Arctic Peoples

by Clive Tesar & Gunn-Britt Retter 

The Saami Council has given its annual book prize to the author of a children’s novel that contains some decidedly grown-up ideas. Elle Marja Vars was presented with the prize at a ceremony during the Saami Council ’s meeting in Unjárga / Nesseby, in Saami traditional territory in northern Norway.

Vars’ book (pictured here with the author) translates as “The World’s Laziest Man”. The book describes a man who lives simply, and only ever takes and uses as much as he needs. People from the Finnmark area, which is home to many Saami, are often described as lazy by people in southern Norway. Vars gently examines this idea, showing that her character is not really lazy, but a man who lives according to traditional values, who lives sustainably and leaves little impact on the land.

This is Vars’ second Saami Council book prize, as she also won in the category of ‘children and youth books’ two years ago.

by Clive Tesar

Reindeer herders from countries around the Arctic are meeting to trade knowledge and strategies for dealing with warming temperatures. The workshops are one branch of the Ealát Project, an initiative to look at the vulnerabilities of reindeer herders, and conduct research on how herders might adapt to climate change. Anders Oskal, Director of the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry says,

“Independent of what’s causing climate change, it’s happening now so while others may be discussing the causes, reindeer husbandry and indigenous societies need to work out strategies on how to cope with this issues. This project is supposed to be a contribution to that.”

Oskal hopes that at least six workshops will be held, covering the main herding regions: The Saami region (northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula); the four reindeer herding areas in Russia (Nenets, Yamal, Sakha/Yakutia, Chukotka) and Alaska (United States). The meetings will include people from a variety of different regions, so that they may share knowledge between them.
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