Program for ASA konferansen 18-20 september

Program 18-19.09.2024

Wednesday 18th September

9.00 – 10.00 Arrival at Árran, registration and coffee

10.00 – 10.45 Welcome by mayor Britt Kristoffersen Løksa and director at Árran

Part 1. Saami Burial Customs: Repatriation/Reburial and Ethical Perspectives

From the Saami regions, various burial customs are known. The most prominent is the scree graves with roots dating back to pre-Christian times, dominating Saami areas until the 18th century. Other Saami burial forms include various types of earth burials and later Christian burial customs.

A substantial skeletal material exists today in various universities, collected from the 19th century to the present. The largest collection, comprising over 1000 Saami skeletons, is currently housed at the Biological Anthropology Collection at University of Oslo.

The collection of Saami skeletal material occurred during the era of classical racism, where it was believed that people could be classified into races based on physical characteristics. Skull shapes were considered a central criterion for racial classifications, leading to the excavation of burial sites and looting of graves for skulls. Consequently, a large amount of skeletal material was collected from various Saami regions. Calls from the Saami community advocate for the reburial of this material, such as the skeletal material from Vánasjsuolo/Lapphomen in Tysfjord. Reburials have been carried out on the Norwegian side, including Neiden in 2011 and Kautokeino in 2016, with similar actions on the Swedish side.

Skeletal collections represent a potential source for anthropological, biological, and cultural-historical research, providing information on gender, age at death, physical appearance, etc. The National Commission for Research Ethics on Human Remains (The Skeleton Committee) serves as an advisory body for research on these remains.

In this session we have invited Sean Dexter Denham, PhD, to be our key note speaker. His lecture is titled “Research, Repatriation, Reburial: Ethical considerations in the handling of indigenous human remains”. Dr. Denham is a Senior Researcher and osteologist at the Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger. He is also the current leader of Norway’s National Comitee for Research Ethics on Human Remains, a position he has held since 2022.

 

 

10.45 – 11.30 Key note speaker: Sean Denham,  Senior Researcher and osteologist at the Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger: Research, Repatriation, Reburial: ethical considerations in the handing of indigenous human remains

11.30 – 12.00 Discussion

12.00 -13.00 Lunch in the café at Árran

13.00 – 13.20 Marcus Fjellstrøm, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Archaeological research laboratory, Stockholm University, Silvermuseet/ INSARC and Ingela Bergman, Silvermuseet/ INSARC:

A “reindeer grave” from Gallesgutj, Árjepluovve? Archaeological and osteological investigation of a potential new feature type

13.25 – 13.45 Kjerstin Lidén, Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, Marcus Fjellstrøm, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Silvermuseet/INSARC, Archaeological research laboratory, Stockholm University,  and Inga Maria Mulk, Independent researcher, Sweden:

The life history of the individual buried in Árivuobmi – extended mobility revealed by stable isotope analysis

13.50 – 14.10 Jans Heinerud, Västerbottens museum, Sweden:

Repatriation processes in Sweden

14.10 -14.25 Coffeebreak

14.25 –14.45 Eija Ojanlatva, Sámi Museum Siida, Inari, Finland:

Reburial of Saami Ancestors

14.50 – 15.10 Kicki Eldh, Swedish National Heritage Board:

Swedish government assignment concerning identification and return of saami human remains and saami objects.                    

15.10 – 15.30 Summary discussions

 

 

15.30 – 16.30 Guided tour in the museum exhibition

19.00 Dinner at Hamarøy Hotel

 

Thursday 19th September

Part 2. Maritime Adaptation/Coastal and Lake Adaptation or General Saami Research

Saami livelihoods exhibit significant diversity, encompassing reindeer herding, fishing, farming, gathering, hunting, and trapping. Both farming and fishing have deep roots among the Saami, with small-scale farming and fishing characterizing many Saami communities. Written sources also testify to Saami boat-building skills and Saami blacksmiths. However, researchers have comparatively given less attention to the maritime perspective.

The goal is to highlight aspects of Saami society that have not been sufficiently emphasized previously. The session invites researchers and students to emphasize a maritime perspective by discussing coastal Saami communities engaged in farming and fishing, lake and river cultures, or boat building.

As our key note speaker at this session we have invited Associate Professor Jostein Bergstøl at the Museum of Cultural History, the University of Oslo, to lecture on “The Prehistory of the South Saami. Current status, and some thoughts in where to put in future efforts”. Dr. Bergstøl has worked with archaeoogical excavations and heritage management in forests and mountains in southern Norway for more than 25 years, and has been particularly concerned with the prehistory of the south Saami.

