hi, so, i haven't written in a while, as i just got back from an amazing week in stockholm. among the great things that happened: my sweet gentleman friend julian came to visit me from l.a., i turned 22, and i got my swedish residence permit. that's right. for the few of you to whom i secretly freaked out about this in confidence a few weeks ago, ALL IS WELL! that aside, i'm going to have to write more later (& post lots of photos), as the train ride up to jokkmokk was especially uncomfortable and sleepless, and on top of that i've caught a cold and fever. on the upside, the spring thaw is fully on and as i walked over to use the internet (past 9pm) the sun still hadn't fully set. the midnight sun is gearing up and soon there will be 21-24 hours of daylight, even now it's kind of disorienting....
more tomorrow!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
the real reindeer games
so, the Nordiska Same Mästerskapen has come and gone, and here are some photos of the event. pretty much all of these are of the "Sprint med lassokastning" (sprint and lasso casting on ski's) competition. there were several different age groups competing. the first group was kids around 9-14 years old, and the second group was youths aged 15-20 (?), i'm guessing.
athletes and spectators hanging out during the competition
the giant Sapmi flag!
young girl and ger dad strategizing
man wearing lots of lassoes
close up of his awesome "Sapmi" jacket
the team from Kiruna, a town north of Jokkmokk which is home to Sweden's largest iron-ore mine. it is also the home of Spaceport Sweden, the European Space and Sounding Rocket Range, and the Ice Hotel. this guy here (back turned) came in second place in the young men/women's competition.
skiing up to the lasso station
kids lined up and lassoing
the reindeer antler marks
going for it
lasso in mid-air
the rightmost guy in the red, number 67, won first place in the youth's 15-20 competition. moments after this photo was taken he lassoed his last antler and skiied through the finish line!
service at Gamla Kyrkan
Sofia Jannok, from Gallivare, is probably one of the most famous Sami musicians around. she combines joiking with jazz and pop, though the lyrics are in Sami! here she is singing"Amazing Grace" in Sami.
i'm off to Stockholm on Sunday for a birthday week extravaganza...my gentleman friend Julian is coming to Sweden to visit! I'm not looking forward to the 18 hour train rides there and back, but it'll be worth it. i leave you now with some random images of my days around town...
bell tower at Gamla Kyrkan
weird waves of melting snow...
the only sand i'm seeing these days
snow storm and icicles
a message
the school
house next door at night
"studio" by the ski runs where one could make drawings
like this
and this
and this!*
*sorry for the lack of white balance
athletes and spectators hanging out during the competition
the giant Sapmi flag!
young girl and ger dad strategizing
man wearing lots of lassoes
close up of his awesome "Sapmi" jacket
the team from Kiruna, a town north of Jokkmokk which is home to Sweden's largest iron-ore mine. it is also the home of Spaceport Sweden, the European Space and Sounding Rocket Range, and the Ice Hotel. this guy here (back turned) came in second place in the young men/women's competition.
skiing up to the lasso station
kids lined up and lassoing
the reindeer antler marks
going for it
lasso in mid-air
the rightmost guy in the red, number 67, won first place in the youth's 15-20 competition. moments after this photo was taken he lassoed his last antler and skiied through the finish line!
service at Gamla Kyrkan
Sofia Jannok, from Gallivare, is probably one of the most famous Sami musicians around. she combines joiking with jazz and pop, though the lyrics are in Sami! here she is singing"Amazing Grace" in Sami.
i'm off to Stockholm on Sunday for a birthday week extravaganza...my gentleman friend Julian is coming to Sweden to visit! I'm not looking forward to the 18 hour train rides there and back, but it'll be worth it. i leave you now with some random images of my days around town...
bell tower at Gamla Kyrkan
weird waves of melting snow...
the only sand i'm seeing these days
snow storm and icicles
a message
the school
house next door at night
"studio" by the ski runs where one could make drawings
like this
and this
and this!*
*sorry for the lack of white balance
Friday, March 16, 2007
Nordiska Same Mästerskapen
"spring" is gearing up here in the North, the thaw has begun and the streets have become muddy, icy hazards for the elderly and non-elderly alike. i'm really, really not a fan - today i had my first bad fall on the ice, but luckily no one was around to see. on the other hand, there's tons of sunlight, everything is bright and "warm" (+0-7). no hats or mittens for me these days. still, one has to be careful to not go outside for too long in just a sweater, tempting as it may be. this great weather though is perfect for the Nordiska Same Mästerskapen, the Nordic Sami Championships being held this weekend here in Jokkmokk. these are in preparation for the 2008 Arctic Winter Games in 2008 in Alaska, whose purpose is
"Bringing our Circumpolar World closer together. Stengthening and showcasing our Northern Communities and providing our youth an International opportunity to participate and showcase their talent."
