The research project “Sámi ‘Trail of Tears’ Walking Trail” has now been completed. Richard Ek, professor of human geography and project leader, talks about the importance of the control being with the indigenous population and that the culture surrounding Sápmi is extremely important in keeping the stories surrounding the forced displacement of the Sámi alive.
– Our findings have confirmed what we’ve known all along, Richard Ek explains. Control of walking trails and guided tours must belong with the indigenous peoples. Experiences within the project from Australia in particular clearly show this. What is happening in Sápmi today with industrial forestry, wind power and the expansion of mining is reminiscent of what is happening and has happened in South Africa and Australia where the consequences of colonialisation are still evident today.
The project “Sámi ‘trail of tears’ walking trail” not only want to address the historical parts but also look at what is happening today.
– To talk only about the past is partly to miss the mark, says Richard Ek.
A concrete idea that emerged when the project was presented in South Africa was to transform a physical walking trail into a digital one – a geomedia solution that could be spread globally for informational purposes.
– A virtual walking trail as information about these forced displacements has the potential of reaching the rest of the world in a completely different way. A geomedia trail can be filled with the technology that is geomedial in nature and is something that we have worked with in the project. Basically, a continuation that can communicate with other indigenous peoples of the world. We need to have a discussion with people in media and communication studies about this idea. And probably also anthropologists as it’s also about creating a visual sovereignty. The next step in the project will probably be to write applications for this type of solution.
Something that has also been added to the project is the importance of what is happening in our present time. There is an intrinsic value in drawing attention to a historical chapter in the same way that there is an intrinsic value in the fact that the truth commissions draw attention to the Swedish government’s injustices against the Sámi and population of Tornedalen.
– The mega projects with mining and all the infrastructure around them are taking place in the name of green transition, says Richard Ek. These are projects that affect the whole of Sápmi and will mean enormous changes for the population and its relationship to the land, the place and nature. This needs to be discussed more and this trail could be an embodied history lesson that will draw attention to what is happening today.
A virtual walking trail would raise the question – are we doing the same things all over again? For example, the truth commission shows how devastating the Swedification of Sápmi and Tornedalen was in various ways, and the forced dislocations and the State Institute for Racial Biology were not seen as strange at the time but have in retrospect proven to be absolutely horrific. How do we know that we in 50–100 years’ time will not be asking ourselves the same questions about what is happening now?
– These processes exist in many other places in the world, Richard Ek explains. It’s referred to as “green sacrifice zones” and takes place in areas that are often located on the land of indigenous peoples. The exploitation of mineral and raw material deposits means that they are colonised once again. Sometimes, as in Peru, the military became involved with violence as a result.
What began as a history lesson can also become a commentary on the present. Those who express themselves most clearly, apart from the pro-industrialists, are different kinds of artists in Sápmi.
– During the project, we’ve made contact with various Sámi artists who have processed this through their art, says Richard Ek. A virtual walking trail could be filled with contemporary art to reach a global audience
A physical walking trail needs to be implemented by representatives of the Sámi and people of Tornedalen for it to be credible. A virtual walking trail does not have to be created by tourism companies.
– The control needs to be with the people up there, says Richard Ek. Therefore, the ambition has never been to create a real walking trail from where we are, at Karlstad University. The big insight is that a walking trail needs to comment on what is happening today and become an exclamation point among the various industrial plans that are in the making in the area. It would be difficult to realise a long walking trail since mining, forestry and industrial plans are in the way. However, it makes the walking trail even more important as an existential platform for discussion.