9.00 – 9.40 Keynotespeaker Jostein Bergstøl, Associate professor at Museum of Cultural history, University of Oslo

The prehistory of the South Saami. Current status, and some thoughts on where to put in future efforts

9.40-9.50 Discussion

9.55 – 10.15 Oddmund Andersen, Árran julevsáme guovdásj AS:

Saami agriculture and ritual practice in the Middle Ages. A study of Saami settlement with emphasis on Divtasvuodna/Tysfjord

 

 

10.20 – 10.40 Håkon Hermansstrand, Nord University and Ann-Kristin Solsten, Røros museum:

Sedentary Saami livelihood from the Atlantic Ocean to the Bothnian Sea

10.40 – 10.55 Coffe break

11.00- 11.20 – Ingrid Sommerseth, The Arctic University Museum of Norway:

Wild reindeer hunting in the mountains and social interaction along the coast during the Iron Age and Early Medieval Period

11.25 – 11.45 Marcus Frid and Bjørn Underdal, Osteological research laboratory, Stockholm University:

Echoes from the North: The role of the Great Northern Diver in the lived religion and culture of the Saami, 1500-1800

11.45 – 12.00 Discussion

12-00 – 13. 00 Lunch

Part 3. Indigenous Perspective, Indigenous Archaeology, Reading Saami Ethnicity in Archaeology

In 1985, an article was published addressing research on Saami history and archaeology. Audhild Schanche and Bjørnar Olsen wrote the article “Var de alle nordmenn: En etnopolitisk kritikk av norsk arkeologi” (“Were they all Norwegians: An ethnopolitical critique of Norwegian archaeology”)[1]. They argued that the rise of Norwegian archaeology and prehistory was highlighted at the expense of Saami prehistory, particularly concerning research on ethnicity.

From the 1970s, several works were published exploring archaeology and ethnicity, focusing on the identification and emergence of Saami ethnicity. These approaches typically used modern anthropological models in diachronic perspectives, offering new insights. However, the method faced strong criticism from several researchers who viewed it as politically biased. Nevertheless, this approach has gained traction and is currently employed by various researchers.

 

 

In this session, we aim to continue the discussion on the use of anthropological models to understand past Saami societies. Where do we stand today, and what lies ahead?

To shed light on this topic, we have invited Siv Ellen Kraft as our key note speaker. Siv Ellen Kraft is a professor of Religious Studies at UIT The Arctic University of Norway, in Tromsø, Northern Norway/Sápmi on the Norwegian side. Professor Kraft’s research is centered on contemporary indigenous religion(s) in Sápmi, and on the rethinking of “Indigenous religion(s)” as a category and a field of study. It has taken an ecological turn over recent years, subsequent to increasing climate- and nature-related conflicts, some of which involve sacred claims and religious registers. Professor Kraft is the author of six monographs (two of which are co-written). She has co-edited seven books, and has written numerous articles. She is a member of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Holberg Prize Award.

13.00 – 13.40 Keynotespeaker Siv Ellen Kraft, professor of Religious Studies at The Arctic University of Norway:

Reclaiming sacred grounds: Indigenous religion(s) in Sápmi

13.40 – 13.50 Discussion

13.55 – 14.15 Francis Joy, The Arctic anthropology research team, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland:

Rock paintings in Finland and questions concerning saami cosmology from the seventeenth century

14.15 – 14.30 Coffebreak

14.30 – 14 50 Berit Andersson, Lund University, Dag Avango, Luleå University of technology, Ola Jensen, Roger Nyqvist, Frida Palmbo, Norrbottens Museum,  Erik Sandén, Peter Persson:

Cultural heritage and the legacies of hydro-power in the Swedish north.

14.55 – 15.15 Marthe Spangen, Museum of cultural history, University of Oslo:

Were they all Saami men?

 

 

15.15 – 16.00 Discussion

16.00 – 16.45 Summing up the conference and future prospects, by the key note speakers

[1] The article was published in: Arkeologi og etnisitet. AmS- Varia 15, 1985.

 

Excursion program – 20.09.2024
Excursion to interesting cultural heritage sites in the area. Warm clothes and good shoes are recommended. Only short walks.

09.00 Bus from Hamarøy hotel to Vuohuppe/Tømmernes: Second world War memorials and Slave labour camp

10.00 Bus to Ájladde/Hellandsberg: Saami settlement mounds

11.00 Bus to Leiknes, 9000 years old rock art

13.00 Lunch at Tysfjord Turistsenter

14.00 Bus drive back to Hamarøy hotel, arrival ca 15.00