this afternoon i went to watch the youth cross-country skiing and reindeer antler lassoing event. the Swedish/Norweigan/Finnish Sami athletes had to ski around the trails near the lake, then lasso some reindeer antlers on posts from a distance, then keep skiing across the lake. lots of tangles and falling! it was interesting though to see everyone wearing fancy ski outfits with the name of their sameby or team on it and their lassoes wrapped around their chests and shoulders as they skiied for the gold. both boys and girls participate in the same events, by the way. i took lots of snaps but haven't had a chance to upload them yet. tonight there is the awards ceremony at the gamla kyrkan, the old octagonal church, not far from where the competitions were being held. tomorrow there's more competitions, including pistol shooting and more lassoing. tonight the town will turn into a big party because everyone loves any chance to get out of the house and have fun with others during the winter....
i'll write more on monday and post lots of photos, too.
"Bringing our Circumpolar World closer together. Stengthening and showcasing our Northern Communities and providing our youth an International opportunity to participate and showcase their talent."
this afternoon i went to watch the youth cross-country skiing and reindeer antler lassoing event. the Swedish/Norweigan/Finnish Sami athletes had to ski around the trails near the lake, then lasso some reindeer antlers on posts from a distance, then keep skiing across the lake. lots of tangles and falling! it was interesting though to see everyone wearing fancy ski outfits with the name of their sameby or team on it and their lassoes wrapped around their chests and shoulders as they skiied for the gold. both boys and girls participate in the same events, by the way. i took lots of snaps but haven't had a chance to upload them yet. tonight there is the awards ceremony at the gamla kyrkan, the old octagonal church, not far from where the competitions were being held. tomorrow there's more competitions, including pistol shooting and more lassoing. tonight the town will turn into a big party because everyone loves any chance to get out of the house and have fun with others during the winter....
i'll write more on monday and post lots of photos, too.
Monday, March 12, 2007
hola paisano!
one day last week while i was the supermarket here in Jokkmokk, i ran into a little Colombian girl buying milk named Melissa. she'd been introduced to me by Disa Rutschman (Tom's wife) in front of Ajtte Museum once. we chatted, she took the milk home and then came over to hang with me at the church, which her family is a part of. she speaks only Spanish and a little Swedish, and we drew and she played the guitar and it was awesome!
Melissa, 12 years old.
Melissa drawing a picture of me
the drawing
anyway, yesterday she knocked on my door and invited me over to meet her parents later in the afternoon. a little back story: at the end of November 2006, about eight or so Colombian refugee families moved to Jokkmokk. the community took them in and has been helping them as they learn the language, settle in and generally become new Swedish citizens. the Mencado family is one of these. right now they receive a stiped from the government while they learn Swedish (they have lessons every day at the Kunskapenshus) so they can take the national language tests and be eligible to work. anyway, we had coffee and sandwiches, and had an amazing time discussing the "old country", talking about our families, and what their experiences have been like so far here in Sweden. an emotional and intense series of cirumstances, to say the least. they were refugees in Costa Rica for 8 years, and waited for 3 years so they could learn where they would be relocated - they didn't have a choice really, in which country they ultimately would move to. their trip over here included a flight to Paris, where upon their arrival were not allowed to bring the mother's insulin into the country, and she was eventually hopsitalized for 8 days. from there they flew to Lulea, which is where they thought they were going to live, but when they were picked up from the airport and on their way to Jokkmokk they realized they were moving to a tiny town in the Arctic Circle (in the darkest part of winter no less - sunlight for 3 hours a day)!
the Mencado family.
they had some funny stories, about the huge differences in expectations and customs they've learned about so far here. in Colombia, obviously, it was quite unsafe for children, or anyone really, due to the rampant kidnapping and violent crimes. the mom had been a judge for 9 years in Colombia. they arrive in Jokkmokk, a town where people leave their houses unlocked, keys in the ignition of cars, and if you lose anything from your wallet to a pair of gloves, you either find it where you left it or someone returns it to you, without exception. there's no police station and only three policemen, whom you have to call at home in the very rare case of a crime. people from town donated furniture, clothing, kitchen appliances, and even a car! they were amazed at certain customs an attitudes here: both men and women cook for their families and are treated equally, and children are allowed to have candy only on Saturdays (!). we had a hearty laugh at their initial worry that they wouldn't be able to buy coffee here. another thing is the Swedish never brag or advertise their social status, it's considered gauche and rude to imply that you're better than someone else in any way, wether it be intelligence or wealth. everyone dresses down generally and has simple, economic cars. they have commercials on TV on how you shouldn't make fun of other people for mistakes because that can "ruin their dreams" - no joke. extreme patriotism/nationalism is also totally looked down upon, inter-racial marriages are accepted completely, and unmarried couples have the same legal rights as married couples. the concept of having children out of wedlock does not exist here. if anything, most people have a few kids before/if they get married.
