The Norwegian government opened a global seed vault on Svalbard (February 28, 2008) as a service to the world. The Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg and African Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai placed the first seeds in the vault.
This video clip features Sami musician Mari Boine singing Elle inside the mountain in Svalbard during the opening ceremony.
To read the lyrics and learn more about the film read my earlier post on the Kautokeino Rebellion film here.
I've written in StoryCulture about how my grandparents hid their indigenous heritage from their children and neighbors, either out of shame -- or just because life was easier when people identified them as members of the caucasian Christian majority.
Cultural genocide is often an overt act of aggression... and sometimes, as Mari Boine points out, its a societal brainwashing passed down from generation to generation.
This video was recorded in Oslo (spring 2008). Mari talks about how she, like too many Sami on both sides of the Atlantic, hated her heritage when she was younger. When Mari was in her mid-twenties, she embraced her ethnicity and started to write and sing joiks.
As an American-Sami descendant on my mother's side, it is emotional for me to watch this video. My grandparents did not want anyone to know their ethnic identity. This was common. Like the woman that appears later in the video, they covered their past under the cloak of another country and people. The pain that ethnic genocide inflicts continues, through the generations of physical survivors, no matter what the color of their skin.
Mun Ja Mun - by Adjagas: Sara Marielle Gaup (A Sami from Kautokeino, Norway) and Lawra Somby (A Sami from Tromso, Norway)
Adjagas is a Sami word that describes the mental state experienced during the transition from being asleep to awake.
The group's self-titled album is available at amazon.com HERE.
Visit the Adjagas MySpace site HERE.
Music by Mari Boine and Svein Schultz.
Film released 18 January 2008 in Norway.
Directed by Nils Gaup (who is from Guovdagneaidnu Kautokeino)
"ELLE" - ORIGINAL LYRICS IN SAMI - AS RECORDED FOR THE FILM
De rahpasii giđđaeatnu fas
De dulvvi miel luoittašeimmet
Jiekŋaidja gárttai viimat vuollánit
Bieggabártnažan
De girdilin biellocizažiin
De joradin guovssahasain
vuoibmás vuoiŋŋ‹ahagas šogádeimme ovttas
Mu bieggabártnažan
De rahtase jienaheamit fas
De golggiihii sátnerávdnji
gálbmon gáttiin go mii viimat gávnnadeimmet
Bieggabártnažan
Go váccašat ealloravddas de...
Go guođuhat suhkesoivviid...
Almmiravda ealaska ja sugada
Bieggabártnažan
EDIT: The music for the film is now available to download on amazon.com for 99 cents a song. You can also listen to a sample of the tracks at amazon. CLICK HERE
Nils Gaup will speak about the history of the rebellion in New York on April 28, 2008. The press release states that clips from the film will be screened. For more information: CLICK HERE
The film is based on the 1852 Sami rebellion in Guovdageaidnu (Sami language)/ Kautokeino (Norwegian language), a municipality in the county of Finnmark, Norway. Since 2005 the municipality is known officially as both Guoydageaidnu and Kautokeino.
I've read a Norwegian review that suggests a familiarity with the influence of the preacher Laestadius in Norway is important before seeing the film. My Sami relations were not Laestadians and I can't give informed insights without further study.
THE ENGLISH LYRICS TO "ELEN" by Rawdna Carita Eira
from the Mari Boine music video (from the film Kautokeino Rebellion shown above):
And so the spring river opened up again
And so we let ourselves drift with the flood
The night of ice had to give in
My dearest son of the wind
Surely I flew with the bluethroat
Surely I danced with the northern light
In the strongest of breath we exhaled as one
My dearest son of the wind
The lips of the silenced people bursted out in speach
The stream of words once again were flowing
over the frozen riverbanks when we finally came together
My dearest son of the wind
When you´re walking alongside the reindeer-herd..
When you guard the reindeer-oxes with the great antlers..
All of the horizon comes alive and starts to move
My dearest son of the wind
My gratitude to Rawdna Carita Eira for providing the English translation to her beautiful lyrics.
My mother's great-grandmother Merit was a Sami from near Tromso. In Norway, in the mid-1800s, she was forced to join the state church and remain until she turned 19. Merit lied about her age so that she could immigrate to the United States. She made her passage out of Norway in 1860. The cultural genocide taking place throughout Scandinavia made it a bad time to be a Sami.
Many of the Sami people who fled to the United States, reacted to the racism against them like my relatives did, and hid their identity behind the mask of Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish heritage. Times have changed. I, like so many other Americans, am proud to be Sami. My upmost admiration goes to the Sami families that held on to their heritage in northern Europe despite the forces against them.
Mari Boine's joik recordings range from traditional Sami joiks to jazz influenced vocals against electronic instruments.
Calabash music offers a preview of Mari's collaborative joik/jazz album Eight Seasons.
This 2001 album was produced by Jazz musician Bugge Wesseltoft.
Musicians: Mari Boine-voice, Bugge Wesseltoft-keyboards, Jan Gabarek-tenor sax, Roger Ludvigsen-guitar, Svein Schultz-bass, Kenneth Ekornes-drums/percussion, Richard Thomas-soprano sax.
To Preview the Track: Boadan Nuppi Bealde CLICK HERE.
If you do not have Flash Player click here for instructions. At Calabash Music, individual songs from International recording artists are available for 99 cents.
Here is what Calabash Music has to say: "Our socially conscious business model and focus on international artists is revitalizing the music industry in developing nations around the globe. When our artists sell their music directly to you, they keep half the money from each sale and they avoid the high costs of manufacturing, marketing and distributing their music on CDs." Read about the Calabash Music fair trade policy in detail here.
StoryCulture does not profit from purchases -- this music is offered in support of the musicians.
