We drove 1,633 miles. From June 9 until June 15, we drove 1,633 miles. From Oslo to Snåsa, from Snåsa to Hattfjelldal, from Hattfjelldal to Arvidsjaur in Sweden, from Arvidsjaur to Jokkmokk, Jokkmokk to Sundsvall, and then back to Oslo in Norway. As part of the 2024 Indigenous Cultural Capacity Building: Wisconsin-Sámi Collaborations trip to the Norwegian and Swedish sides of Sápmi, Marcus Cederström, Tom DuBois, and Anna Rue were joined by professor Tim Frandy from the University of British Columbia (UBC), artist and educator Mino-giizhig (Wayne Valliere) of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe, as well as Valliere’s apprentices, Michael Cisneros (Forest County Potawatami) and Spencer Smith (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe). Together we drove those 1,633 miles as part of an ongoing effort to support and sustain relationships between artists, academics, and culture workers from Indigenous communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Following a successful trip in 2023 with partners from the College of Menominee Nation that focused on language revitalization, this trip focused on cultural and artistic revitalization and sustainability. In Snåsa, for example,, Smith, and Cisneros taught students from a Sámi immersion school the traditional Ojibwe art of dreamcatchers as part of a partnership with Saemien Sijte – South Sámi museum (there’s a wonderful article about this from NRK!). Valliere told the story of how the dreamcatcher came to be and the students were then helped by Valliere, his apprentices, and UW–Madison and UBC staff in creating their own. This workshop was followed by a two-day workshop with adults from the museum and community who learned how to carve a fish decoy. Still prevalent in Ojibwe fishing traditions, the fish decoy was once also prevalent in Sámi communities, although colonizing efforts by the Norwegian state led to its eventual decline.
In addition to the workshops, we visited (or met with!) folks from, Nord University, Umeå University, Sijti Jarnge – Center for Sámi language and culture, and Ájtte Museum. In Hattfjelldal we met with Josefina Skerk and Nils Johan Jacobsen from Sijti Jarnge to better understand ongoing revitalization work, including their duodji/duedtie workshops. In Arvidsjaur, for example, we met with Krister Stoor from the Department of Language Studies/Sámi dutkan and the Várdduo-Centre för Sámi Research at Umeå University who, along with his own research, is also an accomplished performer of joik to learn more about the Sámi cultural and linguistic history of the area. The throughline was a desire for collaboration and a recognition of the difficult and important decolonization work that Indigenous artists and culture workers are undertaking in both the Nordic region and North America.
The thousands of miles traveled, the dozens of new connections, the meetings, the meals, the workshops were all part of a three-year Reilly-Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment Grant meant to supplement ongoing efforts to build connections, facilitate present and future research collaborations, and expand the Wisconsin Idea not just to the borders of the state, but well beyond. Those 1,633 miles did just that and took us well beyond the state of Wisconsin, connecting a diverse group of artists, academics, and culture workers through their shared interests and dedication to decolonization and revitalization efforts.