Search Results (13)

The article explores the visible, semiotic use of languages in two schoolscapes on the Arctic borderland and how these schoolscapes stimulate the learning of languages and cultures. The schools are situated in a historically multilingual area with several languages present. However, since the 17th century, the area has undergone Swedification, resulting in the current situation where all languages other than Swedish are endangered minority languages. The schoolscapes were studied through visual ethnography, and 229 photographs were analysed by qualitative content analysis. The results show that in one school in the middle of Sápmi, the Sámi languages were almost entirely excluded, despite their relevance and importance in maintaining bilingualism. Conversely, in a school where some pupils were from the Finnish side of the national border, the Finnish language was present in the form of various subject-relevant books. However, in both schools, all formal information is given to pupils in Swedish, with only a few exceptions permitted by the school management. Overall, the visual use of semiotic language is mainly teacher-produced, and the pupils’ opportunities to use the schoolscape as an affordance for active bilingualism through social participation are minimal. Full article

The ocean is a site of energy, space, movement, depth, and extraction. The biblical creation account begins there, with the energy of movement of the Spirit over the Deep. The exploitation of the ocean can be read as a desecration of the Deep, of divine presence and creativity, where beings of the deep roam. Many of these beings are beyond human knowledge, known only to the Creator. Many disturbances of the ocean floor and ocean dwellers have already occurred; penetrating even deeper into the ocean is a form of sacrilege. Extractive politics in the Arctic Ocean and in Northern Sápmi continue following decades of overfishing, poaching, and repression of indigenous coastal traditions. The Sámi tradition and ecological theologies offer a different way of looking at coastal and ocean regions. As tools to counter the calls for endless extraction, we offer narratives that highlight the importance of the coastal Sámi oral tradition and a decolonial ecotheology of a protective apophasis of the Deep. Countering extraction involves rejecting a hermeneutics of commodity fetish that distorts the ocean and those that live and travel within it by framing them as endlessly extractable. This article seeks to resist the extraction of oceanic waters and remind us of ways to respect ocean-dwelling species, the ocean, and ourselves in a time where we are facing the sixth great extinction. Full article

Various forms of colonisation and discrimination processes are unfortunately common to Indigenous Peoples worldwide. In this article, the focus is the lived consequences of colonisation in the Norwegian part of Sápmi (the Sámi traditional lands), where systematic state-imposed colonisation officially ended decades ago. Thus, based on a thematic analysis of qualitative in-depth interviews with 12 South Sámi aged 67–84, the aim was to examine how stories about hopes and worries for the future can shed light on how colonisation is experienced among older South Sámi today. The voices of these participants are important, as they can be considered triply muted, due to (a) ageism and (b) continued yet unconscious colonising practices against the Sámi in general and (c) against the South Sámi people in particular, a minority within the minority. Inspired by decolonising perspectives, this article reveals that older South Sámi are worried for the future, not only due to memories from the past but also their experiences with persisting colonial practices such as the ongoing enlargement of windmill parks and cabin areas in the midst of the winter pastures of the South Sámi reindeer herders. Hopefully, the time has come to finally put an end to colonial practices and take collective responsibility for creating a more just future for both coloniser and colonised. Similarly to the participants in this study, the report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission also stresses issues such as loss of language, experience of racism, and reindeer husbandry being under pressure. This report may therefore be used as an important tool to ameliorate the conditions of the Sámi people if taken into consideration in the time to come. Full article

Child sexual abuse is a form of violence that occurs across nations and cultures. Collective efforts are being made to address this issue within many Indigenous communities. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have expressed the need for cultural models of healing child sexual abuse. A preliminary exploration of the relevant literature shows a lack of synthesis with regard to the current evidence base. This protocol outlines the methods and background for a scoping review that aims to explore and collate the broad scope of literature related to healing from child sexual abuse within an Indigenous context. The proposed review utilises a ‘population, concept, and context structure’ from the Joanna Briggs Institute to explore the broad scope of the literature within a scoping review framework. The target population is Indigenous survivors of child sexual abuse, including Indigenous populations from six distinct regions: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from Australia; Māori peoples from Aotearoa (New Zealand); First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples from Canada; Native American peoples from North America; Native peoples from Alaska; and the Sámi peoples of the Sápmi region in Northern Europe. The concept within the review is healing from an Indigenous perspective, which includes a broad range of processes related to both recovery and personal growth. The contexts explored within this review are any context in which healing from child sexual abuse can occur. This may include processes related to disclosure and accessing services, specific interventions or programs for survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as broader non-specific healing programs and personal experiences of healing without intervention. The scoping review will use search strings with broad inclusion and exclusion criteria to capture the potential breadth of perspectives. The search will be conducted across several academic databases and will also include an extensive search for grey literature. This protocol establishes the proposed benefits of this scoping review. Full article

