A small town at the southern edge of former Sápmi (now in Finnish Lapland), Kuusamo is a site in transition due to a series of globally connected socio-political, environmental, and economic changes - and concrete events in time and space. Kuusamo is traditionally viewed as the capital of “kuusi Sámi” (“spruce Sámi”, i.e. “forest Sámi”), a Sámi tribe that lived in the southeastern parts of Sápmi, which is now within the national borders of Finland. As a consequence of imperial politics, the Swedish King made an agreement with the “kuusi Sámi”; in exchange for maintaining ownership of their lands in Kuusamo area -the “kuusi Sámi” agreed to be registered as Finns. Thus, the Swedish Kings was able to draw the Eastern border - towards Russia - on the East side of the lands of “kuusi Sámi”. Had “kuusi Sámi” kept their status as indigenous peoples, the border between Russia and Sweden could not have been defined (Schefferus, “Lapponia”) and thus, the land would have been susceptible to land grab by Russia. The struggle for survival of the indigenous peoples in the wake of expansionism by surrounding nations is thus indeed, nothing new. Kuusamo history aptly points out how colonialism is a complex and multifaceted series of political, social, economic and concrete events in time and space.
This history continues: today, Kuusamo city center is dying. Meanwhile, some twenty kilometers away, Ruka tourist center is a vibrating village, filled with ski tourists and seasonal workers - most of whom are not local residents. Simultaneously, not far from Ruka, Cobalt 66 Latitude mining company is planning to resume digging in Juomasuo test quarry, and expanding to further test quarries in the region. Mining in Lapland and Kainuu usually unearths as a side product radioactive Uranium.
These developments: tourism, the mines, “lost identity” as indigenous people, and Kuusamo city’s past willingness to resist the mine and work for the health of their land and environment conjures many of the issues and questions we encountered and asked also in Greenland and partly in Kilpisjärvi.
“How to inherit this history?” is the question that we raise and seek to understand through local knowledge, history and the struggle for survival - all themes pertinent to Chill Survive Network. In Greenland we learned that the word sila is used when talking about environment, nature and climate. Moreover, same word, sila, is used to refer to the human mind, consciousness, and thought. Thus, environment/climate and human mind is seen as interconnected. We would like to revisit the word sila by approaching the questions it raises in this local setting of
the city of Kuusamo and explore interpretations of it through art, action, and theory.
Pia Lindman Reporting from Nuuk, Marraq, and Ilulissat in Greenland with Contributions by Saara Mahbouba, Valeria Nekhaeva, and Mirka Sulander
Videos from Marraq Marraq 1 Marraq 2 Marraq 3 Marraq, a peninsula 100km South West of Nuuk, is the location of a former US military base (West Bluie 4) that was shut down in 1948. Amongst delapidated equipment you can find barrels (jet fuel?), pieces of lead, and asbestos. I also found a pile of metal gravel, the grains of which were of a light grey color with a bluish tint/shine. This, like some tens of other abandoned US military bases in Greenland are slated for clean-up by the Danish and Greenlandic governments. This clean-up work has recently been allocated 300 M Danish Crowns. Ilulissat is located next to Kangia fjord (Unesco site). Sermeq Kujalleq glacier calves icebergs into the fjord and with its pace of 20 meters per day, it is one of the most active calving glaciers in the world. In the first video (Ilulissat 1) you will hear the sound of calving at 00min 31s, 01min 04s and again at 04min 14s and 04min 26s. (source: The Guardian 08.1...
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