Act 4: Sápmi/Finland, June 16 – July 9, 2006
ART EXHIBITION
Colonialism Within: Indigenous Rights
and Multicultural Realities
VR:n Veturitalli (Finnish Railways Locomotive Engine Shed), Rovaniemi
June 16 – July 9, 2006
Opening Friday, June 16, 2006, 5 – 8 pm
Press Preview Friday, June 16, 2006, 2 – 4 pm
This exhibition focuses on indigenousness and questions of representation. Placing the region’s indigenous concerns in a global discussion, it points to problems such as racism and ethnic exploitation, and shows that they are not remote problems in former times or other continents. Rather, they are a sort of colonialism within, which must be addressed as such.
The exhibition is accompanied by the film program Silver Screen Resistance (for screening hours and participant information, click here).
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Archana Hande (India)
Geir Tore Holm (Sámi, Norway)
Kent Monkman (Cree, Canada)
Katarina Pirak Sikku (Sámi, Sweden)
Fatimah Tuggar (Nigeria/USA)
FILM PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS
Stephanie Black (USA)
Randi Broberg in collaboration with Tine Bryld (Greenland/Denmark & Denmark)
Laila Hansen (Greenland)
Isaac Julien (United Kingdom)
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki, Canada)
Pratibha Parmar (Kenya/United Kingdom)
Gillo Pontecorvo (Italy)
Paul-Anders Simma (Sámi, Norway/Sweden/Finland)
Address/Hours/Admission:
Rovaniemen asema-alue, 96100 Rovaniemi
Wednesday – Sunday, 1 – 5 pm
Admission free
ARCHANA HANDE
Born 1970 in Bangalore, India. Lives and works in Mumbai and Bangalore, India.
Archana Hande is a visual artist, who holds a BFA in print making from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan (1986-91) and a MFA in print making from MS University of Baroda, India (1991-93). In 2000, she was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Arts Award, a residency in Glasgow School of Arts. Hande has had many solo shows, among others: Play House (Mumbai, 1998), The Veil-Shop (Bangalore, Mumbai, 1999), The Journal (Bangalore, 2003), and www dot arrange your own marriage dot com (Mumbai, 2005). She has participated in many national and international group shows, among others: Sites of Recurrence (Borås Konstmuseum, Sweden and Dakshinachitra, Madras), The Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India (Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Asia Society and Museum, New York; Tamayo Museum, Mexico City; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey), Art Circus (Yokohama Triennial 2005, Japan), Icon of the Millennium (Mumbai), Are we like this only? (Delhi), and Gift for India (Delhi and Mumbai). From 2001-05, Hande was a member of Open Circle, an artist initiative based in Mumbai, during which time she organized and participated in many public space events, for instance Reclaim our Freedom Week (Mumbai) and India Sabka (Mumbai). In 2004, she participated as an artist and an organizer in the World Social Forum in Mumbai and curated the show A/P Artist Proof for Gallery Chemould in Mumbai. In 2005, Hande was the delegation leader for Seeds of Peace and in 2006, she worked as a stage and costume designer on the play “Orientation” for a London-based theater company. Hande has also written articles for a couple of Indian publications. Online art work: www.arrangeurownmarriage.com.
Archana Hande participates with a new installation titled “The Ruins of Colonial Empire in India” (working title at the time of publication), which she describes as follows: “When India gained full independence from the British rule in 1947 to become a republic in 1950, the Government of India declared that the country was a multiethnic, multilingual, multireligious, and democratic republic. Still, the issue of minority and indigenous rights is a major problem, and India has experienced many riots between primarily Hindus and Muslims, which are linked directly to the border issue and the British ‘divide and rule’ theory. My project focuses on four port cities in India, which served as main gateways to India for the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the British: Madras (which is now renamed Chennai), Bombay (which is now renamed Mumbai), Calcutta now renamed Kolkata), and Mangalore (whose name has remained unchanged although the natives call it Mangaluru). These cities formed the head quarters, or colonial capitals, for the British during the colonial period and hold lots of hidden history. The project will trace elements of colonialism, which are still found within these cities, their populations, and India as such: Colonial English, cricket, spoon and fork, suits and dresses, partitions, colonial architecture and statues, English tea, and street-, colony-, company-, park- and landmark names.” [Archana Hande]
Archana Hande, Video stills from “An Epic,” 2003-04.
