{"id":470,"date":"2020-07-13T15:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/?p=470"},"modified":"2020-07-17T22:30:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T22:30:08","slug":"episode-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/episode-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 4 &#8211; Reindeer Marking"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>The journey in the Arctic has now reached Norrbotten, a region the indigenous S\u00e1mi people call S\u00e1pmi which extends beyond the borders of Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland.<\/h4>\n<iframe title=\"Reindeers Marking\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/437375811?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The connection between the S\u00e1mi and the land they inhabit extends beyond pure human geography. As Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weber.edu\/weberjournal\/Journal_Archives\/Archive_C1\/Vol_16_2\/HGaskiEss.html\">Harald Gaski <\/a>explains, the legend goes that their future depends on it. \u201cWhen the Great Creator created the ancestors of the S\u00e1mi people, he laid down in the middle of the earth the living and beating heart of a two-year-old reindeer cow, so that when the S\u00e1mi people are in trouble, they can put an ear to the ground and listen to the heartbeats from below. If the heart is still beating, this means there is still a future for the S\u00e1mi people, and whatever problems they have can be solved one way or another\u201d. That reindeer heartbeat has never stopped reaching the beating of the S\u00e1mi drum and the songs and performances that keep telling their story.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Reindeers are a fundamental part of S\u00e1mi culture and occupy such an important role that ultimately defines each other\u2019s livelihood and future. It\u2019s fair to say that few civilisations still honour their direct link to nature this way and in fact, have severed or forgotten those ties.\nThe knowledge of the territory the S\u00e1mi have preserved is now more valuable than ever as their ecological expertise is what many industrialized societies lack.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><!-- wp:image {\"id\":481,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\"} --><\/p>\n\n<figure><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"\u00a9Amos Chapple\" src=\"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/SamiCorral_Photo@AmosChapple.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"950\" height=\"637\" \/><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">What they have is a connection and relationship with the land that most people who live in cities and rent their apartments don\u2019t. It transcends the usual conceptualizations of land and property and it\u2019s in total dissonance with the transactional lens too often used to look at the spaces we live in. It\u2019s an interesting exercise to try and remove oneself from a narrative we\u2019ve grown accustomed to. It could be easy to over romanticise this and indulge in bucolic escapism. In reality, it\u2019s simply a matter of looking at distant ways of life without branding them as archaic to find lessons and practices that could change ours. It\u2019s about making space for the ancestral wisdom we might not even know we needed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In a blindingly white landscape, the reindeer look even more beautiful and majestic. They\u2019re peacefully roaming, eating or simply relaxing. For now, the trees and the wooden corral &#8211; the space where the reindeer gather before being released into the wild until spring &#8211; are the only points of contrast in an otherwise clear scenery where only snow and reindeer exist. Watching them is incredibly soothing and there\u2019s a harmonious feeling in the air. Some of the reindeer perfectly match the surroundings &#8211; they\u2019re already wearing their winter clothes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:image {\"id\":475,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\"} --><\/p>\n\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-844 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.23.58.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1291\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.23.58.png 1291w, https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.23.58-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.23.58-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.23.58-768x430.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1291px) 100vw, 1291px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In this moment of calm, it\u2019s easy to carve out some time for reflection and wonder if their instinct and relationship with their natural habitat are telling them that something is shifting, that it\u2019s not how it used to be. Environmental disruption has also reached Norbotten and there are serious effects to be expected as the Arctic is the fastest-warming region in the world.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The S\u00e1mi arrive on their snowmobiles and start calling the reindeer to get them ready for herding. The call breaks through the silence of the reindeer resting and roaming in the corral. Their grunting and the sound of their bells become the new soundtrack in an otherwise dead silent forest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:image {\"id\":478,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\"} --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">It\u2019s now dark and the marking begins. The S\u00e1mi pierce tags to the reindeer\u2019s ears. They are the only ones who can rightfully own reindeer in the S\u00e1mi reindeer herding area and must follow the customary practices that have been transferred across generations for millennia. Some of the reindeer are calm and seemingly unphased as if they\u2019re used to this routine. Others try their hardest to get away from the S\u00e1mi\u2019s hands. Their wild nature is very much alive.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:image {\"id\":477,\"sizeSlug\":\"large\"} --><\/p>\n\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/running-reindeer-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- \/wp:image --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">As the reindeer start trotting around the corral, they might not realise they have an audience.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The marking takes place in Jokkmokk, a small town in Swedish Lapland famous for its Winter Market where each year thousands of people gather to discover handicrafts from the S\u00e1mi people. This is also an occasion for S\u00e1mi people across the entire S\u00e1pmi to meet. They have been doing so for generations, but are now having to deal with the displacement of their community due to the increasing mining industrialization and climate change in the region they\u2019re so deeply bound to. As the weather becomes more variable and unpredictable beyond the spectrum of indigenous knowledge, it\u2019s painful to imagine what the consequences will be for pastures and S\u00e1mi culture where reindeer husbandry is key to their economy and identity.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-845\" src=\"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.21.18.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1109\" height=\"766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.21.18.png 1109w, https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.21.18-300x207.png 300w, https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.21.18-1024x707.png 1024w, https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/07\/Screenshot-2020-07-13-at-12.21.18-768x530.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1109px) 100vw, 1109px\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The journey in the Arctic has now reached Norrbotten, a region the indigenous S\u00e1mi people call S\u00e1pmi which extends beyond the borders of Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12,11,9,10],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-episodes","tag-climate","tag-norrbotten","tag-reindeer","tag-sami"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions\/846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/driftingnarratives.net\/midnightsun\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}