the mom got a little teary-eyed after we'd been chatting for awhile, about the lonliness and feeling so out of place, but they were excited to talk to a fellow "paisa" (latin american countryperson) and thinking about the future. they even said if that years from now, if i ever return to Jokkmokk, i have a home there with them, for they plan on staying for a long time! i'm really excited for them, though they're far away from home and completely re-adjusting to a new culture. Melissa and her siblings will have access to free healthcare, education, and elderly pensions among other things throughout their lives, and enjoy standards of living that surpass America's. their eldest son Andres is the star of his Swedish class and has learned more Swedish in these short months than people who've been in the class for 1 or 2 years. he was studying to be an industrial engineer in Colombia and will pursue that here as well. i'm in complete awe and filled with respect for people who, in spite of difficult lives/situations out of their control, can accept radical change and work hard to give their families the best that they can. my parents did the same when they came to America from El Salvador, and i'm thankful every day for it. if they hadn't, i doubt i'd be living my dreams doing what i love or here in Sweden meeting such amazing people today!
Melissa, 12 years old.
Melissa drawing a picture of me
the drawing
anyway, yesterday she knocked on my door and invited me over to meet her parents later in the afternoon. a little back story: at the end of November 2006, about eight or so Colombian refugee families moved to Jokkmokk. the community took them in and has been helping them as they learn the language, settle in and generally become new Swedish citizens. the Mencado family is one of these. right now they receive a stiped from the government while they learn Swedish (they have lessons every day at the Kunskapenshus) so they can take the national language tests and be eligible to work. anyway, we had coffee and sandwiches, and had an amazing time discussing the "old country", talking about our families, and what their experiences have been like so far here in Sweden. an emotional and intense series of cirumstances, to say the least. they were refugees in Costa Rica for 8 years, and waited for 3 years so they could learn where they would be relocated - they didn't have a choice really, in which country they ultimately would move to. their trip over here included a flight to Paris, where upon their arrival were not allowed to bring the mother's insulin into the country, and she was eventually hopsitalized for 8 days. from there they flew to Lulea, which is where they thought they were going to live, but when they were picked up from the airport and on their way to Jokkmokk they realized they were moving to a tiny town in the Arctic Circle (in the darkest part of winter no less - sunlight for 3 hours a day)!
the Mencado family.
they had some funny stories, about the huge differences in expectations and customs they've learned about so far here. in Colombia, obviously, it was quite unsafe for children, or anyone really, due to the rampant kidnapping and violent crimes. the mom had been a judge for 9 years in Colombia. they arrive in Jokkmokk, a town where people leave their houses unlocked, keys in the ignition of cars, and if you lose anything from your wallet to a pair of gloves, you either find it where you left it or someone returns it to you, without exception. there's no police station and only three policemen, whom you have to call at home in the very rare case of a crime. people from town donated furniture, clothing, kitchen appliances, and even a car! they were amazed at certain customs an attitudes here: both men and women cook for their families and are treated equally, and children are allowed to have candy only on Saturdays (!). we had a hearty laugh at their initial worry that they wouldn't be able to buy coffee here. another thing is the Swedish never brag or advertise their social status, it's considered gauche and rude to imply that you're better than someone else in any way, wether it be intelligence or wealth. everyone dresses down generally and has simple, economic cars. they have commercials on TV on how you shouldn't make fun of other people for mistakes because that can "ruin their dreams" - no joke. extreme patriotism/nationalism is also totally looked down upon, inter-racial marriages are accepted completely, and unmarried couples have the same legal rights as married couples. the concept of having children out of wedlock does not exist here. if anything, most people have a few kids before/if they get married.