Mini DV to DVD, 30:47 min. The video is part of an installation titled “Tales of Pata-chitrakar.”
Courtesy of the artist.
GEIR TORE HOLM
Born 1966 in Tromsø, Norway. Grew up in Olmmáivággi/Manndalen, Norway. Lives in Oslo, Norway.
Geir Tore Holm is educated from the Academy of Fine Art in Trondheim, Norway (1995). He has worked as an independent artist since then. Together with Søssa Jørgensen, he founded the home-based mediation project, Balkong, in 1993. Parallel to his individual practice, he has been curating, writing, and teaching. Holm has also worked with theater, in productions by Totalteatret, Beaivvás Sámi Teáhter, and Ferske Scener (recently presenting “Ashes to Ashes” by Harold Pinter). Holm has been especially interested in social relations and power structures, often related to his Sámi background; first discussing individual (staggering) identity connected to the larger cosmos, later addressing social responsibility and problems with and within ethnic culture. Lately, he has contributed to exhibitions at BildMuseet, Umeå (Same, same but different), Castlefield Gallery, Manchester (From elsewhere), Pikene på broen, Kirkenes (Barents Spektakel and Border Dialogue), and at Ringnes, Skotbu. Holm was responsible for the Sámi Art Festival 2002 in Sør-Varanger and the exhibiton CSV – To Visualise Sápmi at Galleri F15, Moss, 2005. From 2002-04, Holm was Assistant Professor at Bergen National Academy of the Arts and has given lectures widely. From 2003, he has been developing the long-term dialogue project Sørfinnset skole/The Nord Land with Søssa Jørgensen in collaboration with Kamin Lertchaiprasert and Rirkrit Tiravanija from Thailand (see www.artinnordland.no/gildeskaal_english.html).
Geir Tore Holm participates with two works: “Mun rahkistan – in mun ge,” a music video from 2005 and “Vara addit!,” a promotion stand for blood donation from 2006. Holm describes the two works as follows:
“‘Mun rahkistan – in mun ge’ is a version of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Je t’aime – moi non plus’ performed by Geir Tore Holm in Sámi language. This music video produced in 2005 consists of concert recordings from the festival Ringnes 2003 mixed with Northern nature and dancing women. Harsh Arctic nature meets Tropical extravaganza. It is love at many levels: physical, religious, ethnic, scenic...”
“‘Vara addit!’ means ‘Give blood!’ in Sámi language. Blood seems to be more than a red body fluid. Due to its importance to life, blood is associated with many beliefs. A basic one is the use of blood as a symbol for family relationships; to be ‘related by blood’ is to be related by ancestry or descendance. This bears closely to bloodlines, and sayings such as ‘blood is thicker than water’ and ‘bad blood.’ The accepted Christian belief is that Jesus’ blood atoned for the sins of the people: ‘This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.’ (Luke 22:20). To be ‘of Sámi blood’ has a positive value, or not, depending on the context this is expressed in. Of course you can be proud of your blood and your ancestors, but on the other hand your pride can be a reason to hostility and conflicts, even wars. Millions have given their blood because of the madness of warfare. The main function of blood is to supply nutrients (oxygen, glucose) and constitutional elements to tissues and to remove waste products (such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid). Blood also enables cells (leukocytes, abnormal tumor cells) and different substances (amino acids, lipids, hormones) to be transported between tissues and organs. At the hospitals, there is a major need for blood and it is necessary to always have a stock in readiness in case of diseases and injuries that arise. Blood cannot be produced artificially. The blood donation service needs your assistance to help others. Many people can’t survive without blood transfusions – they are depending on help from you, fellow beings. Scrutinizing the concept of blood provides an intriguing spectacle to a powerful and multiple part of the human composition (an adult person contains approximately around 5 liters). For Act 4 of Rethinking Nordic Colonialism, it is interesting to make a stand that can inform about blood and simply serve as a stand for the blood donation service in Rovaniemi, recruiting donators among the exhibition’s visitors, especially addressing potential Sámi blood donators by information material in Sámi language printed for this occasion.” [Geir Tore Holm]
Geir Tore Holm, “Vara addit!,” 2004.
