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- Öhman, May-Britt, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Sámi Land Free University : An invitation to centre Indigenous Peoples expertise and knowledge in an online open access university
- 2023
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This roundtable aims at presenting what the platform Sámi Land Free University (SFU) has achieved so far and to invite to a conversation on what SFU may achieve in the practice of decolonising research and education, while inviting interested to join forces for courses and joint or shared research over the colonial borders.Over the last four decades, Indigenous Studies (IS) has been developed as an academic discipline within several settler colonial states and within colonial academia, the strongest presence in North America, Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. So far Sweden is lagging behind. Yet, IS mainly turns the gaze towards the Indigenous peoples, while to achieve decolonization and long term sustainability, as well as good relations, there is a need for a 180 degrees shift in vision. What if there were several universities that centre Indigenous knowledges and expertise, as point of departure, while researching and teaching for the benefit of all?In 2015, the SFU [www.samelandsfriauniversitet.com ] was created by Lule and Forest Sámi, Dr May-Britt Ӧhman with a vision and challenge of the mind to include the Sámi community and international Indigenous collaborations, having its base on the Swedish side of Sábme. SFU has co-hosted symposia and workshops. We now envision moving on, producing free to access online educational content, inviting earlier and new collaborators. Methods adopted are supra-disciplinary, giving voice to academics, artists, and practitioners of Indigenous ways of knowing and being, while also inviting other scientific methods. Commentator: Kim TallBear, Univ of Alberta, Faculty of Native Studies1 May-Britt Öhman, Lule and Forest Sámi, with Tornedalian heritage, SábmeCentre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism, Uppsala UniversityExperiences from the last 7 years with the platform Sámi Land Free University – what has it done for my – and others – thinking and acting?Introductory presentation on how the Sámi Land Free University came about as a website in 2015, followed by a Facebook page, a youtube channel, and some of the activities that has taken place, as well as some thoughts on possibilities to move ahead.There are so far very little opportunities for Sámi to study our own history, culture, traditions, epistemologies at universities in Sweden. There are even less opportunities to have a place in academia for Sámi who are open with their Sámi identity. Hence, there is a need for a place to gather, to develop courses, and proposed ways to make this happen, as the (settler colonial) academia so far gives very little space to Sámi perspectives in Sweden. Yet, Swedish legislation states that the Sámi are a people, with rights, and that Sámi history, culture and tradition shall be taught to pupils in school and secondary school.Furthermore, at universities, there is almost no teaching on Indigenous peoples culture, history, traditions, around the world, while the settler colonial perspectives are taught in all university courses.Thus, there is a need for a Sámi university, on Swedish side of Sábme, that will provide both Sámi and other Indigenous peoples history, traditions, culture, expertise, perspectives - the question is mainly how to organize this.2 Frances Wyld, Martu woman (Aboriginal People of the Pilbara region of Australia) living on Kaurna land, Dr of CommunicationJustice and Society, University of South AustraliaAll good thing are wild and free: the wild winds that carried me to Sámi Land Free University.NAISA introduced me to the international cross fertilization of ideas within Indigenous research and education, specifically it created the opportunity to collaborate with Sámi Land Free University as an Australian Aboriginal scholar. The collaboration has included 6 visits to Sweden and Sápmi for symposia and workshops, publications, and freelance work on a climate change and Indigenous sustainability project. I am a storyteller; I write in the moment inspired by nature. I watch the news reporting on the damage done by wild winds on the weekend. The reporter is in front of a house where a tree has fallen onto it, the house is on my road. At the same time, through my open door, I hear the whine of the chainsaw cutting into this majestic ghost gum tree. Only weeks ago, I was riding my bicycle along the same road with a wild sense of freedom as my birds, the Rainbow Lorikeets who live in the avenue of trees, flew alongside me. Sámi Land Free University has given me the same sense of freedom to work as a decolonising scholar within Critical Indigenous Studies, gaining international perspectives and walking on two lands that are both rich is stories. The collaboration has given me opportunities, and now in the spirit of reciprocity, I lend my skills as a curriculum developer to create content for this grassroots university in another land inhabited by Indigenous people who have much in common with my own people, with knowledges to share for a sustainable future.3 Anna Kajsa Aira and Laila Susanna Kuhmunen, Jokkmokk in collaboration with Alma Linke NilsenDuv gábdde - Du gákti - Din kolt – Your Sámi dressWe are Sámi artisans, duojár. Anna Kajsa makes handicraft – duodje - in the Lule Sámi tradition, Jokkmokk area. Laila Susanna works within the North Sámi duodji tradition of the Karesuando area. We both live in Jokkmokk/Jåhkåmåhkke, a Sámi metropolis. Sámi heritage is passed down from generation to generation.The traditional Sámi dress – gábbde/gákti/kolt - reveals one’s geographical area and is an important link to one’s roots and history. Many Sámi now reclaim their culture by wanting to wear the dress, but there is a gap of one generation in the transmission of knowledge about how to make them. Our project “your Sámi dress” is about providing this knowledge, both by making the gábbde for children and young people, for rent, and through making a digital platform with instructions and advice. It is just as important to be able to wear your gábbde as it is to handle it respectfully. While there is a university in Sweden for textiles and fashion, there is no such for Sámi culture. We think maybe our work could find a place within the SFU, and thereby receive more support. 