the mom got a little teary-eyed after we'd been chatting for awhile, about the lonliness and feeling so out of place, but they were excited to talk to a fellow "paisa" (latin american countryperson) and thinking about the future. they even said if that years from now, if i ever return to Jokkmokk, i have a home there with them, for they plan on staying for a long time! i'm really excited for them, though they're far away from home and completely re-adjusting to a new culture. Melissa and her siblings will have access to free healthcare, education, and elderly pensions among other things throughout their lives, and enjoy standards of living that surpass America's. their eldest son Andres is the star of his Swedish class and has learned more Swedish in these short months than people who've been in the class for 1 or 2 years. he was studying to be an industrial engineer in Colombia and will pursue that here as well. i'm in complete awe and filled with respect for people who, in spite of difficult lives/situations out of their control, can accept radical change and work hard to give their families the best that they can. my parents did the same when they came to America from El Salvador, and i'm thankful every day for it. if they hadn't, i doubt i'd be living my dreams doing what i love or here in Sweden meeting such amazing people today!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
the international polar year 2007-2008
march 1st was the official launch date of the International Polar Year 2007-2008. from march 2007 to march 2009, scientists from over 60 nations, in fields ranging from meteorology to anthropology, as well as artists, writers, and indigenous peoples councils, will be involved in work meant to increase awareness about the current state of life and environment in both North and South polar regions. there's tons of interesting projects going on, and anyone with interest in polar issues can participate. some highlights from ongoing projects and proposals:
Tara Expeditions - a polar schooner from France that is attempting to float on the Arctic pack ice for two years. they have a blog you can read on the site.
NOMAD: Reindeer Herding from a Reindeer Perspective - a collaborative project between Norweigan and German social scientists studying a full year's cycle of reindeer migration on the Kola Peninsula, Russia.
Stella Antartica - a 9-nation collaborative effort investigating the feasibility of establishing an astronomical observatory at Dome C in Antartica.
Polar Cigarette Cards - some interesting images and history about depictions of the polar subjects appearing in 19th century cigarette packs.
Indigenous People's IPY Site - actually about the Ealát Project, a a Reindeer Herders Vulnerability Network Study based out of Kautokeino, Norway.
Official U.S. IPY Site - the United States postal service will be issuing a souvenier sheet of stamps commemorating the 2007-2008 International Polar Year!
three cheers for the arctic and antarctic!
Tara Expeditions - a polar schooner from France that is attempting to float on the Arctic pack ice for two years. they have a blog you can read on the site.
NOMAD: Reindeer Herding from a Reindeer Perspective - a collaborative project between Norweigan and German social scientists studying a full year's cycle of reindeer migration on the Kola Peninsula, Russia.
Stella Antartica - a 9-nation collaborative effort investigating the feasibility of establishing an astronomical observatory at Dome C in Antartica.
Polar Cigarette Cards - some interesting images and history about depictions of the polar subjects appearing in 19th century cigarette packs.
Indigenous People's IPY Site - actually about the Ealát Project, a a Reindeer Herders Vulnerability Network Study based out of Kautokeino, Norway.
Official U.S. IPY Site - the United States postal service will be issuing a souvenier sheet of stamps commemorating the 2007-2008 International Polar Year!
three cheers for the arctic and antarctic!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
reindeer games
oh man, i'm so thankful for pals that live around the corner and their wireless internet - yes, that means i'm posting past 4pm tonight! on a personal aside, today was an exceptionally clumsy day. i've always been prone to spilling things on myself, but today was over the top. i had to do a load of laundry to take care of the coffee explosion that permeated three layers of clothing and various hand embroidered dish towels belonging to Salem. oops.
today i finally went to the Ajtte Museum's Sami Library. i can't believe i hadn't been there before, it was so amazing...well, actually, i do know why. things here tend to open around 1pm, stores and the main library for example, and are open for 6 hours or less. the Sami library is open for 4 hours a day, except tuesday, and is closed mondays and the weekend. i had some trouble checking things out, unexpected given the relative ease i had getting a library card at the main library. the librarian eventually let me borrow some books in english that had a special sticker on them - i believe they belong to another library - which was fine by me. she said i could come when the library was closed on certain days and do work there, though. excellent! i also got a library card, which i think she went out of her way to do. anyway, my Swedish has slightly improved in terms of understanding the gist of text and conversations, so my time in the library will be slightly more productive than it would have a month ago. i can't believe it's march already, by the way...
yesterday, i went out to a place 15 minutes outside of Jokkmokk, to the home of Katarina Rassa and her husband Bertil. she very kindly invited me out to her home a while back when Eva from the Area Laponia office passed on my name. so, today, in spite of the weather, i went to check out what's going on with them and their reindeer, as well as the guesthouse they're renovating. i was afraid it was going to be a very professional affair, like i was going out there to make a business transaction or something, but happily this wasn't the case. we chatted for a while over boiled coffee so strong it was nearly alcoholic and stewed reindeer, that we ate with bread and butter. the taste of reindeer is something i'm slowly getting used to. i can't compare it to beef or other red meats since i haven't tried those (well, it's definitely not like bacon). i'm inclined to say it's quite gamey, and apparently it's a very lean meat and full of anti-oxidants. it's a staple in the Sami homes, obviously. but i feel much better eating reindeer seeing the way that they live, which is thousands of times better than the poor cows in the factory farms we have in the States. the reindeer lead great lives, wandering all over nothern Sweden and Norway as they please, accompanied and occasionally fed by the herders as they move from place to place, or just foraging out in the fjäll forests. also, the Sami make use of every single part of a reindeer, so nothing is wasted.
one of rudolph's friends. sorry to any vegans and my vegetarian family members if they are reading this.