Screen print. Courtesy of the artist.
Geir Tore Holm, Video still from “Mun rahkistan – in mun ge,” 2005.
DVD, 4:21 min. Courtesy of the artist.
KENT MONKMAN
Born 1965 in Winnipeg, Canada. Lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Kent Monkman is an artist of Cree ancestry who works with a variety of mediums, including painting, film/video, performance, and installation. His recent work facilitates dialogue about colonial power relations using sexuality as a forum to negotiate power. He has had solo exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Indian Art Centre, and has participated in group exhibitions in Canada, USA, United Kingdom, and Mexico, including: “We come in peace…” Histories of the Americas (Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal) and The American West (Compton Verney, Warwickshire, United Kingdom). Monkman has created site specific performances at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and at Compton Verney, and has also made super 8 versions of these performances that he calls “Colonial Art Space Interventions.” Monkman has won numerous awards from the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council. His award winning short film and video works have been screened at various national and international festivals. His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Museum London, the Woodland Cultural Centre, the Indian Art Centre, The Mackenzie Art Gallery, and the Canada Council Art Bank.
Kent Monkman participates with three films: “A Nation is Coming” from 1996, “Blood River” from 2000, and “Future Nation” from 2005.
“A Nation is Coming” is a dance performance that evokes parallels between the changes to the land and first people of North America at the end of the last century and those facing us now, as we move into the new millennium.
In “Blood River,” the dreams of finding her natural mother bring an adopted Aboriginal girl to the harsh reality of her blood brother, who is struggling on the streets to survive.
And finally, when a gay Aboriginal teen in “Future Nation” is outed to his family on the reservation, it is the end of the world. Literally. [Kent Monkman]
Cliff Cardinal and Joshua Jacobs in “Future Nation,” 2005.
Mini-DV, 16:27 min. Courtesy of the artist, Big Soul Productions and Urban Nation.
From left to right: Brandon Oakes (as Bear), Greg Odjig (as Clayton),
and Jennifer Podemski (as Rose) in “Blood River,” 2000.
16 mm, 23 min. Courtesy of the artist.
KATARINA PIRAK SIKKU
Born 1965 in Sweden. Lives and works in Umeå, Sweden.
Katarina Pirak Sikku holds a MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts at Umeå University (2005). Her photography, drawings, installations, and text-based work draw from both immediate family history as well as historical facts that have had an impact on her personal life. Sikku’s approach to traditional representation often makes use of subtle displacements, which upsets the logic that organizes established customs. Mourning and grief are some of the emotions invoked by her work, but also humor and a tremendous amount of generosity. She strives for a combined reflection of the political and social arenas as well as the private and public realms of experience. Sikku’s latest exhibition was at Bildmuseet in Umeå, 2005.
Katarina Pirak Sikku participates with a new installation on eugenics and racial biology titled “Dollet” (Grasp). She describes the project as follows: “In the past, Sweden was a pioneering country regarding eugenics and racial biology. A fact, which has had reverberations into present time. Many prominent Swedes cherished the advocates of the race questions. The Swedish State Institute for Racial Biology was established in 1922. It was a climax for its supporters and marked the beginning of years of violation of and offences against the Sámi people in particular. Racial biology turned into segregational politics with a system of institutional racism, sometimes difficult to identify. This is where we are now. Our close relatives were present when the white men entered our bedrooms with their measuring instruments and photography equipment. The domination is no further away than that. Just knowing that I can get facts about my relatives from sources about racial biology hurts. Knowing that my predecessors were stripped naked to be photographed and documented for the future hurts. To visit a museum and see my family heirlooms on display for the public hurts. Yes, they are robbed and dishonored.
