Lovely views of the mountains from the streets in Staare!
Lake Storsjön, Staare.
The mountains can be seen from almost every street here!
Gunlög Fur, Janne Lahti, and Lindsay Doran at Mitt University in Staare -- accompanied by Katarina Pirak Sikku's art!
Entrance to the Gaaltije Sámi museum in Staare, where LNUC and the SUN team were able to meet and converse with operations director Jerker Bexelius about Sámi rights, culture, and history in the region.
Gunlög speaking before our dinner together as a group at Arctura Restaurant and Skybar.
The expanse of greenery at the base of the mountains is lovely, and crucial to those who call Sápmi home.
Lindsay's first time seeing mountains here!
Here, one can see both the mountains of Staare and the city at the base.
LNUC and SUN gathered at Arctura, to network, collaborate, and enjoy dinner while discussing research.
Beautiful art in downtown Staare.
The setting sun over the mountains and lake was such a valuable, poignant sight on our last day in Staare.
World Congress of Environmental History
Indigenous Survivance: Rethinking Environmental Crisis and Global Colonialism
Photo: Harri Tarvainen, 2016
The SUN Project arrives at the University of Oulu for the WCEH 2024 conference!
Gunlög Fur and Janne Lahti prepare for Day One of WCEH!
Sami Lakomäki chairing SUN-convened panel, "Indigenous Survivance: Rethinking Environmental Crisis and Global Colonialism". (Fellow chairs not pictured: Gunlög Fur and Janne Lahti.)
Lindsay is ready to present on Day Four of WCEH!
Lindsay presented her article in progress: "Policy, Propaganda, and Paternalism: Colonial Rhetoric Within Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School Publications, 1910--1933."
"The Market Square Policeman" or "Toripolliisi" -- sculpted by Kaarlo Mikkonen in 1987 to commemorate local policemen, and still standing in Oulu's market square today.
Day One began with keynote speaker Imre Szeman's (University of Toronto, Scarborough) lecture, "The Future of the Sun"; concerning approaches to energy transitions and greener futures.
After the first day of the conference concluded, attendees were welcomed during a reception at Uppsala Universitet's Universitetshuset.
Conference reception at Uppsala University's Universitetshuset -- so many brilliant and warm people exchanging ideas!
A representative from the U.S. Embassy in Sweden, welcoming conference attendees to NAAS 2023 during the reception.
Day 2 of #naas2023 began with our colleague Sami Lakomäki's (University of Oulu) plenary lecture: "Of Dancing and Other Documents: Indigenous Archives, Colonial Records, and Histories of Imperial Warfare in North America."
NAAS 2025 was announced during the conference -- next hosted by University of Turku, Finland!
Panel chair and SUN team member Janne Lahti (University of Helsinki) continued #naas2023 Day Two with his work, "Nordic Colonial Durabilities: Gustaf Nordenskiöld, Mesa Verde, and the Settler Colonization of the American Southwest."
SUN team members Gunlög Fur and Lindsay Doran (and Nordic Sources workshop members Mikal Eckstrom, Karen Hansen, Magdalena Ewa Naum, and Sigrid Lien) enjoying a lively roundtable discussion concerning Nordic Settlers and Indigenous Peoples: Entanglements and Reverberations. Photo Courtesy: Reetta Humalajoki, (@ReettaEH on Twitter.)
Our fearless leader, Gunlög Fur (Linnaeus University) kicked off Day 3 of #naas2023 with her excellently thought-provoking plenary lecture, "Building a New Scandinavia on Indigenous Land."
Gunlög's plenary lecture included reflective words from Tala Sanning, or "Speak the Truth."
Behind the scenes! A peek at SUN team member Lindsay Doran (University of Eastern Finland) enjoying the beautiful Uppsala weather between conference panels.
As the last day of #naas2023 concluded, the SUN project team expressed thanks for the chance to attend! Here's to new acquaintances and shared knowledge, and NAAS 2025!
The Etnografiska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden -- the location of SUN leader Gunlög Fur's May 2023 workshop, Nordic Sources to Indigenous Histories!
Made up of a diverse team hailing from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and the United States, our workshop members were ready for a fruitful exchange of ideas regarding the treatment and sharing of Indigenous sources and material in Nordic institutions.
The workshop included a museum tour and valuable discussions with the museum's curator and staff.
The museum showcases a wide variety (and large amount) of Indigenous masks -- these were reported as belonging to the Nuxalk (Bella Coola), Tlingit, and Tsimshian nations.
Explanation accompanying the Etnografiska Museet's Indigenous mask exhibition.
Additional masks at the Etnografiska Museet -- all attributed to the Nuxalk (Bella Coola), Tlingit, and Tsimshian nations. Provenance and the workings of gifts or acquisitions from Indigenous nations were discussed extensively during the workshop.
The North American exhibition at the Etnografiska Museet, where our workshop group was able to view a variety of North American Indigenous collections.
The Museet's statement regarding the ethics of displaying sacred, culturally important Indigenous artifacts.