Katarina told me about so many interesting things, it's hard to know where to begin. for one, she keeps pheasants, from China, which are absolutely beautiful and fascinating creatures. she showed me her workroom, where she makes everything from embroidered reindeer skin bags to shoes, hats, wool socks and special woven belts and ribbons the Sami use. i have to say that her handicraft work, and her husbands creations of birch and bone, and his knives, are some of the best i've ever seen. the birch absolutely glows, and the bone knives and buttons are carved so perfectly and intricately it's hard to believe they're made by hand. they've exhibited their work several times in southern Sweden, and in France, as well. the best part is that she agreed to show me how to weave the Sami belts and sew skins, so i think i'm going to go out to her house in the future and work on some small things there.
katarina in her work room
a child's hat she made
work examples
an amazing birch chest inlaid with bone her husband made her as a wedding gift
some bags in process, and the sinews from the reindeer's legs used to sew the skin
demonstrating how to make a belt
the final result. women's patterns are diagonal, men's usually have crossings
when we went out to the corral where the reindeer were, she tried showing me the different marks and how to identify them. it's really, really difficult - to identify the cuts on a moving animal several meters away is something that is an acquired skill. she referred to it for her as "running water", something that comes easily to you, second nature. i asked her about women herders, and if there are any in her sameby (Sami village). she said there were several, and that before the 70s, many women worked side by side with their husbands and had their own reindeer, but there was a period where the Swedish family structure came into predominance and the women stayed home with the children instead of working outdoors with the men. this whole period was a time of intense and often forced change for the Sami. Katerina told me how her parents were punished in school for speaking Sami with their siblings or among each other, and for this reason many kids from her generation did not learn the language, and had to teach themselves when they got older if they wanted to know it. her parent's generation were made to feel badly about being Sami, like they were second class citizens, and experienced much racism. many things were lost in a very short span of time, and sometimes this caused tension between the older and younger people. the new generations of course, for the most part feel proud to be Sami and actively seek out establishing their own identity, or reindeer herds if they don't have them. this is a whole other obstacle in itself, for if your parents didn't teach you to herd, you have to find some family who will show you how, and spend years working with them before you know enough about it to do it yourself. the Sami village also has to formally accept you as a member before you can let your herd enter the sameby and participate in the round-ups and so forth. it also takes time to establish your own mark - usually you modify your parents' mark, and it has to circulate through all the villages so that they may say if it is too similar to another mark being used. this process takes about 2 years. if it's too close, you have to start all over and begin circulating again before it's approved.
Katarina joined her sameby when she was 19 years old. she has her own mark, that was passed down from her father to her. when she married, she joined her husband's smaller sameby. she seems to have an good, if not exceptional ability, for identifying reindeer - she has a large family, 24 of which are first cousins, and many of them herd reindeer in her sameby as well. when everyone corrals all the reindeer either in the spring or fall (?), it takes a long, long time to separate their own reindeer from everyone else's. you have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of reindeer running around, and you have to be able to pick out your own from amidst the chaos, and lasso them and their calves.
pheasants!
reindeer out an about in the corrall - due to the harsh winter this year it's easier for some folks to keep some of them close by and feed them, like the Rassa's do.
before they took me home, i helped them load heavy sacks of reindeer feed into their trailer, that they are storing at her brother-in-law's furniture workshop in Jokkmokk. they have to do this every one or two days, just the two of them. it felt good to be active, small work as it was, and i said so. Katarina's husband smiled and laughed, and seemed glad, though he is a very quiet man and didn't speak any English or directly to me at any point. in addition to visiting her for weaving lessons, i volunteered to help her renovate her guesthouse, which she said she would take me up on for sure soon. my day was made when she extended the invitation for me to join her family in the mountains during the spring and summer. this is a rare and wonderful opportunity - of course, of course, of course i will accept! during this time, she said, Jokkmokk is almost completely deserted. people move to temporary villages in the mountains into cabins, where they live for several weeks at a time until it's time to move with the reindeer elsewhere along the mountain. there's no electricity or running water, or radios or cellphone reception, so for many folks it's a welcome change of pace from the "busy" city life!
