Unique exchange brings Norway’s Saami to Iqaluit

Arne Nystad, a Saami from Norway, was surprised to find during his recent visit to Iqaluit he was mistaken more than once for a being French-speaking Québécois due to his unfamiliar accent.

That was just one of the unexpected experiences for the school superintendent and science teacher on his first trip to Canada’s North. Arne accompanied Terje Lindi, a fellow teacher at the Saami high school in Karasjok, and three students on a week-long trip to Iqaluit over Toonik Tyme.

While Toonik Tyme is probably the most enjoyable week of the year in Iqaluit, the Saami didn’t travel to Nunavut solely for the annual spring festival – they were in the city as part of the second phase of a unique northern high school exchange between Karasjok and Iqaluit.

Called Guovsshas in Saami, Under the Northern Lights in English and Aqsarniit Ataani in Inuktitut, the project’s goal is to increase the self-identity of circumpolar youth “through an exploration of traditional rights and cultural realities, with an examination of past, present and future lifestyles.”

When in Iqaluit, the Saami often wore their traditional dress, including shoes made from reindeer hide. Then, no one thought they were from Quebec – and curious Iqalungmiut wanted to know about their traditional sewing techniques.

Throat-singers were particularly eager to learn more about the Saami after the visiting students performed Saami joik songs.

Young kids, say students Inger Eriksen, Máret Biret Skoglung Sara and Malene Floeysvik Balto, were always asking them where they were from.

The Saami, the indigenous people of northern Europe, number about 100,000 in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The members of the exchange group came from Karasjok, a community of 3,500, which is the administrative hub for the Saami population in northern Norway and seat of the Norwegian Saami parliament.

Last November, a group from Iqaluit, which included students Sandi Vincent and Lauren Teiman, went to Karasjok, timing their visit to coincide with a week of workshops focusing on the United Nations Decade of Indigenous Peoples.

There, Inuksuk High School’s assistant principal David Lloyd and teacher Michelle Jacquard found a high school with an enviable student-teacher ratio of 30 teachers for 125 students, trees, and lots of freezing rain.

Inuksuk workshop teacher Mathew Alainga brought pieces of a kamotik to Karasjok, and, with the assistance of Saami students, put the sled together.

Alainga was also in Inuksuk’s shop with the visiting Saami to help them make ulus as souvenirs to bring back home – a task the group enthusiastically took on.

But carpentry and Saami culture teacher Terje found the tools in the shop much older than those in Karasjok.

And that’s not the only thing that struck Terje.

He’d looked forward to seeing a more exciting style of architecture, reflecting Inuit culture and traditions. Apart from the legislature, Iqaluit’s architecture disappointed him.

“You can’t say this city is special. You could see these buildings anywhere in Canada. You don’t get the Inuit spirit,” Terje said.

Houses in Karasjok are also built according to Saami needs, explained Terje, with a large, multi-purpose kitchen – and there’s no longer a housing crisis in the region, as was the case 50 years ago.

The Saami all agreed the warmth of the welcome in Nunavut was similar to the Saami hospitality in Karasjok where locals never lock their doors.

At a birthday party at the home of Terje’s hosts, QIA president Thomassie Alikatuktuk and his wife Mary, saw several generations gathered together, and he noted a lot of warmth and love for the youngest members of the extended family, something Terje said is traditionally seen among Saami.

Iqaluit’s treeless scenery was familiar as well because, even if there are trees in Karasjok, the coasts and interior of the Saami homeland have little vegetation.

The Saami were interested to learn about the different dialects in Inuktitut, also found among the various groups of Saami-speakers.

But they were shocked to learn from maps of Nunavut that Inuit in Nunavut don’t own all their land. Although Saami are battling Norway and other nations for the rights to their land and the right to carry out their traditional activities, Arne said Saami would never exchange their land for money.

The few classes, which the Saami attended at Inuksuk, also seemed “loose” to them, with attendance and schedules less strict than in Norway. On the positive side, they liked the practice of recognizing good school effort through various awards, something that’s rarely done back home.

As a memory of their stay, the Saami left behind a traditional Saami tunic, a cup and several other handicrafts from their region, which will be on permanent display at Inuksuk.

The group from Karasjok also returned with two Saami dolls given them by Iqaluit resident Hugh Lloyd. Lloyd’s father bought them to Karasjok more than 50 years ago when he was doing fieldwork there. The dolls will go to the Saami museum in Tromsø.

“We’ve had the dolls in our family since 1949, and this seemed a good time to send them back,” Lloyd said.

The school exchange will continue next year, with another group heading off to Karasjok,in hopes of fostering an increased awareness of a shared circumpolar culture. Longer-term contacts between the two schools and communities will depend on interest and continued funding, organizers said.

The three-year program is sponsored by the Government of Nunavut, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, the Royal Canadian Legion, Inuksuk High School, the Norwegian Embassy and the federal foreign affairs department.