4 Henrik Andersson and Hampus Andersson, Gällivare Forest Sámi villageExperiences of and reflections on the needs for education and higher education for and about Sámi reindeer herdersReindeer husbandry is carried out on Sámi territories, on almost 50 percent of the territories of the colonial state of Sweden. It is is a tradition – a way of life – as well as a basis for livelihood, income, since several hundred of years. It is acknowledged as a national interest, to be protected, since 1987.Yet, the knowledge and expertise of reindeer herding is mainly passed within the families. Learning demands spending time together with the older generations, from early childhood. As the school system requests pupils to be in school, this often come into conflict with the need to learn. Furthermore, for a reindeer herder, there are an increasing set of other skills than the actual herding – which is complex enough- that are of importance; economics, law, animal health, and one’s own history and culture etc. In school, secondary school, and at universities, there are no opportunities to study reindeer herding with the other skills thereto related. Another aspect of the education system’s lack of teaching on reindeer and reindeer herding, is that when persons within the reindeer herding meet with all parts of society – health care, police, teachers, social care, etc, they have to carry the burden of constantly educating them, and also facing discrimination and racism. Henrik , 42 years old, and Hampus , 20 years old, are two generations reindeer herders within the Gällivare Forest Sámi village, Flakaberg group. They will share their experiences and reflect on the need for education and higher education for Sámi reindeer herders. 5 Susanne Spik and Gun Aira, Jåhkåmåkke in collaboration with Alma Linke NilsenLule Sámi culture and language on university level ? Experiences, reflections and ideas Gun Aira is a Lule Sámi teacher and Susanne Spik, is an entrepreneur and innovator. Both live in Jåhkåmåhkke, and are active within reindeer herding. Both have attended university – teacher’s education- at a Swedish university, in the 1980s. The Lule Sámi language and culture origin in the Lule River valley. Due to the by the Swedish state forced relocation of several North Sámi families, from the Karesuando area during in the 20th century, along with fierce Swedification politics, both the language and culture have become sidestepped. While there is a Lule Sámi centre on Norwegian side, there is no such on the Swedish. In general, there is vastly more support to Sámi culture and language in Norway, than in Sweden. We will present our experiences, reflections and ideas on how SFU could be of use to promote Lule Sámi language and culture, and wish to develop this with the others and the audience.
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| 2. |
- Öhman, May-Britt, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Sámi Perspectives on Climate Change, Green Colonialism, Forest Firest, Industrial Exploitations and Food Sovereignty
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Annual Meeting, June 26-29 2019, Waikato University, Aotearo (New Zealand)Panel 2019Title: Sámi Perspectives on Climate Change, Green Colonialism, Forest Fires, Industrial Exploitations and Food Sovereignty. Addressing and analysing climate change leading to forest fires and burnt reindeer grazing lands in summer, as well as “locked in” reindeer food in winter, the whiteness and coloniality of "green" political campaigning, the consequences of industrial exploitations of Sémi territories — and the Sámi resistance and struggles to find solutions and challenge a colonial destructive knowledge paradigm - this panel is ultimately addressing Indigenous Food Sovereignty and thereby future survival for Indigenous peoples in general and Sami in particular. Organised by a Sámi scholar at Uppsala University, the panel brings together community, scholars and non-Sámi/ non-Indigenous scholars from Sweden, Chile/UK, South Africa approaching the theme from multiple angles and aims at setting up a network for continued collaboration among ourselves and interested NAISA participants. The panel is partly financed by a research project led by Dr May-Britt Öhman on Indigenous Climate Change Studies (FORMAS 2019- 2021), within the Swedish National Research Programme on Climate. Film and drone technology as a means for research, communication and dissemination is used. Case studies are from Jåhkåmåhkke and Ljusdal on the Swedish side of Sébme, and from the Talvivaara tin mine, Finland, where a tailing darn failure occurred in 2012-2013. Chair and organiser: Dr May-Britt Öhman, Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism, Uppsala University and guest researcher at Luleå University of Technology, division of history. 