Riddu Riddu, joik or rock-n-roll ? A study of Riddu Riddu Festivála and its role as a cultural tool for ethnic revialization Anastassia Valerievna Leonenko Thesis submitted for the degree: Master of Philosophy in Indigenous Studies Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tromsø April 2008 Riddu Riđđu, joik or rock-n-roll? A study of Riddu Riđđu Festivála and its role as a cultural tool for ethnic revitalization Anastassia Valerievna Leonenko Thesis submitted for the degree: Master of Philosophy in Indigenous Studies Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tromsø Norway April 2008 To Alexandre Descomps and our baby II Acknowledgements This master thesis is a result of the contribution of different individuals and organisations. First, I am grateful to the University of Tromsø that opened my path to an international academic milieu by admitting me to the Indigenous Master Programme where I met my classmates from all over the world, Saami professors with personal experience in the indigenous self-determination movement, and other researchers on indigenous issues. Moreover, the Centre for Sámi Studies played an active role in my educational process, by organising seminars (at Skibotn) and conferences (the Forum for Development Cooperation with Indigenous Studies), trips to Finnmark (Karasjok, Kautokeino, Alta) and to Kåfjord (Manndalen) and finally, funding my research project. My gratitude goes as well to the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) and the Centre for Environment and Development (SEMUT) for their financial support that made this research possible. My greatest gratitude and thanks go to my supervisor Bjørn Bjerkli, Associate Professor at the Department of Social Anthropology at the Tromsø University, who devoted a great deal of his time reading and commenting on my work. Our discussions gave me an inspiration to develop this research further and to see new perspectives in indigenous culture in terms of traditions and modernity. Without his intellectual guidance and constructive comments at times that I got lost, the successful competition of this work would have been at stake. I am grateful to the organisers (Lene Hansen, Camilla Brattland, Tor Mikalsen), the artists (The Khoe Khollektif, Komi National Drama Theatre) and the participants of Riddu Riđđu Festivála, as well as to Indigenous Youth Camp who shared their ideas and thoughts with me during my fieldwork. Particular appreciation is send to Ol Johan Gaup and his family who introduced me to their way of life, enriched by Saami traditions. I am also grateful to my Saami friends and the Saami Students Union who were a part of my student’s and researcher’s life. All these experiences opened slightly the door into today’s Saami life and had a great impact on my research. I also forward my appreciation to my research colleagues, Andy Ruck and Tomas Hilder with whom I discovered Riddu Riđđu world, shared ideas, exchanged vulnerable information and research sources. I deeply appreciate my classmates Anna (Slovakia), Assebe and Gemechu (Ethiopia), Erick (Tanzania), Kalpana (Nepal), Kanako (Japan), Richard (Uganda), Salasini (Zambia), Synnøve and Tonje (Norway) as well as other MIS fellows who enlightened me about the different situations in their respective countries. My special heartfelt gratitude goes to my family – my mother Alla Vasilievna Leonenko, my father Valerij Denisovich Leonenko and my brother Ivan Valerievich Leonenko for their love, encouragement and moral support. My hearty thanks go to my boyfriend Alexandre Pierre Descopms whose love and care carried me through the process of writing and made my life beautiful. I am thankful to my friends with whom I met in Tromsø, especially Christiane Gräf, who stayed at home, and particularly Olessya Pavlova for sharing my happiness and frustration. Last but by no means the least, I would like to thank the International Students Union (ISU), the Norwegian Students Union (NSU) and the whole international students’ community at the University of Tromsø which surrounded me during my years of studies. Thanks to them my student’s life was full of discoveries, learning, great experience and, of course, fun! Anastassia Valerievna Leonenko Tromsø, April 2008 III Abstract The International Indigenous Riddu Riđđu Festivála has taken place every year since 1991 in Manndalen, a Coastal Saami hamlet, in the municipality of Kåfjord in the county of Troms in the North of Norway. The festival represents by itself an independent event that through indigenous management and developed ethno-relations inside the country, promoting the idea of cultural awareness and sensitivity to all ethnic groups, however different they might be, and support them in terms of preservation of their culture, language, and lifestyle in our global and developed world. This thesis is intended to show the ambiguity and complexity of the Coastal Saami identity in Manndalen, not only with relation to Norwegians, but also with reference to the situation among locals, between adults and youth, traditions and modernity. In other words, which relations between traditions and modernity does Riddu Riđđu demonstrate? Therefore this thesis will try to find out the relation of manndalinger to the cultural invention and show their chosen way of the invasion of traditions and how far they accept distortions as authentic to their heritage during the process of cultural invention and which sign-substitutions can be defined in relation to Coastal Saami culture today. Moreover, the purpose of this thesis is to understand the process by which means invented portions of culture acquire authenticity. In other words, how the social reproduction of culture – the process whereby people learn, embody, and transmit the conventional behaviours of their society (Hanson 1989:898) – is happening in the Coastal Saami community today. Therefore the Riddu Riđđu festival will be considered further as one of the examples of Coastal Saami cultural invention with the purpose of revitalization an ethnic identity. Thus, the Riddu Riđđu festival can be seen as a visible tool in Manndalen’s process of ethnic revitalisation. In this case, can the festival be considered as an example of an imagined community (Anderson 1983), created as a cultural arena for the Saami political debates and bringing Saami people, the young and the old generation, together? Further, the festival can be seen as an important tool in the process of Coastal Saami ethnic revitalisation with perspectives on northern indigenous and in general world community nowadays. What is the role of this imagined community for its participants? What challenges do manndalinger have in creating both a local and a global symbolic community? This master thesis is tended to bring up questions for further discussions and become one of the colourful pieces in the mosaic of understanding the Riddu Riđđu festival and its role in the revitalisation of Saami identity. IV Table of Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................................II Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................................III Abstract..................................................................................................................................................... IV Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................V Chapter 1 Research issue and methodological considerations .....................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Welcome to Sàpmi Land! ..............................................................................................................2 1.2 Across the Sápmi Land or pre-fieldwork research........................................................................... 4 1.2.1 The Saami Peoples Day 6th of February .......................................................................................4 1.2.2 Påskfestivalen/ Easter celebration in Kautokeino..........................................................................5 1.2.3 Mørketida, a local celebration in Manndalen: an introduction to the Riddu Riđđu festival..........6 1.3 Research question....................................................................................................................................7 1.4 Methodologies employed ........................................................................................................................7 1.4.1 Library work ..................................................................................................................................8 1.4.2 Internet sources..............................................................................................................................9 1.4.3 Norwegian media analysis.............................................................................................................9 1.4.4 Additional sources .......................................................................................................................10 1.4.5 Participant observation ................................................................................................................11 1.4.6