today i finally went to the Ajtte Museum's Sami Library. i can't believe i hadn't been there before, it was so amazing...well, actually, i do know why. things here tend to open around 1pm, stores and the main library for example, and are open for 6 hours or less. the Sami library is open for 4 hours a day, except tuesday, and is closed mondays and the weekend. i had some trouble checking things out, unexpected given the relative ease i had getting a library card at the main library. the librarian eventually let me borrow some books in english that had a special sticker on them - i believe they belong to another library - which was fine by me. she said i could come when the library was closed on certain days and do work there, though. excellent! i also got a library card, which i think she went out of her way to do. anyway, my Swedish has slightly improved in terms of understanding the gist of text and conversations, so my time in the library will be slightly more productive than it would have a month ago. i can't believe it's march already, by the way...
yesterday, i went out to a place 15 minutes outside of Jokkmokk, to the home of Katarina Rassa and her husband Bertil. she very kindly invited me out to her home a while back when Eva from the Area Laponia office passed on my name. so, today, in spite of the weather, i went to check out what's going on with them and their reindeer, as well as the guesthouse they're renovating. i was afraid it was going to be a very professional affair, like i was going out there to make a business transaction or something, but happily this wasn't the case. we chatted for a while over boiled coffee so strong it was nearly alcoholic and stewed reindeer, that we ate with bread and butter. the taste of reindeer is something i'm slowly getting used to. i can't compare it to beef or other red meats since i haven't tried those (well, it's definitely not like bacon). i'm inclined to say it's quite gamey, and apparently it's a very lean meat and full of anti-oxidants. it's a staple in the Sami homes, obviously. but i feel much better eating reindeer seeing the way that they live, which is thousands of times better than the poor cows in the factory farms we have in the States. the reindeer lead great lives, wandering all over nothern Sweden and Norway as they please, accompanied and occasionally fed by the herders as they move from place to place, or just foraging out in the fjäll forests. also, the Sami make use of every single part of a reindeer, so nothing is wasted.
one of rudolph's friends. sorry to any vegans and my vegetarian family members if they are reading this.
Katarina told me about so many interesting things, it's hard to know where to begin. for one, she keeps pheasants, from China, which are absolutely beautiful and fascinating creatures. she showed me her workroom, where she makes everything from embroidered reindeer skin bags to shoes, hats, wool socks and special woven belts and ribbons the Sami use. i have to say that her handicraft work, and her husbands creations of birch and bone, and his knives, are some of the best i've ever seen. the birch absolutely glows, and the bone knives and buttons are carved so perfectly and intricately it's hard to believe they're made by hand. they've exhibited their work several times in southern Sweden, and in France, as well. the best part is that she agreed to show me how to weave the Sami belts and sew skins, so i think i'm going to go out to her house in the future and work on some small things there.
katarina in her work room
a child's hat she made
work examples
an amazing birch chest inlaid with bone her husband made her as a wedding gift
some bags in process, and the sinews from the reindeer's legs used to sew the skin
demonstrating how to make a belt
the final result. women's patterns are diagonal, men's usually have crossings
when we went out to the corral where the reindeer were, she tried showing me the different marks and how to identify them. it's really, really difficult - to identify the cuts on a moving animal several meters away is something that is an acquired skill. she referred to it for her as "running water", something that comes easily to you, second nature. i asked her about women herders, and if there are any in her sameby (Sami village). she said there were several, and that before the 70s, many women worked side by side with their husbands and had their own reindeer, but there was a period where the Swedish family structure came into predominance and the women stayed home with the children instead of working outdoors with the men. this whole period was a time of intense and often forced change for the Sami. Katerina told me how her parents were punished in school for speaking Sami with their siblings or among each other, and for this reason many kids from her generation did not learn the language, and had to teach themselves when they got older if they wanted to know it. her parent's generation were made to feel badly about being Sami, like they were second class citizens, and experienced much racism. many things were lost in a very short span of time, and sometimes this caused tension between the older and younger people. the new generations of course, for the most part feel proud to be Sami and actively seek out establishing their own identity, or reindeer herds if they don't have them. this is a whole other obstacle in itself, for if your parents didn't teach you to herd, you have to find some family who will show you how, and spend years working with them before you know enough about it to do it yourself. the Sami village also has to formally accept you as a member before you can let your herd enter the sameby and participate in the round-ups and so forth. it also takes time to establish your own mark - usually you modify your parents' mark, and it has to circulate through all the villages so that they may say if it is too similar to another mark being used. this process takes about 2 years. if it's too close, you have to start all over and begin circulating again before it's approved.