"Indian nostalgia" -- the group was able to examine a collection of Swedish popular culture items (movies, books, and comic books) that created specific stereotypes of the "American Indian experience."
One section of the museet was devoted to the Indigenous boarding school experience. Most of the exhibit examined the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (Pennsylvania, US; students pictured above in 1892); the first government-run boarding school for Indigenous peoples, and the school that many other North American boarding schools emulated.
Touring the Etnografiska Museet's archive, under the excellent care of the museet's archivist! We were able to look at Swedish documents and drawings from the 19th anf 20th centuries, describing Swedish encounters with Indigenous communities in North America.
Gunlög Fur, Anders Bo Rasmussen, and Saara Kekki listening to the archivist's explanation of Swedish documents concerning encounters with Indigenous communities in North America.
Etnografiska Museet's model of a Pueblo village, generally located in the southwestern regions of the United States.
A closer view of the incredibly well-detailed Pueblo village model.
Former location of the G’psgolox totem pole, which had previously belonged to the Haisla tribe (Canada). Brought to the museum through unethical means in 1927, the pole was returned to the Haisla in 2006 after years of negotiation. The Haisla community gifted the museum with a replacement totem pole, which can now be found in the museum today.
SUN team member Lindsay visiting Munich, Germany during the European Association for American Studies 2024 conference! Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2024.
Entrance to the museum exhibits of the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways, Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard introducing the Anishinabe origin story, placed at the museum entrance. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Each of these paintings represents one of the Anishinabe values; these include respect, love, bravery, honesty, truth, and humility. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Flags of the United States, Canada, the State of Michigan, and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe, gathered around the SCIT's tribal constitution document. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard in the museum describing the connection between tribal sovereignty and casino gaming in Michigan: i.e., why gaming is allowed on federally-recognized reservations. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
The Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Owned and operated by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe since April 22, 1998. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard describing the benefits that gaming has brought to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and the surrounding community of Isabella County. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Exhibit illustrating the importance of Indigenous protest and activism in society. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Exhibit exploring the ways in which challenging topics (including drugs and alcoholism) have been faced on the reservation. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard describing dikinaagan; or, cradleboards. Close family support systems have always been of key importance to the Anishinabe community. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Beautiful, intricate dikinaagan displayed at the Ziibiwing. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
SUN project member Lindsay Doran's children watching a presentation describing the Anishinabe's creation story (under the stars of the museum). Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Images taken during the video presentation of the Anishinabe creation story (with enthralled children watching attentively in the audience). Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard description of an Anishinabe kinoomaagegamik (teaching lodge). Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Photographer's children entering a replica teaching lodge. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Interior, Ziibiwing's teaching lodge. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard in the museum discussing the advent of NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) of 1990, and the challenges faced by Indigenous communities before and after this act. Museum provenance and proper repatriation is incredibly important. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Map depicting the migration of the Anishinabe peoples. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Map depicting various European contact points with the Anishinabe in Michigan. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Black ash basketmaking display. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Carved wooden canoe paddle, circa 1998. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Anishinabemowin Language Promise, explaining the importance of language preservation and revitalization. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Language wheel. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Intricate hand- and loom-created Anishinabe beadwork. Placard explains the floral motifs often used by the community to reflect the wonder and beauty of the Creation story. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard and exhibit designed to educate about the residential school system that many children were forced to enter in the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Photograph taken of Indigenous students in the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial School's student band, early 1920s. Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
Placard detailing the importance of blood memory -- described here as "an inherent connection we have to our spirituality, ancestors, and all of Creation." Photo: Lindsay Doran, 2023.
GF with Mikael Pirak, who shows a Sami drum at the museum at Ajtte, Jokkmokk. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
A reindeer on a gravel road, Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Dancing at Red Earth, Oklahoma City. Women’s shawl dance. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Petroglyph, reindeer, outside Snåsa, Norway. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Piece of mural painted at the dining room at the Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., by Stephen Mopope, Kiowa. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Buffalo at Wichita Mountains, OK, US. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
”The Unconquered” – bronze statue outside Oklahoma History Center, by Apache artist Allen Houser. Looking out at the oil rigs in the middle of the capitol of OK. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
“Bordered land” – the 160 acres plots laid out on the prairies following the Homestead Act of 1862. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Old and New Piteå, Erik Dahlberg copper plate, late 1600s. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Hydropower dam, Tärnaby, SE. Photo: Gunlög Fur.
Katarina Pirak Sikku:
Badjelántta luottat (Impressions from the Land Above)
“In 1926, staff from the State Institute for Race Biology travelled up alongside the Stora Lulevatten lake to conduct their investigations. Based on archive documents and a photo album, I have managed to identify some of the locations. I recognise the areas, if not always the exact locations, as I used to go walking in the same area.
The series entitled Impressions from the Land Above includes drawings of these archive photographs and brand new photographs of the places I identified.”
Below: Photos belong to Katarina Pirak Sikku.