Turn-of-twentieth-century Sámi concepts of spirits of the dead are presented along with accounts of those exceptional individuals able to see, hear, interact with, and sometimes control them, particularly persons termed noaideslágáš, i.e., skilled in noaidi arts. Examples and analysis are drawn from the writings of Sámi author and scholar Johan Turi (1854–1936), contemporaneous accounts recorded by Norwegian folklorist Just Qvigstad (1853–1957), the fieldwork of Sámi legislator, educator, and folklore collector Isak Saba (1875–1921), and an 1886 anthology of Aanaar (Inari) Sámi folklore. Described with varying names and sometimes contradicting accounts, the spirits of the dead in Sámi culture during the early twentieth century could be used to protect or enhance the fortunes of the living, but could also play roles in situations of disease, misfortune, and interpersonal conflict. The various narratives recorded in the period reflect a complex fusion of Indigenous Sámi traditions with ideas stemming from various Christian denominations and the belief legends of non-Sámi neighbors in the Finnish, Norwegian, Russian and Swedish sides of Sápmi—the Sámi homeland. Spirits of the dead figure as potent, expectable, but sometimes unpredictable elements of daily life—beings that could help or harm, depending on how they were dealt with by those with whom they came in contact and those who could wield power over them, particularly noaiddit, Sámi ritual and healing specialists. Full article

According to my study, “political secularism” means the separation of political power from religious institutions, while “social secularism” is a theory and endeavor to eliminate religiosity from not only public but also private life, considering it an obsolete way of thinking. I examine four case studies based on my ethnological fieldwork in Hunza (in the Pakistani-controlled Kashmir), the Middle Ural (Russia), Transylvania (Romania), and Sápmi (northern Scandinavia). I outline and compare ethnic minorities (Hunzakuts, Tatars, Szeklers, Samis) according to their historical background, contemporary social environment, relation to the majority, their political endeavors, and the role of religion(s) among them. Based on my fieldwork notes, interviews, and sociological data, I analyze the similarities and differences of ethnic complexity, terminological confusions, problems of “lived religion,” and the impact of social and political secularism. Since their religiosity differs from the majorities’ ones, I found that secularism has a complex role and reception. Political secularism is essential for defending these minorities from assimilation, but most of these minorities reject social secularism since religion is part of their multifunctional ethnic discourse space. Religiosity is part of their survival strategy. Notwithstanding, ethnic minorities’ religious institutions participate in political activity and propagate their claims for self-governance. Full article

“Novel food” in the European Union’s (EU) legal terms refers to any food that was not used for human consumption to a significant degree within the EU before 15 May 1997 (Regulation 2015/2283/EU (2015)). Placing novel food on the market requires a safety assessment when such novelty is ascertained, with the consequent need of an authorization procedure that is not required for food traditionally conceived in the EU. Studies have highlighted how such a Eurocentric proof of traditional/novel use of food results in unequal treatment of third countries, with a slowdown of their market investments in the EU market. This contribution addresses this aspect by critically examining the disparity of treatment and suggesting the adoption of a wide-ranging interpretation of food novelty that considers the biocultural context in which food is embedded. This work is based on a critical legal analysis through the hermeneutics of Reg. 2015/2283/EU (2015) and a case study on algae from Northern Norway and Sápmi, carried out by the project SECURE. We conclude that a legal interpretation connecting food to its biocultural context would contribute to qualify it as traditional and therefore facilitate its placement on the market. Our case study provides an example of the macroalgae collected in Northern Norway/Sápmi that through the criterion of the biocultural context would qualify as traditional food, without recourse to the authorization procedure. Further research could assess whether the European Commission’s list of authorized novel foods (which include algae whose status as novel food has been inquired and assessed) expands to also comprehend some of the low-trophic marine resources (LTMR) harvested in Northern Norway/Sápmi. Full article

Open access airborne laser scanning (ALS) data have been available in Finland for over a decade and have been actively applied by the Finnish archaeologists in that time. The low resolution of this laser scanning 2008–2019 dataset (0.5 points/m²), however, has hindered its usability for archaeological prospection. In the summer of 2020, the situation changed markedly, when the Finnish National Land Survey started a new countrywide ALS survey with a higher resolution of 5 points/m². In this paper we present the first results of applying this newly available ALS material for archaeological studies. Finnish LIDARK consortium has initiated the development of semi-automated approaches for visualizing, detecting, and analyzing archaeological features with this new dataset. Our first case studies are situated in the Alpine tundra environment of Sápmi in northern Finland, and the assessed archaeological features range from prehistoric sites to indigenous Sámi reindeer herding features and Second Word War-era German military structures. Already the initial analyses of the new ALS-5p data show their huge potential for locating, mapping, and assessing archaeological material. These results also suggest an imminent burst in the number of known archaeological sites, especially in the poorly accessible and little studied northern wilderness areas, when more data become available. Full article

