Bordered Spaces and Remembered Land

From the 1850s to the early 1900s, Indigenous peoples in the American West and in Sápmi contended with imposed borders which severely affected land use and ecological conditions. Kiowas were forced onto a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma in the 1870s. Unfavorable conditions, exacerbated by years of drought and fauna depletion made existence difficult. In Apacheria, straddling the international border between Mexico and the U.S., wars in the 1860s-1880s devastated Apache fields and people were forcibly removed. In Sápmi, the closing of the border between Norway and Finland (1852), and Finland/Sweden (1888) demolished Sámi reindeer herding, while the 1905 closure between Norway and Sweden caused disruptive dislocations of people and animals, particularly complicated in the region of Tärnaby/Vilhelmina.

Based on oral history, records on reservations, allotments, courts, photographs, and art works this theme asks how these restrictions affected the environment and biodiversity and in what ways people responded to these changes. To what extent was traditional knowledge about the environment retained and through which forms? What explains conflict lines that emerged and how were they dealt with, both in relation to Indigenous and settler neighbors and to colonial authorities. Team leaders: Fur & Pirak Sikku.

Photo credit: Gunlög Fur