Katarina joined her sameby when she was 19 years old. she has her own mark, that was passed down from her father to her. when she married, she joined her husband's smaller sameby. she seems to have an good, if not exceptional ability, for identifying reindeer - she has a large family, 24 of which are first cousins, and many of them herd reindeer in her sameby as well. when everyone corrals all the reindeer either in the spring or fall (?), it takes a long, long time to separate their own reindeer from everyone else's. you have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of reindeer running around, and you have to be able to pick out your own from amidst the chaos, and lasso them and their calves.
pheasants!
reindeer out an about in the corrall - due to the harsh winter this year it's easier for some folks to keep some of them close by and feed them, like the Rassa's do.
before they took me home, i helped them load heavy sacks of reindeer feed into their trailer, that they are storing at her brother-in-law's furniture workshop in Jokkmokk. they have to do this every one or two days, just the two of them. it felt good to be active, small work as it was, and i said so. Katarina's husband smiled and laughed, and seemed glad, though he is a very quiet man and didn't speak any English or directly to me at any point. in addition to visiting her for weaving lessons, i volunteered to help her renovate her guesthouse, which she said she would take me up on for sure soon. my day was made when she extended the invitation for me to join her family in the mountains during the spring and summer. this is a rare and wonderful opportunity - of course, of course, of course i will accept! during this time, she said, Jokkmokk is almost completely deserted. people move to temporary villages in the mountains into cabins, where they live for several weeks at a time until it's time to move with the reindeer elsewhere along the mountain. there's no electricity or running water, or radios or cellphone reception, so for many folks it's a welcome change of pace from the "busy" city life!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
kvikkjokk, spöke and sushi
hej. so on friday i returned from english camp - a tiring experience to say the least. unexpectedly i was put into the role of "leader", i.e. one of the camp counselors in charge of a group of five 13-14 year old girls. i shared a cabin with them and "supervised" them in the brief moments we had to be with them. a relaxed affair, altogether. my memories of camp, the one science camp i did attend, were that we were not allowed to be alone or without supervision for one second throughout the day. the kids at english camp pretty much had a run of the small hostel they were staying at, including playing in the giant snow drifts until 10pm or so, or wandering around sneaking smokes or making out in the dark. they also were glued to their cellphones, and one of the sparse duties each night was for me to take their cellphones and have them put them on a table so they wouldn't be up all night texting each other. this is a generation of children that sleeps with their mobiles under the pillows so they can tell when they've gotten a call or a message 24 hours a day. needless to say it took about 45 minutes of negotiation before they could relinquish them and put them on a table about 3 feet from their beds. wow.
anyway, two of the saving graces of the experience was spending a lot of time with Hilke, an exchange student from Germany, an incredibly intelligent and sweet girl who has been/is living in Jokkmokk for a year. the other was Tim, who, as it turns out, is the father of the guy Jonah whose apartment i stayed in a few weeks ago. Tim is an American from Ohio who moved to Sweden when he was 19 years old, and many an hour was spent reminiscing and comparing Sweden vs. America, or, him telling me crazy stories about the history of the mining industries of the area, including ghost stories - the kids loved these by the way, and he had a way of making even the most hyperactive teenage boys chill out and go to sleep like that.
he told one really good story that took place in the 1600s in the town Kvikkjokk where we were (population at it's height: 86, today: 14). according to some wrtings by, among other people, Carl Von Linne, there had been a pastor at the Luthern church here (the original burned down and was rebuilt in 1909), who had a wife named Christina. she had some sort of affair with another prominant man in the area, and was generally intriguing an unconventional. she was also known to have mystical powers, and learned the Sami language, and was actually accepted somehow, perhaps as a shaman, as one of them. it was said she had the power to change the weather and was respected for her abilities. upon her death, her body was put on some structure in the mountains to await burial. she had a necklace that she wore all her days in life, and was put with the body up there on the mountain. when the townspeople returned to get the corpse, it had disappeared, but the necklace was the only thing that remained. no one knows what happened to her body - some think the Sami took it to bury her in their own manner. or, maybe, she still inhabits the mountains around Kvikkjokk....
here are some photographs from camp - i didn't take many of the mountains as the weather was quite gray and obscured most of the vistas.
lake
afternoon trees
kids being cute. walking anywhere with them was a chaotic affair, of pushing each other into the snow and wrestling like little animals. oh yeah, the jackets the boys are wearing say "jokkmokk hockey wolverines"
walking to the church
bell tower
a strange painting of a king (?)