When I leaf through the material on racial biology, I am appalled by my emotions. Fascination? I meet the gaze of the portrayed. The eyes of a boy look at me with suspicion. A stripped elderly man looks into the camera with a look of ‘If they want to see the arse of an old Lap, I have to let them.’ I look at the richness of detail in the costumes. The images are beautiful and seductive, which frightens me. When I touch the material where the naked images are, I feel uncomfortable since many try to hide their naked bodies with a slouched posture. I know my questions will never be answered, but I still want to try to understand. How did it feel for the ones who were exposed? Was it regarded a violation? I also ask myself: Is it a violation now? Can I picture myself in that vulnerable position? Do memories in a map have any legitimate value in a judicial state? How are the memories of my culture accounted for? Am I just a visitor without legal rights, visiting a people also without legal rights, history, or country? To be questioned, am I, or am I not, a Sámi? Do memories have any value at all? I want to construct my own maps to establish my self-evident right to exist on the same grounds as everybody else. The maps consist of memories, tales, and narratives. These maps will never be any good as evidence in a judicial process about who has the right to own the land. Memories leave no obvious or readable traces in nature. But my memories are my memories. Nobody can change that.” [Katarina Pirak Sikku]
Katarina Pirak Sikku, Close up from the installation “Mån” at Bildmuseet, Umeå, 2005.
Mixed media, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.
FATIMAH TUGGAR
Born 1967 in Kabuna, Nigeria. Lives and works in New York, USA.
Fatimah Tuggar is a multidisciplinary artist who uses technology as both a medium and a subject in her work to serve as metaphors for power dynamics. She combines, objects, images, and sounds from diverse cultures, geographies, and histories to comment on how media and technology diversely impacts local and global realities. Her work has been widely exhibited at international venues in over 18 countries on five continents, including: Museum of Modern Art (New York, USA), Museum Kunst-Palast (Düsseldorf, Germany), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France), 24th Biennial of Graphic Art (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Moscow Biennale (Russia), V Salon CANTV (Jovenes, Venezuela), Istanbul Biennial (Turkey), Gwangju Biennale (South Korea), Bamako Biennale (Mali), and 2nd Johannesburg Biennale (South Africa). Her works has also been the subject of various panels and articles, with the most recent being the Signs Journal of Women in Culture and Society and a feature article in Art Papers. Her body of work has also been integrated as parts of academic curricula, in diverse disciplines and discussions from anthropology to media studies. These institutions include Harvard and Yale Universities, Vassar and Smith Colleges, to name a few. Ms. Tuggar’s art education covers three continents and an even broader range of disciplines, traditions, processes, and materials. She attended the Blackheath School of Art in London, United Kingdom, received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, a MFA from Yale University, and did postgraduate independent studies at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Fatimah Tuggar participates with two projects: “Triad Raid,” a new web enabled multimedia installation from 2006 and a series of computer montage images from 2005. Tuggar describes the works as follows: “Borrowing from the familiar language of advertisement, popular entertainment, and folklore as well as drawing from the experiential, I investigate the cultural and social implications of technology. I use it as a metaphor for the power dynamics of creation, consumption, and commodification. Assemblage, collage, and montage are central to my method.
I focus on the internal relationships of the individuals within the work, tempered by the surrounding power structures. This philosophy and practice is equally true with my images, objects, and media experiences. Regardless of expressive form, the internal relationships, which connect the viewer to their own and each other’s humanity, is what hold the energy of the ideas. These works are a direct expression of this practice. They engage the tension between the potential and kinetic energies of human relations. The digital collages use the paradox inherent in the ‘action of waiting.’ It is a vehicle for slowing our meditation on change and to consider our various conflicts, histories, journeys, and opportunities for being human and becoming humane.
My web based interactive installation, ‘Triad Raid,’ engages the viewer/participant in a potentially loaded power space of making choices, or not choosing. Action or lack of action in this digital environment animates elements to create a dynamic collage. This collage is constructed from: Characters-icons and totems-, Context-landscapes and commodities-, and Behaviors-actions and interactions between all these elements. This encourages the creation of temporary non-linear narratives, which can be constructed or disrupted based on the choices made by the participant. A key factor is the awareness of choice and the consequences of exercising or choosing not to exercise this potential power. Hopefully, this process invites us to face the use, misuse, and disuse of our human potential. I for one know that I am unquestionably implicated in this dynamic.” [Fatimah Tuggar]
Fatimah Tuggar, “Plain Veracity,” 2006. Computer montage (inkjet on vinyl), dimensions variable.
