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.
Lauri Linna: Maternal lineage A traditional kota in the Kitka siida. Now used for leisure. Arriving in Kuusamo after 12 h on train and bus from Helsinki. I take my bags to my grandmother’s place and get in Pia’s car. We drive to an area of Kuusamo that I can’t remember ever going to. I know that this is from where my grandfather’s line of fathers is, but not much else. We are trying to find remnants of the Sámi past in Kuusamo. I have heard, Sámi people used to live here before the settlers arrived from Kainuu in the South and Ostrobothnia in the West by the order of the Swedish King to farm and build houses. Since early childhood, I have wondered is this heritage in me. I’ve carried a strange feeling in me about it, but for whatever reason it has never been discussed in my family. Except for a joke my grandfather used to tell us: “Hey kids, we are lohilappalaisia (Salmon Sámi)! Hehehehehee! LOL. Just kidding.” He also used a lot of words that I didn’t understand. I ...
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