Dieckagåhpe Photo: Cato Hultmann The murder at Dieckagåhpe In the southernmost outpost of the Sulitjelma mountains, high above Saltdal’s smallholdings and patches of farmland, there was a murder in 1829. The incident has not become part of local folklore, and the name of the place where the murder happened, Dieckagåhpe, has been forgotten. Even the grave of the woman who was killed is hidden in a forgotten cemetery at Saltnes in Saltdal. Through reading Petrus Læstadius’ book Fortsättning af Journalen öfver missions- resor i Lappmarken innefattande åren 1828–1832 (“Continuation of the Journal of Missionary Journeys in Lappmark during the Years 1828–1832”), I became aware of the mention of a murder committed in Norway, where the murderer was arrested by the Norwegian authorities. Since the books are about the people who lived in Pite Lappmark, which also includes the Sulitjelma mountains, I found it interesting that the incident was unknown, both in the local historical literature and among the people who had had great knowledge of this area for generations. Two of the Sami that were mentioned by name in this case were known from the local history of Sulitjelma. One was “Smoleck”, who has a small river in Sulitjelma named after him. The other, Jon Andersson Ljung, is strongly associated with the prediction of Sulitjelma’s establishment – and its decline, should the church tower ever have a spire. An enquiry sent to the State Archives in Trondheim, where the municipal records for Salten Tinglag (judicial district) are archived, produced results. Soon, I had copies of witness statements, minutes of court proceedings, and correspondence between the sheriff, the bailiff and the local judge in my mailbox. All the documents were in the handwriting of the time, known in Norwegian as gotisk skrift, which meant that it took some time to read through the 1 material.1 Gradually a tragic case was revealed of the killing of a woman, most likely by accident. The case also showed how the legal system in Salten worked around 1830. Pretty much everyone who was affected by the case was Sami and spoke Pite Sami. How did the Norwegian authorities deal with that? This story has been put together into a chronological narrative, based on witness interviews in Norway and Sweden, and from the detailed information taken from these documents, as well as Læstadius’ mention of the incident. This is how the story of what then happened back then in Dieckagåhpe, somewhere between Lake Ingeborgvatn and Stålberget in Saltdal municipality, came to be. A trading trip to the village The story starts early in the morning of Tuesday, 11 August 1829. The farmers at Yttergården in Saksenvik, Helge Willumsen and his wife Karen, become aware of a small group approaching their outfield fence.2 There are three of them, all in traditional Sami clothing, or gákti: two women in blue, calf-length dresses and tall, beehive-shaped hats, and a man in a typical, shorter man’s garment, with a leather bag on his back.3 They have come far, these three travellers. The oldest of the women, 50-year-old Kierstin Andersdotter, has walked from the east side of Lake Balvatnet and over to Stålberget, where she has been joined by 39-year-old Karin Nilsdatter and her nephew, 31-year-old Anders Andersson Bidkja, for the trading trip down to the farm in Saksenvik. Once inside the farmyard at Yttergården, they exchange greetings and news from the mountains and village. Then, the visitors present their wares. They pull several round, soot- blackened reindeer cheeses out of the leather bag. Helge Willumsen takes a look at these valuable items and asks his wife to find appropriate goods to trade from the farm’s storehouse. Soon Karen brings back home-woven frieze fabrics and some tobacco and flour. Finally, Helge produces a large pot of liquor, for which he receives an entire reindeer cheese in trade.4 After the guests have been treated to a meal of sour cream and flat bread, they pack their goods and set course back to the mountains. A kanne of liquor and old friends Late that afternoon, the three rejoin the group of families travelling together, the Pålssons, Tarwons and Småleks. This siida (corporation of Sami reindeer herders) has its tent camp in Dieckagåhpe,5 located somewhere between Lake Ingeborgvatn and Stålberget, in Saltdal. Here the three are invited into Pål Tarwon’s tent, where his parents Karin Baggesdotter and Per Tarwon also live.6 After a while, the people from the neighbouring tent join them to hear the news from the village. It gets crowded in the tent, where Anders Bidkja reveals the contents of the leather bag – a two-and-a-half kanne keg of liquor.7 While the conversation is lively, Anders Bidkja pours two jomfru measures of liquor into his cup and then fills cup after cup until everyone has been served.8 Pål Tarwon’s parents, 1 Gotisk skrift (“Gothic handwriting”) is the name used in Denmark and Norway for Kurrent, a type of German cursive writing that came into use in the 16th century. It was the normal style of handwriting in Norway from about 1600 to 1850. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurrent 2 Saltdal gård og slekt, vol. 1, page 270, para. 1826. / Salten sorenskriverembete, forhørsprotokoll 1828–35, fol. 245b–249. 3 Manker, Ernst. 1947. Pages 474 and 464. 4 Salten sorenskriverembete, forhørsprotokoll 1828–35, fol. 245b–249. See also P. Læstadius, Fortsettelsen, page 356. 5 Dieckagåhpe was translated by Lars Erik Ruong in 1997 as “Teltstangshola” (tent-pole valley). 6 Lundström, Kjell-Åke. 2004. Karin Baggesdotter was the daughter of Bagge Andersson, b. 1713, d. 1792 in Lokteå Seitevare, Arjeplog. Karin is referred to erroneously as “Andersdatter” in the court documents. 7 Store norske leksikon (Norwegian encyclopaedia): Kanne, a former northern-European unit of volume, especially used for beverages. In Norway and Denmark, 1 kanne equalled 2 potter (= 1.93 L); in Sweden, 1 kanna equalled 2 stop (= 2.62 L). 8 Jungfru (jomfru) is an old Swedish measurement of volume equivalent to 82 ml. Used mostly for spirits. 2 Karin and Per, accept several refills, and Anders Bidkja himself is soon drunk. The atmosphere in the tent is good, until one of the herdsmen says that Bidkja’s reindeer herd has become mixed with Pål Tarwon’s herd. Anders is suddenly overcome with a wild rage, while Pål does what he can to calm his guest. Anders is furious, but eventually Pål manages to persuade him that the two should go out to talk alone. The two somewhat unsteady friends eventually sit down on a rock, a short distance away from the tents. Ever since Anders moved here from Jokkmokk in 1821, he and Pål had been good friends. For the first three years, Anders had worked as a reindeer herder, but soon married his own “livestock”. He was now in his second marriage, which produced a little daughter, and Anders chose Pål as godfather when little Margareta was baptised.9 Pål reciprocated this gesture of trust by giving the newborn child one of his best female reindeer. Pål knew well that Anders could be both violent and unruly when he drank. That was why he wanted the two of them to go out for a walk alone. Pål tries for some time to convince Anders that there was no malicious intent behind the fact that the two herds had become mixed together and that now, with so many people gathered in one place, it should be easy to separate the herds again. Anders now seems relaxed and calm, and he speaks of the honour Pål had showed his family with the fine baptismal gift. For this reason he wants to give Pål one more dram from his keg of spirits. Anders pulls his knife from his belt and opens the keg, pours some into the wooden cup and replaces the cork. But Pål notices that Anders has not put his knife back in its sheath, but is trying to hide it by holding it backwards inside his hand.10 The people who had been inside the tent have now come out into the open. From a distance, they see Pål and Anders sitting and talking peacefully, but suddenly the two stand up. Pål reaches for the knife Anders is holding in his hand, but Anders struggles free and staggers toward the crowd of people standing outside the tent. In a few short seconds, everything is in chaos. Some hurry back into the tent to avoid the raging Anders, while others stay where they are, unaware of the danger that looms. Anders staggers into one of the women in the crowd, knocking her over, and then, off balance, he flails his arm – and with it, the hand that is holding the knife. The next moment, a heartbreaking scream of “Oh Jesus!” pierces the sky. It is Pål’s mother. She falls to the ground, dead.11 9 Arjeplogs Tinglags Häradsrätt, AIA: 10, 1830 11/2 §22. 10 Arjeplogs Tinglags Häradsrätt, AIA: 10, 1830 11/2 §22. 11 Ibid. 3 All are stunned, looking down at Karin, lying there dead. Anders Bidkja is the first to come to his feet, and with his knife at the ready he tries to run off on his unsteady legs. Both Pål and his father Per grab the only weapons they have, namely the long birch walking staffs leaning against the tent. The victim’s husband, Per, is the first to approach Anders and he holds his staff raised, ready to strike.