Courtesy of BintaZarah Studios.
Act 4: Sápmi/Finland, June 16 – July 9, 2006
CONFERENCE
Beyond Subject and State? Indigenous
Interests in the Age of Globalization
The Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi
June 17 – 18, 2006, both days 12 – 5 pm
This two-day conference focuses on challenges faced by Sámi, Inuit, and other indigenous peoples in the age of neo-liberal globalization. It asks how the transferal of power from the nation state to the global economy influences such deep-rooted concerns as cross-border politics, the right to land and natural resources, and self-organization. The discussion pays special attention to how class, race, gender, and sexuality influence social standing and therefore political interests. [Simultaneous interpretation will be available]
PARTICIPANTS
Archana Hande (India)
Richard William Hill (Cree, Canada)
Rauna Kuokkanen (Sámi, Finland/Canada)
Kaisa Raito (Finland/Swedish Sápmi)
Henriette Rasmussen (Greenland)
Makere Stewart-Harawira (Waitaha, New Zealand/Canada)
MODERATOR: Scott Forrest (Canada/Finland)
Address/Admission:
Arktikum, Pohjoisranta 4, 96200 Rovaniemi
t: +358 16 341 2758
e: forename.surname@ulapland.fi, www.arcticcentre.org
Admission free
Conference Program (download program here):
Day 1: June 17
12 –12:30 pm: Introduction to the conference by Kuratorisk Aktion (Curators of Rethinking Nordic Colonialism) and Scott Forrest (Researcher, Communications, and Education Planner, The Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi).
12:30 – 1:15 pm: “The Problem of Agency in the Representation of Indigenous North Americans,” a presentation by Richard William Hill (Writer and Curator. Ph.D. Candidate at Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom). The presentation is followed by a Questions & Answers session.
1:15 – 1:45 pm: Coffee & Snack Break.
1:45 – 2:30 pm: “Nation States and the Struggle for Empire. Indigenous Peoples in the Interregnum,” a presentation by Makere Stewart-Harawira (Assistant Professor in Indigenous Peoples Education, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Canada. Interim Director of the International Research Institute in Indigenous Education, Health and Development). The presentation is followed by a Questions & Answers session.
2:30 – 2:45 pm: Coffee Break.
2:45 – 3:30 pm: “Sámi women, autonomy and decolonization,” a presentation by Rauna Kuokkanen (Postdoctoral Scholar, Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Founding Chair of the Sámi Youth Organization in Finland, and former Vice-President of the Sámi Council). The presentation is followed by a Questions & Answers session.
3:30 – 4:15 pm: Individual Discussion Groups.
4:15 – 4:30 pm: Coffee Break.
4:30 – 5 pm: Closing Remarks.
Day 2: June 18
12 – 12:30 pm: Opening Remarks by Scott Forrest (Researcher, Communications, and Education Planner, The Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi).
12:30 – 1:15 pm: “Greenlandic experiences in maintaining cultural heritage or failure in doing so,” a presentation by Henriette Rasmussen (Educator and Journalist. Former Minister of Culture, Education, Science and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Greenland Home Rule Government). The presentation is followed by a Questions & Answers session.
1:15 – 1:45 pm: Coffee & Snack Break.
1:45 – 2:30 pm: “Environmental politics in Sápmi – the case of reindeer herding and state forestry in Anár, Finland,” a presentation by Kaisa Raitio (Activist and Ph.D. Candidate at Joensuu University, Finland). The presentation is followed by a Questions & Answers session.
2:30 – 2:45 pm: Coffee Break.
2:45 – 3:30 pm: “Home Grown: Migrants and Indigenous Peoples in Contemporary India,” a presentation by Archana Hande (Visual artist. BFA from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan and MFA from MS University of Baroda, India). The presentation is followed by a Questions & Answers session.
3:30 – 4:15 pm: Individual Discussion Groups.
4:15 – 4:30 pm: Coffee Break.
4:30 – 5 pm: Closing Remarks.
ARCHANA HANDE
Born 1970 in Bangalore, India. Lives and works in Mumbai and Bangalore, India.