1. Gun Aira and Anna Kajsa Aira, Sirges Sámi Village, Jåhkåmåhkke (Jokkmokk)Sámi perspectives on climate change and imposed flexibility: experiences from reindeer herding in the Lule River valleyThis is a presentation of a documentation project regarding climate changes – from our sijdda reindeer herding group, consisting of myself, my two children and a cousin’s child. On the one hand, we document climate changes, and on the other hand we show how industrial exploitation and forestry impact on our ability to be “resilient”: an imposed flexibility.We work and live along the Lule River, moving between winter and summer lands, stretching from the mountains in the west, to 100 km east of Jåhkåmåkke. Fifty years ago, the conditions were totally different from today. The reindeer were tamer and didn’t fear humans. We worked on skis, humans and reindeer lived together under the same conditions. There were few forestry roads, and no snowmobiles with their tracks. Lichen on the trees was plentiful. The lichen on the ground was not destroyed by forestry machines. We rarely had to transport reindeer by trucks, and rarely had to support-feed them. The reindeer could support themselves most of the time.Today, due to exploitation and climate changes combined, we have to support-feed the reindeer every year. Because of rapid temperature changes, snow falls, turns to water, and then freezes, “locking in” the ground lichen. The trees are also cut down, and so no tree lichen is available.Our project departs from our perspectives, defining the problems and the solutions. The ambition is to communicate our findings and recommendations to the public and decision makers, with a view to protect our future, our Sámi culture. 2. Eva Charlotta Helsdotter, Uppsala UniversityUnder the surface: Water, pollution, and threats against Sámi food security – learning from the Talvivaara tailings dam failure Clean and safe water is the key to food security and food sovereignty. How can Sámi/Indigenous waters be protected from the destructive mining policies in the era of climate change mitigation and the scramble for metals needed for electrical cars, batteries, solar cells, and wind-power plants? How can awareness of the toxic pollution of tailings dams be raised among the public and decision-makers? This presentation is part of a film project about the Talvivaara tin mine in Finland, and the disastrous tailings dam failures in 2012-2013. A research group consisting of myself, May-Britt Öhman, and the independent filmmaker Storlöpare visited the site in 2017, conducting video interviews and documenting the area. The failure caused massive problems. Leakage from the tailings dam is still ongoing, polluting waters all the way to the city of Oulu, and into the Baltic Sea. On the opposite side of the Baltic Sea, in Sweden, several mines are located in Sámi territories, and more mines are planned. In 2013, the Swedish government adopted a Mineral Strategy in which they claim to exploit mineral assets in a “long-term sustainable way, with consideration shown for ecological, social and cultural dimensions...”. Yet, respect for Sámi people is still lacking. The aim of the project is to reach a wider audience, and to support ongoing struggles to protect Sámi lands and waters. At NAISA, the ambition is to show an example of how to join film and scientific research, and to receive suggestions on how to proceed. 3. Liz-Marie Nilsen and Ignacio AcostaFighting climate change and forest fires – from a Sámi perspective We present a research project documenting experiences from forest fires in two municipalities within Sámi territories.The summer of 2018 was extremely hot and dry in Sweden, with up to 50 forest fires raging simultaneously. In Jåhkåmåkke – which has 5000 inhabitants, and an area of 19 477 km2 – as many as four fires raged simultaneously during July. With the support of volunteers, and building on experiences from a major fire in 2006, disaster was avoided. In Ljusdal – which has 19000 inhabitants, and an area of 5288 km2 – the fires spread out of control, and people had to be evacuated. Understanding what went well in Jåhkåmåkke and what went wrong in Ljusdal may provide lessons to be learned: it is not only about climate change, it is also about firefighting competence. Another aspect, highlighted from the Sámi perspective, concerns disaster relief: while forest owners resort to insurance, there is no such relief for reindeer herders, as they don’t own the grazing lands. According to the Sámi Parliament’s application for disaster relief to the Swedish government, 31 out of 51 Sámi reindeer herding villages and 21 500 hectare of grazing lands burned.Due to climate change we can expect more of the same in the future. Thus the consequences of forest fires for reindeer grazing need to be addressed and mitigated, at the same time as it is of major importance to reclaim local and traditional knowledge on firefighting, demanding that the actors involved are prepared and ready when it happens again. 4. Scott Burnett, Wits Centre for Diversity Studies, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg)The whiteness of green ideology: Swedish environmentalism as colonial vanguardThe violent occupation and appropriation of land in Sápmi for Swedish hydro- and wind-power projects has been opposed by Sámi scholars and activists for over a century. Yet Sweden has maintained its reputation on the world stage both as a humanitarian and green “superpower”. The narrative of “good Sweden” has worked to (re)produce the nation as a space where whiteness is the unquestioned norm, and settler colonialism passes as common sense. Environmentalist communication in this context shapes ethical subjectivity, and legitimises the colonial base of the modern welfare state.This paper presents a discourse-theoretical analysis of the construction of “renewable” energy around the 2018 elections. It investigates closely the Swedish Green Party’s election platform at a national level, and also zooms in to Jåhkåmåkke municipality, and Sámi candidate Henrik Blind’s successful campaign for office. While Sámi issues remain “unspeakable” at a national level, local political texts reveal complex accommodations and contestations. I argue that mainstream Swedish environmentalism constructs the argument for renewable energy as a series of impossible choices.While this research has been pursued in conversation with Sámi scholars, I do not speak for or from a Sámi position. I am a descendant of the European settler colonialists of South Africa, and I have recently relocated to Sweden. My approach to critical “race” and indigenous studies research is to problematise the colonial centre and the “whiteness” it reproduces, in the tradition of critical whiteness and settler colonial studies.
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