The boreal winter 2019/2020 was very irregular in Europe. While there was very little snow in Central Europe, the opposite was the case in northern Fenno-Scandia, particularly in the Arctic. The snow cover was more persistent here and its rapid melting led to flooding in many places. Since the last severe spring floods occurred in the region in 2018, this raises the question of whether more frequent occurrences can be expected in the future. To assess the variability of snowmelt related flooding we used snow cover maps (derived from the DLR’s Global SnowPack MODIS snow product) and freely available data on runoff, precipitation, and air temperature in eight unregulated river catchment areas. A trend analysis (Mann-Kendall test) was carried out to assess the development of the parameters, and the interdependencies of the parameters were examined with a correlation analysis. Finally, a simple snowmelt runoff model was tested for its applicability to this region. We noticed an extraordinary variability in the duration of snow cover. If this extends well into spring, rapid air temperature increases leads to enhanced thawing. According to the last flood years 2005, 2010, 2018, and 2020, we were able to differentiate between four synoptic flood types based on their special hydrometeorological and snow situation and simulate them with the snowmelt runoff model (SRM). Full article

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the most transmissible of the prion diseases. In 2016, an unexpected case was found in Norway, the first in Europe. Since then, there have been 32 confirmed cases in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This paper aims to examine the situation from a social and political perspective: considering the management of CWD in the Swedish part of Sápmi—the Sami ancestral land; identifying the place of the Sami people in the risk management–because of the threats to Sami reindeer herding that CWD presents; and understanding how the disease can modify the modalities of Indigenous reindeer husbandry, whether or not CWD is epizootic. Based on interviews with various stakeholders and by examining the social sciences literature, this paper shows that the health risk management is structured by a politico-scientific controversy about the recognition, or not, of atypical and classical CWD. The Sami herders are currently cooperating with the state authorities in the surveillance program to sample their herds. This involvement takes place in a situation where the balance of power between the Sami people and the state, or the European Union, is framed by its colonial context. This has consequences with respect to the definition of a common interest and to implementing sanitary measures. The particular features of reindeer herding are seen as a challenge to managing CWD risk, compared with European health standards. We argue that CWD will greatly modify the modalities of Indigenous reindeer herding, whether there are positive cases or not in the Sami reindeer. By implementing new health guidelines, the authorities will create a cascading effect in Sami land and its use. The CWD situation in Fennoscandia is full of uncertainty but may cause a major shift in the organization and the governance of Sápmi. In September 2020, the identification of a new CWD case in a wild reindeer in Norway started a new episode in the disease management in Fennoscandia. Our paper raises various questions linked to understanding this new step in this crisis which is not only epidemiological, but also socio-cultural and political. Full article

Arctic Shaman Circle was founded in Oslo in November 2018. This article discusses what the Circle’s founding document refers to as “spiritual activism”, and how this was translated into action over the year that followed. I will follow one case in particular, which concerns plans for a power plant at the base of the mountain Aahkansnjurhtjie in the South Sámi area. Aahkansnjurhtjie is a sacred Sámi mountain, the shamans claim, and should be protected accordingly. My focus is on the learning processes that have emerged as the shamans have explored and argued the case, locally and nationally. I examine the negotiations that have happened along the way, in a political climate that has so far been hostile to religious arguments of any sorts, and in this example, involves a group that is contested among the Sámi. Finally, I look at the role of “indigeneity” in regard to claims, performances and responses to these particular concerns, as these have played out in different parts of the Sámi geography. Full article

In contrast to situations in most other countries, Indigenous land rights in Sweden are tied to a specific livelihood—reindeer husbandry. Consequently, Sami culture is intimately connected to it. Currently, Sami who are not involved in reindeer husbandry use genealogy and attachment to place to signal Sami belonging and claim Sami identity. This paper explores the relationship between Sami genealogy and attachment to place before the reindeer grazing laws of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I show that within local Sami communities the land representing home was part of family history and identity while using historical archive material, narratives, and storytelling. State projects in the late 19th century challenged the links between family and land by confining Sami land title to reindeer husbandry, thereby constructing a notion of Sami as reindeer herders. The idea has restricted families and individuals from developing their culture and livelihoods as Sami. The construct continues to cause conflicts between Sami and between Sami and other members of local communities. Nevertheless, Sami today continue to evoke their connections to kinship and place, regardless of livelihood. Full article

The specifically changing climate conditions in the arctic and subarctic tremendously affect the vegetation and the conditions of the snow. This, therefore, influences the possibilities for rangifer tarandus to feed. For many indigenous peoples across the global North, the herding of reindeer, however, is an extremely important source of income. When the increasing temperatures lead to snow melting a bit and then freezing over again, the reindeer loose access to their feed. This has led to the starvation of thousands of reindeer in Russia in 2013/2014. This paper will try to shed light on the background of the historic as well as the legal aspects of indigenous Sámi reindeer herders in the multi-state Sápmi area. While reindeer herding represents a significant livelihood for the indigenous population, the change in climate increasingly threatens the sustainability of this cornerstone of Sámi identity. This text aims to highlight existing rules of international human rights introduced to protect indigenous reindeer herders and the state’s duty to refrain from actions endangering indigenous livelihoods and to take positive action aimed at their protection. Full article