Archana Hande is a visual artist, who holds a BFA in print making from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan (1986-91) and a MFA in print making from MS University of Baroda, India (1991-93). In 2000, she was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Arts Award, a residency in Glasgow School of Arts. Hande has had many solo shows, among others: Play House (Mumbai, 1998), The Veil-Shop (Bangalore, Mumbai, 1999), The Journal (Bangalore, 2003), and www dot arrange your own marriage dot com (Mumbai, 2005). She has participated in many national and international group shows, among others: Sites of Recurrence (Borås Konstmuseum, Sweden and Dakshinachitra, Madras), The Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India (Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Asia Society and Museum, New York; Tamayo Museum, Mexico City; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey), Art Circus (Yokohama Triennial 2005, Japan), Icon of the Millennium (Mumbai), Are we like this only? (Delhi), and Gift for India (Delhi and Mumbai). From 2001-05, Hande was a member of Open Circle, an artist initiative based in Mumbai, during which time she organized and participated in many public space events, for instance Reclaim our Freedom Week (Mumbai) and India Sabka (Mumbai). In 2004, she participated as an artist and an organizer in the World Social Forum in Mumbai and curated the show A/P Artist Proof for Gallery Chemould in Mumbai. In 2005, Hande was the delegation leader for Seeds of Peace and in 2006, she worked as a stage and costume designer on the play “Orientation” for a London-based theater company. Hande has also written articles for a couple of Indian publications. Online art work: www.arrangeurownmarriage.com.
Archana Hande participates with the paper “Home Grown: Migrants and Indigenous Peoples in Contemporary India” (working title at the time of publication), which she describes as follows: “In contemporary India, ‘home grown’ means ‘indigenous,’ ‘native,’ ‘Aboriginal’… The term ‘tribal’ is also used, which connotes ‘blackness.’ All these terms designate something ‘original.’ This presentation will address the question of who the indigenous peoples and migrants of India are and what their rights are. Contemporary India continues to tackle the questions. I will focus on the issue of displacement and rehabilitation of indigenous people and migrants from certain areas in India. This will involve a discussion of existing culture, growth of a city, linguistic complications, and identity, which is closely linked to language, religion, caste, and land.” [Archana Hande]
RICHARD WILLIAM HILL
Lives and works in Toronto, Canada and London, United Kingdom.
Richard William Hill is an independent curator and writer of Cree heritage. As a curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada, he oversaw the museum’s first substantial effort to include North American Aboriginal art and ideas in permanent collection galleries. He also curated Kazuo Nakamura: A Human Measure at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2004 and co-curated, with Jimmie Durham, The American West at Compton Verney, United Kingdom in 2005. He is currently curating The World Upside Down for the Walter Philips Gallery at the Banff Centre, Canada, which will open in fall 2006. Hill’s essays on art have appeared in numerous books, exhibition catalogues, and magazines. He has a long association with the Canadian art magazine Fuse, where he was a member of the board and editorial committee and remains a contributing editor. Hill also teaches Aboriginal art history and contemporary art at York University, Toronto, and is a Ph.D. Candidate at Middlesex University, United Kingdom, where he is researching the problem of agency in the art of Jimmie Durham.
Richard William Hill will present the paper “The Problem of Agency in the Representation of Indigenous North Americans.” In his outline of the presentation, he writes: “Since the late 1970s, there has been a sustained critique of the representation of indigenous North Americans, both in academic and activist circles. Many of these critiques have taken the form of discourse analyses, which argue that these representations are largely fictions crafted to rationalize the injustices of colonization. These representations pose problems for indigenous agency both in the fact of their dominating discursive space about us and also through particular narratives and visualizations that specifically undermine the notion of indigenous agency. Two significant tropes that I would like to explore are the conflation of the indigenous with the natural and the discourse of the vanishing Indian. I will look not only at how these discourses have functioned against our agency in the mainstream, but also how they have, in some instances, been internalized in indigenous communities, particularly around certain forms of cultural nationalism. I will also look at strategies that contemporary indigenous artists have used to defy expectations and enter into and become agents within contemporary discourse.” [Richard William Hill]
RAUNA KUOKKANEN
Born in Ohcejohka/Utsjoki, Sápmi. Currently lives and works in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Rauna Kuokkanen is currently a post-doctoral scholar at the Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University, Hamilton. She holds a MA in Sámi Language and Literature (University of Oulu, Finland) and Comparative Literature (University of British Columbia, Canada) and a Ph.D. in Education (University of British Columbia, Canada). Her dissertation was awarded a Recognition for Excellence by the American Educational Research Association (Postsecondary Education) Dissertation Award Committee in 2004. She is the editor of Juoga mii geasuha (2001), an anthology on Sámi literature and author of The Responsibility of the Academy and the Gift of Indigenous Epistemes (forthcoming). Dr. Kuokkanen has published articles on indigenous research paradigms and critical theory, indigenous literature, the gift paradigm, and globalization and indigenous women. She also regularly contributes to Sámi and Finnish newspapers. She was the founding Chair of the Sámi Youth Organization in Finland, established in 1991, and has served as the Vice-President of the Sámi Council. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Terralingua, International Organization for Protection of Biocultural Diversity, and a member of the Call of the Earth Circle, Indigenous Peoples’ Initiative on Intellectual Property Policy.
