would use the drum to connect with the gods and heal a person, now the healing is done through Jesus and the use of the Bible. This mixture of Christianity and paganism comes across even stronger when we discover that the Sami celebrate their “Nissetoget”, or New Year, at Christmas time.

There is no written trace of this rite that takes place in the valley of Manndalen, and therefore its origins are not clear. The celebration begins several days before December 31st with the construction of monstrous masks. They are prevalently made of natural materials such as skins, animal bones and skulls. The artifacts created represent demons or evil and therefore need to be frightening.
The masks made in this manner are worn on the night of December 31st. Nobody knows who is behind each mask but there is a very clear rule: you are not allowed to part in the procession if you are not wearing a mask. Should anybody attempt to do so they would find themselves attacked by “demons” and forced to leave.

When midnight comes, the procession reaches its climax with the great symbolic bonfire. Then, the Sami, still wearing their masks, dance around the fire and at a given moment they take off their masks and burn them, then proceeding to throw the rest of the costume into the flames. This rite represents the expulsion of evil and the moment when they address their prayers to the gods so that they can have serenity for the coming year.

The “Sieidi”

Again, if you venture into the tundra or the lonely valleys you will find what are called “Sieidi”. These are rocks with a prominent shape, which according to the Sami are endowed with supernatural powers.

The Sami leave offerings on them such as coins, reindeer horns, fish or meat, to win over the gods of nature, in the hope of a good catch or a good year of hunting or breeding. Even today, no Sami dares touch an offering placed on one of these stones: they believe it brings bad luck and that the spirits of the ancestors will come back to take revenge. The only way to appease the spirits is to return what has been stolen.

The bond with their ancestors is of great importance to the Sami: death, which is seen as a passage and a part of life, is not the end of everything. According to their culture, those who have preceded us are somehow eternally present.

In addition to the sacrificial stones, other rocks are also objects of worship: in fact, before the advent of Lutheranism, the Sami identified places with stones of a particularly elongated shape towards the sky as being sacred. These places symbolized the union between the earth and the invisible world.

“Mi Tular” in ancient Etruscan means “I am the border.” In this strip of frozen land nestled in the Arctic Ocean, polar bears and men compete for an invisible line. The word “Tular” brings to mind the myth of Ultima Thule, the furthermost island of the known world.

The Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean is the northernmost permanently inhabited location on Earth.
Located between the 78th and 81st parallel north and between the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, these islands, where winter temperatures fall to -35°C and the sun doesn’t rise between mid-November and the end of January, are mainly known for their majestic glaciers and for the presence of the creatures known as the true rulers of this land: polar bears.

The name “Svalbard” means “cold shores.” However, far from the image of an arctic desert that fills the collective imagination, these islands are a sort of utopic reality. Here, 2,500 inhabitants of 43 nationalities live together.

A varied and multiethnic society is present on the archipelago thanks to the Treaty of Svalbard which was signed February 4, 1920, by 14 countries: Norway (which claims a sort of “territorial supremacy,” sovereignty over the land even though Svalbard maintains a certain degree of autonomy and not all Norwegian laws are applicable), the United States, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Great Britain, India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. Today there are 43 countries, including North Korea, registered as parties. More specifically, the treaty established demilitarization of the archipelago and allows all parties to carry out commercial activities there. Article number 3 in particular establishes the full liberty to become a legitimate citizen without the need for a visa.

In a place where no one is born or dies, where you can’t be buried because of the permafrost and the dead are transferred to the mainland or taken to their native country, a community that is different from any other on Earth has been created. Miners, scientists, fire fighters and philosophers make ends meet by serving also as plumbers, school teachers and sled dog guides.

Where nature rules, humans find a new way to survive. Roles, identity, personal and collective history: they all take on new forms and contribute to making Svalbard one of the few places in the world today without lines dividing land or identity.

In this human outpost at the edge of the North Pole, two of the most unexpected endeavours that humans have ever thought of have found a home. In a place where it is difficult to imagine settling down, there are two structures that hold the world’s memory.

By now famous around the world, the Global Seed Vault sits in Longyearbyen. It has been described by Josè Barroso, a Portuguese academic and politician, as a sort of “Garden of Eden in hibernation.” This building serves as a safety net against the accidental botanical loss of the “genetic heritage” of seeds. Today, the Global Seed Vault is at risk due to climate change. With the melting ice, the cooling system for the structure had to be increased.

In addition to the Global Seed Vault, another unique structure exists here. Housed in an abandoned mine, the Gruve 3, there is the Arctic World Archive.
The innovative project created by the Norwegian company PIQL aims to preserve “all the memory of the world”. PIQL has created a film with a secret polymer formula made to last 500 years, but thanks to the conditions of the arctic, the aim is that it can stay preserved for a millennium. Data, including films, writings, paintings, photographs and everything else that humans have produced, and which represents our collective historical memory and identity are transferred onto the film. Among those which transferred data into the world archive Fpolaare the ESA, the Vatican Library, the Alinari Archives and the Cineteca di Bologna.

The two most populous inhabited towns on the islands are Longyearbyen, with around 2,000 inhabitants, and Barentsburg, with a population of around 500 people consisting of Russian and Ukrainian miners and their families.

Both towns have still-active coal mines.

There are also other small settlements, such as Pyramiden, an ex-coal mining town (like all others on the archipelago). Now a ghost town, it was founded in 1910 by Swedish miners, sold to the mining company Russkij Frumant and then to Arktikugol in 1930, who still own it today even though Pyramiden sits on Norwegian land.

Between 6 and 11 people live in Pyramiden today. They guard the property and welcome tourists who typically stop just long enough to see the abandoned buildings. It is possible, however, to stay the night in Pyramiden, at the only hotel in the ghost town, where some of the residents actually live. Pyramiden is also unique for its location. The town faces the Nordenskiøldbreen glacier, where polar bears and seals can be seen at a few meters distance.

Lastly, there’s Ny-Ålesund (literally “New Ålesund”), a settlement located in the northwest of the island, home to mainly scientific researchers. The maximum number of people who live here is 200 in the summer, which drops to 30 in the winter. Kim Holmen, International Director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, carries out most of his research here along with the students of the University of Longyearbyen.

There are no roads between the inhabited towns. Barentsburg, Pyramiden and Ny-Ålesund can be reached in the summer by ship and in the winter with long trips on snowmobiles or by helicopter. Getting around the islands of Svalbard requires a series of precise regulations and precautions. Outside the communities, it is not possible to walk around without being armed. The safe area of Longyearbyen ends at about 200 meters past the last inhabited building.

Polar bears outnumber human residents on the island; therefore, they must carry a firearm and a flare gun. Getting a gun on Svalbard is not difficult. An applicant national permit isn’t even necessary. If someone wants to rent a gun, the procedure requires that they file a request with the Governor’s office (Sysselmannen). The criminal records must be checked, and then they must take a course in a gun renting store and pass an exam that proves they are capable of handling a firearm correctly.

Another unique aspect of the Svalbard Islands is that the sale of alcohol is rationed. Each citizen has a card that must be stamped every time they purchase liquor or beer. Wine is the only beverage that is not subject to limitations because, back when the first settlements were founded, wine was only available to the heads of the mining company due to its high cost.