Terhi Vuojala-Magga and Stephan Dudeck breaching the image of the North as a home and as a field

Stephan Dudeck visited Terhi Vuojala-Magga in the Inari region of Finnish Sápmi (Sámi home area) two times during this year.  The first visit was in January in Kuttura – a Sami reindeer herders´ forest village of six houses in the upper stream of Ivalo River - and the second visit was at the beginning of …

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Conference in Riga “Oral History – Dialogue with Society”

I’m just back from the conference “Oral History – Dialogue with Society” in Riga that took place from 29th till 30th March. The conference was hosted by the Latvian National Oral History Centre of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the University of Latvia in cooperation with the Association of Oral History Researchers of …

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Sámi and Finnish people West of the Kola Peninsula

Nina Meschtyb's reconnaissance field trip Jona and Jonskaya, February 2012 My departure was sudden, as well as the place where I decided to go. The destination of my first trip for the ORHELIA project was a little village west of the Kola Peninsula – Jona (Ёна). When we think of Russian Sámi, everybody has the …

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City moose in Anchorage, Alaska

This is Sara Komarnisky, PhD student at UBC, currently in Anchorage doing fieldwork with Mexican migrants and immigrants here. One thing about life in Anchorage that is funny and fits very much with clichés about Alaska are all of the MOOSE! There are moose all over the city, all year, but they are especially noticeable …

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Reindeer, Herders and War

In the study of many pastoralist societies, the military dimensions of animal husbandry have played an important role. Indeed, if we think for example about the horse among Central Asian nomads, and it's historical importance, e.g. for the expansion of Chingis Khan's Empire, it is hard to overestimate the military significance of pastoral animals. When …

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Oral history, European Nenets

Stephan Dudeck greets us from his fieldsite in the European Nenets Autonomous Okrug, North West Russia. He is there for starting the ORHELIA project life history work. He has put some great impressions and a very nice first round of oral history work on his own blog. Congratulations! Just quickly two things: I remember that …

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Sajos, Sámi Cultural Centre, Inari.

Anthropology Research Team guest and Fulbright Grantee to Finland Paul R. Burgess writes an update from Inari. Sajos is the newly opened Sámi cultural centre and home to the Finnish Sámi Parliament Hall (Solju). Construction was completed in January, and the first Parliamentary session was held last Wednesday. Official opening ceremonies will take place in …

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