Hommat
37', Spoken in Sámi, English subtitles
available on mini DV, DVD and VHS;
made in 2003 by N.A.Somby
with support of the Norwegian Sametinget Kulturfoanda and part of an Interreg Sápmi project
Order at Hommat. Price depending on use: 25 € for institutions, 15 € for private persons, 5 € reduced tariff.
Film description:‘Gádde Gánddat’ tells about the endangered indigenous Sámi river culture by the Deatnu/Tana/Teno river and the Sámi's struggle to preserve their traditional ecological way of living. The Sámi, the European Union's only indigenous people, inhabit the most northern parts of Europe and are best known for their traditional reindeer herding.
Salmon fishing forms a vitally important basis for living and part of cultural and social patterns of the Deatnu river Sámi. The current Norwegian and Finnish legislation on salmon fishing rights is severely undermining the Sámi's traditional lifestyle. By linking the salmon fishing rights to land-ownership and agriculture this legislation excludes large groups of non-land owning Sámi from salmon fishing. The Sámi continue to fight to get their fishing and water rights back.
The Deatnu/Tana/Teno river is with its side-rivers about 1200 km long, and forms the border between Finland and Norway. The Tana has the largest wild Atlantic salmon population of the world and its water is of drinking water quality. It is one of the very few wild rivers in northern Scandinavia. The Sámi live on both shores of the river. Atlantic salmon is a strongly declining species and wild salmon is also threatened in the Tana. There is a need for increased efforts to protect the Tana salmon and the Sámi population that wish to continue their traditional lifestyle.
The film is a poetic documentary, illustrated with yoiks and many scenes of Sámi fishing culture. It was made for a conference that took place in September 2003; see www.deatnu.org.
Author Niillas A. Somby was until June 2004 leader of the Sámi artist umbrella Organisation SDR and was one of the leading Sámi activists during the Alta conflicts in the eighties. He is a photographer, writer, video maker and yoiker.
Has been shown at:
- Premičre: Deatnu Luossa seminara, Utsjoki, 15.9.2003, see www.deatnu.org
- on request of the Sámi Council to Mr Rodolfo Stavenhagen, member of the United Nations subcommission for Human rights, special rapporteur for Human rights of Indigenous peoples at his informal visit to Samiland 12. October 2003
- Skábmagovat film festival, Inari Finland Januari 2004
- 6.2.2004: At 'Ája konference 2004' in Kĺfjord/Gaivuotna, Norway organised by Ája Samisk Center and Galdu Kompetence center
- 6.2.2004 at local Sámi day gatherings in Sirma and Utsjoki
- in the European Parliament on invitation of MEP Matti Wuori from the Green Party on 16.3.2004
- Kautokeino Sámi film festival, April 2004
Video 30'
available on mini-DV, DVD and VHS
Sámi spoken with English subtitles
by Maria Sofe Aikio and Niillas A. Somby
The film has been made for the project 'Human interactions with the Mountain Birch Forest Ecosystems in Northern Fennoscania: Implications for Sustainable Development (HIBECO)' led by Dietbert Thannheiser and Ludger Müller-Wille, Dept. Of Geography, University of Hamburg, Germany and Mc Gill Univeristy, Quebec, Canada
Yoik and Music by Ivvár-Nillas Porsanger, Máthis Pentha, Ulla Pirttijävri.
This video film depicts the complex relationship between the Sámi and the Birch throughout the annual cycle. Working with Sámi elders, the video makers asked questions about what the birch means to the Sámi and what the Sámi use the birch for.
The purpose is to show that Sámi know-how and skills are sustainable if indigenous knowledge and conventions are respected. The Sámi use of the Birch is based on the principle that humans and nature being one. Its shows how the wood it is used as firewood, handicraft (trunk, burl, roots), household tools, transport (sledges, boats), medical uses, making a Sámi drum, make sneers for Ptarmigan and Salmon traps and others. Lunar influences are given special attention. There is a fragment of a film from the 1950 ties that shows how some of the tools were used then by Sámi then.
The film also serves as teaching material for the next Sámi generations to keep the traditions alive.
Has been shown at:
- Sámi national days in 6.2.2003 in Utsjoki and Sirma
- in academic contexts
- it is a part of a book with the same title as the project
ISBN 1438-5120.
Can be ordered for 10 € handling costs plus mailing costs.
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