Dr. Rauna Kuokkanen will present the paper “Sámi women, autonomy and decolonization.” In her abstract of the presentation, she writes: “The notion of strong Sámi women prevails in contemporary Sámi society. The Sámi women also have a long history of activism in promoting the rights of the Sámi to self-determination and their land. My paper examines the myths, realities, and challenges of Sámi women in the contexts of the Sámi movement for self-determination and continued colonial relations. It also considers the significance of indigenous and postcolonial feminist analysis to the transformation and decolonization of contemporary Sámi society.” [Rauna Kuokkanen]
KAISA RAITIO
Born 1972 in Helsinki, Finland. Works and lives in Jokkmokk, Swedish Sápmi.
Kaisa Raitio is a postgraduate student at the University of Joensuu, Finland. She is finalizing her Ph.D. on environmental policy, with the working title Environmental conflict management in state forest use in Finland. She is particularly interested in the justifications given to the choices made in the state-run processes in which different, and often conflicting, needs related to state forests are reconciled, and in the underlying factors for those justifications, such as existing institutional arrangement and framing of the disputes. One of her case studies is the conflict between reindeer herding and forestry in Anár, Finnish Sápmi. Kaisa Raitio was also one of the social scientist participating in RENMAN, an international EU-funded research project on reindeerhuman interrelations, coordinated by the University of Lapland in 2001-03 (www.ulapland.fi/home/renman). Raitio’s interest in environmental conflicts derives from her background as an activist in the Finnish forest conservation movement during the mid-1990s.
Kaisa Raitio will present the paper “Environmental politics in Sápmi – the case of reindeer herding and state forestry in Anár, Finland.” In her abstract of the presentation, she writes: “Disputes and conflicts have become a regular part of policy processes related to the environment. The ability to take into account different interests in the decision making process in a way that respects the pluralistic values present in today’s society has become one of the most challenging tasks in environmental policy making. In Sápmi, arguments related to ethnicity, colonialism, supra-local decision making, and issues of land ownership add to the challenge of resolving disputes over the use and protection of the natural environment. The paper analyses environmental policy in Sápmi through one case study, the conflict between reindeer herding (practiced predominantly but not exclusively by Sámis) and state forestry. The justifications provided by the state authorities for their actions and decisions are analyzed. Special attention is given to the role of the institutional arrangements regarding state forests as well as the way the dispute is being framed by the state authorities on the one hand and by the reindeer herders on the other. The case study shows that despite the official commitment to multiple use of forests and the need to safeguard reindeer pastures in state forests, the staff responsible for implementing these goals in the Finnish Forest and Park Service (Metsähallitus) and in the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry continue to perceive the issue from a predominantly timber production oriented perspective. The missing or unclear legal framework for state forestry and public participation undermine the credibility of the efforts to resolve the conflict. It can be concluded that in addition to accurate frames, successful conflict management also depends on a credible institutional framework that would (re-)establish the needed trust in the dispute resolution process.” [Kaisa Raitio]
HENRIETTE RASMUSSEN
Born in Greenland. Works and lives in Nuuk, Greenland.
