In this interesting work bridging media studies, history, and folklore, authors Coppélie Cocq and Thomas A. DuBois demonstrate the ways in which indigenous Sámi peoples (northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia, with primary focus on Swedish and Norwegian Sámi communities) have used media communications over time in ways that counter the narrative and impact of colonizing forces in their lands, maximizing the resources of contemporary media arts for in-group and out-group functions and from local to international scales. Centering each chapter in concepts related to Sámi languages’ rich lexicon of snow terminology as well as individual examples rooted in specific places in Sápmi (their traditional home region), the authors rapidly move from early methods of mass communication such as print media into formats including recorded music, radio, film, and television, before entering into extended explorations of how Sámi peoples have been particularly engaged in internet and social media usage in unique ways. The use of a snow-related word as the title of each chapter highlights not only the incredibly rich languages of Sámi people, but also a progression that these words can illustrate in seasonal changes in snowfall and accumulation relating to the progression developed in the book, bringing the themes of this work full-circle in the end.
Sámi Media and Indigenous Agency in the Arctic North features an introduction, seven chapters, and a conclusion, anchored in the beginning with a brief summary of the book in Davvin Sámi, the largest of the existent Sámi languages, and a glossary at the end, providing the English-language readership with definitions of important Sámi words, also referencing which Sámi language they are specific to when this is a pertinent fact. This centering and normalization of Sámi word-presence as well as their application to the conceptual flow of the book is an important but subtle feature of the decolonizing knowledge-work the authors seek to amplify through this book. The effect is one that invites readers to engage with these words as metaphors in ways that can affirm the value of Indigenous knowledge itself.
The introduction provides important background information, placing Sámi people in contexts related to their geographic location in the European Arctic, their cultural connections to and distances from Scandinavian and Finno-Ugric neighbors, and their position as Indigenous peoples. It then provides a brief early history of Sámi communication practices moving from primarily oral modes to increasing adaptation of new technological and organizational modes, including print, radio, television, and later internet forms, as well as development of pan-Sámi and international (including inter-Indigenous) organizational and communication strategies.
Chapter 1 details very early representations of Sápmi and Sámi people through inclusion of Sámi works in publications developed by and for outsider audiences beginning in the 1600s, as well as subsequent works produced by Sámi themselves in the early 1900s, including news media and consciousness-raising works for internal and external audiences. These works set the stage for politically motivated media and arts in the late twentieth century, particularly as seen in the Álttá dam protests in Norway in the late 1970s and 1980s. Chapter 2 explores how Sámi activists took direct action to the Norwegian capital to demand a halt to plans to build a dam in Álttá, and how their protests, ranging from encampments to hunger strikes to an attempted bombing at the dam site (and a subsequent photograph of the Norwegian book of laws with the arm of a Sámi protester lost in the explosion), proved a watershed moment in Sámi protest movements and media production.
Chapter 3 examines how Sámi media artists and producers in the aftermath of Álttá looked to antecedents for both inspiration and exploration of what it means to be Sámi across time. This era was significant for nearly worldwide positive attention to Indigenous peoples and the development of pan-Indigenous activities in arts, culture, and politics. During this time Sámi leadership in national, regional, and global politics really blossomed, and Sámi artistic expressions also expanded, reaching increasingly global audiences. Many notable works from this time drew from the past—traditional legends, ethnographic photography, and more—to be reimagined for current needs and interests, to decolonize exoticized imagery through artistic repatriation, and to draw new parallels between Indigenous experiences over time.
In chapter 4, the turn of the millennium to approximately 2015 is highlighted, showing that while Sámi artistic and political activities had brought tangible benefits to their communities, for instance in the increased rate of repatriation of artifacts and bodily remains from museums and research institutions, exploitation of Sápmi’s natural resources created new room for struggle. This era saw an increased reliance on the internet for both internal and external communication and representation, not only bringing Sámi issues to new audiences, but also connecting Sámi with other Indigenous communities in ways that could increase solidarity and transnational activism. Chapter 5 shows how this new infrastructure developed through Indigenous activism and how the arts were immediately put to use in the second decade of the new millennium when mining projects in Sweden coincided with plans to build a massive gas pipeline through the sovereign lands of the Standing Rock Lakota Nation in South Dakota. At this moment, social media was a powerful conduit of information for both communities to conduct in-reach and outreach, and to connect with one another.
Chapter 6 takes a step back to examine the history of uniquely Sámi internet communication spaces, from the 1990s SameNet, developed to overcome social and educational access issues in rural Sápmi, to Sámi adaptation of massive global social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. In each of these, the emphasis among many Sámi has been to enhance existing interpersonal and community connections and not necessarily to create connections to outsiders. This has, however, been useful in keeping Sámi who leave local communities in connection with their human networks, as well as reconnecting members of the international Sámi diaspora, especially in North America, with their heritage community. Chapter 7, then, explores the ways in which internet infrastructures created and adapted by Sámi are used in language revitalization and maintenance efforts. Key to this work is both in-reach, providing platforms for learning and use among Sámi people, and outreach, illustrating the utility and beauty of Sámi languages and cultures for broader audiences and creating stronger external supportive networks as a result.
The concluding chapter illustrates how this swirl of concerns for self-determination in cultural, linguistic, political, and environmental realms, and this pathway created by sustained adaptation of mainstreaming media communication forms, have provided Sámi peoples with powerful ways to amplify their own concerns and needs, to show solidarity with others, and to invite outsiders to educate themselves and to do better in the future. The struggle continues, but not without a flexible, responsive, and creative infrastructure to respond. This well-written work is useful to scholars of Nordic, Indigenous, and media studies, among others.
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[Review length: 1143 words • Review posted on December 14, 2024]