Sami people ask Danish queen to return sacred witchcraft trial drum

Norwegian indigenous minority seek permanent ownership of artefact seized after 17th-century trial

Helen Russell in Jutland
Wed 13 Oct 2021 05.23 EDT



A Sámi drum from the British Museum in London. Most of the few remaining drums are in European hands. Photograph: Trustees of the British Museum

Norway’s Sámi people are asking for a sacred drum confiscated by Denmark after a witchcraft trial in 1691 to be returned to them permanently, and they have asked the Danish queen for help.

The drum belonged to a Sámi shaman, Anders Poulsson, who was arrested and imprisoned, according to court records. It was confiscated and became part of the Danish royal family’s art collection before being transferred to Denmark’s National Museum in 1849.

Since 1979, the drum has been on loan from the Danes to the Sámi museum in Karasjok, Norway. The loan agreement expires on 1 December and the drum is expected to return to Denmark. But the Sámi people want it back.

The Sámi Museum in Karasjok sent a request to the Danish National Museum earlier this year to formally take over ownership of the drum and the president of the Sámi parliament, Aili Keskitalo, has issued a statement to Norwegian and Danish press demanding the drum’s return.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/13/sami-people-norway-ask-danish-queen-to-return-sacred-witchcraft-trial-drum

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(very old photo, colorized)

You may appreciate taking a moment to note the unique folk clothing, etc., of the Sámi people, Norway's (and Sweden's) native population:

https://tinyurl.com/64hwts5j

Wikipedia information regarding the Sámi:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1mi_people

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Sweden’s Troubled Relationship With The Indigenous Sámi Community
January 21, 2021 Pallavi Chatterjee
THE INDIGENOUS SÁMI COMMUNITY

Upon hearing the term “indigenous community”, one might not be blamed for thinking perhaps of the supremely well-organized and politically active Latin American tribes, or perhaps First Nations communities from Northern America who have long-standing histories of formally organizing and agitating for their fundamental rights and freedoms. Their adversaries are represented in stark terms – the unrestrained capitalist bent of their national political and economic institutions, entrenched discrimination and histories of violence, mistreatment, and disenfranchisement persisting till today.

The nomadic Sámi communities of northernmost Sweden, Norway, Finland and parts of Russia are seldom thought of in this regard. Historically referred to as “Lapps” or “Lapplanders”, Sámi historical territories (referred to as “Sápmi”)span a vast geographic region home to a variety of wildlife and extensive natural resources, where they engage primarily in reindeer-herding, fur trapping, and fishing as their sources of livelihood. The looming threat of climate change directly and disproportionately impacts their livelihoods, cultural practices and very survival itself.

The Scandinavian states are particularly well-regarded for being champions of progressive climate change actions, and are universally renowned for their relatively free and equal societies, low levels of inequality, and the reliable and well-demonstrated distributive benefits of their social democratic political and economic systems. What is less known is the legacy of aggressive forced assimilation in the name of sovereignty between southern-dwelling Scandinavians and northern-dwelling Sámi populations throughout the 1800s – alarmingly similar to the treatment faced by First Nations tribes. What is even less acknowledged is the deleterious impact of present-day environmental projectsconducted within Sápmi territories in the name of “fighting climate change”.

While evaluating any institution for the efficacy of its actions on a holistic scale, however, it is always the voices of its most marginalized and its most vulnerable populations that provide the inconvenient truths that must also be included within such claims.

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HISTORICAL INJUSTICESAND LEGACIES OF DISCRIMINATION AND ABUSE
Indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to repressive state actions when claims of land use and property rights are brought to the fore, since such claims ostensibly oppose goals of national development. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has been a staunch defender of the rights of a number of Latin American indigenous communities, ruling in their favour when states proceeded with large-scale industrial projects on their lands without their consent. An emerging concept within international law pertains specifically to the “special relationship”indigenous communities have with their lands, which must be respected by states and the pretext to which consultations with local stakeholders must be conducted in good faith before the initiation of any projects on their lands which might have an impact on their lives and livelihoods.

Centuries of well-documented discrimination, abuse, and mistreatment of Sámi populations exist, and remains scarcely acknowledged on a global scale. The UN Racial Discrimination Committee (2011) has issued a number of recommendations to Norway and Sweden, criticizing their policies of forcibly assimilating Sámi populations and condemning language as a basis for discrimination. "Swedification" policies of the 1800s persisted well into the 1970s, based on the premise of Sámi populations being “backwards” and “uncivilized”, resulting in forced Christianisation, segregated schooling, banning the use of local languages, and “encouraging” civilized norms – often through force. 17th century Sámi who refused to give up their traditional beliefs in favour of Christianity were threatened with fines, imprisonment and even the death penalty.

More:
https://www.humanrightspulse.com/mastercontentblog/swedens-troubled-relationship-with-the-indigenous-smi-community