tim senften
one of the girls in my cabin. notice the gold heart appliqued to one of her teeth. another girl in the cabin had one too, this is a trend of some sort here...
the girls being silly with some left-over sticky rice
on saturday, Ylva invited me over to eat sushi with some friends at this community center place. the amount of food they made could've easily fed about 40 people. there was also tons of dessert and the ever-present coffee flowing. i met, among other folks, the son of Tom and Disa, Daniel, and these half-Swedish half-Greenlandic guys who were really nice. Ylva's been in town for a few days while she finishes interviews and writing up an article she's doing for one of the Sami publications. the theme of the article is ghost (spöke) stories, mostly centered around the Sami Folk High School here in Jokkmokk. when they were building the school, they uncovered some human remains and burial sites, and apparently ever since the school has existed there has been many, many reports of poltergeist-like occurances. Ylva's cousin lives there now and has experienced some of it herself. these things include loud knocking for hours on end, things being moved around, and people's dogs going crazy and barking as if someone were passing behind the doors of the rooms. FASCINATING! i've got to get a copy of this article when she's finished for sure. also, i'd like to put some photos of her, since i talk about her so much, but for some reason i haven't taken any yet. for now, here are some pictures of the delicious, delicious sushi we feasted upon.
mm
mmm
mmmm
mmmmm
folks feasting. the guy with beard was the guy at the market making the drums in one of my photos.
anyway, two of the saving graces of the experience was spending a lot of time with Hilke, an exchange student from Germany, an incredibly intelligent and sweet girl who has been/is living in Jokkmokk for a year. the other was Tim, who, as it turns out, is the father of the guy Jonah whose apartment i stayed in a few weeks ago. Tim is an American from Ohio who moved to Sweden when he was 19 years old, and many an hour was spent reminiscing and comparing Sweden vs. America, or, him telling me crazy stories about the history of the mining industries of the area, including ghost stories - the kids loved these by the way, and he had a way of making even the most hyperactive teenage boys chill out and go to sleep like that.
he told one really good story that took place in the 1600s in the town Kvikkjokk where we were (population at it's height: 86, today: 14). according to some wrtings by, among other people, Carl Von Linne, there had been a pastor at the Luthern church here (the original burned down and was rebuilt in 1909), who had a wife named Christina. she had some sort of affair with another prominant man in the area, and was generally intriguing an unconventional. she was also known to have mystical powers, and learned the Sami language, and was actually accepted somehow, perhaps as a shaman, as one of them. it was said she had the power to change the weather and was respected for her abilities. upon her death, her body was put on some structure in the mountains to await burial. she had a necklace that she wore all her days in life, and was put with the body up there on the mountain. when the townspeople returned to get the corpse, it had disappeared, but the necklace was the only thing that remained. no one knows what happened to her body - some think the Sami took it to bury her in their own manner. or, maybe, she still inhabits the mountains around Kvikkjokk....
here are some photographs from camp - i didn't take many of the mountains as the weather was quite gray and obscured most of the vistas.
lake
afternoon trees
kids being cute. walking anywhere with them was a chaotic affair, of pushing each other into the snow and wrestling like little animals. oh yeah, the jackets the boys are wearing say "jokkmokk hockey wolverines"
walking to the church
bell tower
a strange painting of a king (?)
tim senften
one of the girls in my cabin. notice the gold heart appliqued to one of her teeth. another girl in the cabin had one too, this is a trend of some sort here...
the girls being silly with some left-over sticky rice
on saturday, Ylva invited me over to eat sushi with some friends at this community center place. the amount of food they made could've easily fed about 40 people. there was also tons of dessert and the ever-present coffee flowing. i met, among other folks, the son of Tom and Disa, Daniel, and these half-Swedish half-Greenlandic guys who were really nice. Ylva's been in town for a few days while she finishes interviews and writing up an article she's doing for one of the Sami publications. the theme of the article is ghost (spöke) stories, mostly centered around the Sami Folk High School here in Jokkmokk. when they were building the school, they uncovered some human remains and burial sites, and apparently ever since the school has existed there has been many, many reports of poltergeist-like occurances. Ylva's cousin lives there now and has experienced some of it herself. these things include loud knocking for hours on end, things being moved around, and people's dogs going crazy and barking as if someone were passing behind the doors of the rooms. FASCINATING! i've got to get a copy of this article when she's finished for sure. also, i'd like to put some photos of her, since i talk about her so much, but for some reason i haven't taken any yet. for now, here are some pictures of the delicious, delicious sushi we feasted upon.
mm
mmm
mmmm
mmmmm
folks feasting. the guy with beard was the guy at the market making the drums in one of my photos.
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