Henriette Rasmussen is born and raised in Greenland. She is an educator and a journalist. She has had a long political carrier as member of the Municipal Council in the capital of Nuuk and as member of the Home Rule Parliament, last serving as Minister of Culture, Education, Science and Ecclesiastical Affairs until November 2005. Rasmussen is committed to the rights of women and the rights of indigenous peoples internationally. From 1996-2000, she served as Chief Technical Advisor for the International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland. She has also been a manager of the Greenland Publishing House, publishing Greenlandic literature. She is an Earth Charter Commissioner and has been active in the Inuit NGO environment and the Inuit Circumpolar Conference for many years. In addition, Rasmussen was instrumental in the creation of the Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues in the United Nations, New York, USA.
Henriette Rasmussen participates with the power point presentation “Greenlandic experiences in maintaining cultural heritage or failure in doing so,” which she describes as follows: “ My presentation will address Greenlandic experiences in maintaining cultural heritage or the failure in doing so. What succeeded and what didn’t? It will reflect on the postcolonial period, the cultural policies of home rule Greenland, and new demands caused by the direct impacts of human induced climate changes. The Inuit people of Greenland, who traditionally are hunter-gatherers, are facing serious threats to their traditional life style. This is partly due to their own choices of development, but also the demands of globalization have put them in a big dilemma. With home rule, Greenland has the most far-reaching autonomy compared to any other indigenous people. The country has managed to build up a modern society, with the world’s most modern fishing fleet for shrimp and one of the world’s most expensive infrastructures. However, the bilingual education system and big money invested into that has only slowly given competence education for the native Greenlanders. The environmental degradation and pollution of the environment caused by the industries in Europe, North America, and recently also South East Asia also constitutes a big threat to the very health of the peoples in the Arctic. It is a big concern of the peoples in Greenland and we have to pay careful attention even to what we eat. Not only the environment and the animals, but also the peoples of the Arctic, are jeopardized by the pollution coming from these industrial areas. We have been successful in working for our human rights, but with these new environmental threats, Inuit must ask the governments in the industrial areas to develop their economies using appropriate technologies, which limit significantly the emission of greenhouse gases causing the degradation of an otherwise clean environment.” [Henriette Rasmussen]
MAKERE STEWART-HARAWIRA
Born in New Zealand. Currently lives and works in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Makere Stewart-Harawira is currently an Assistant Professor in Indigenous Peoples Education in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and the Interim Director of the International Research Institute in Indigenous Education, Health and Development. Dr. Stewart-Harawira is known internationally as a public speaker on issues involving globalization and indigenous peoples and for her recently published The New Imperial Order: Indigenous Responses to Globalization, which has received international acclaim. Dr. Stewart-Harawira has been actively involved in issues to do with globalization, Maori education, and indigenous peoples for over a decade. She received her doctorate and her Masters degrees from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and has been the recipient of a number of prestigious prizes and awards. Dr. Stewart-Harawira has an extensive background in teaching and research in Maori education. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, prior to her move to Canada eighteen months ago, she taught at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, a Maori tribal university, and at the University of Auckland. Dr. Stewart-Harawira is of Waitaha (Maori) and Scots ancestry, is a mother of six, and a grandmother of five. She has been an international spokesperson for Waitaha since 1995 and is a member of the Council of Grandmothers for Waitaha.
Dr. Makere Stewart-Harawira will present the paper “Nation States and the Struggle for Empire. Indigenous Peoples in the Interregnum.” In her abstract of the presentation, she writes: “The shaping of the global order has historically been a contested project and never more so than in the present. In the contemporary globalized moment, three thematics predominate in the literature. One is the debate around the diminishing power of the nation state. This is increasingly located alongside debates concerning the nature of 21st century imperialism. The burning question here is no longer whether empire, but whose. The second thematic is neo-colonialism in the context of globalization. The third is that of postcoloniality with an emphasis on alterity and differance. Indigenous peoples have become increasingly important actors in the global arena. Disparate and unique in our cultural, ideological, and historical differences and in our experiences of colonialism past and present, indigenous peoples face a shared and profoundly critical challenge. In this transformational moment of disintegration and reintegration, what is the nature of response?” [Makere Stewart-Harawira]