Workshops with public events at Tana and Varanger Museumssiida

Saernieprieve 21 – Dávvirat Duiskkas – snjaltjen/ mïetsken 2025

Dávvirat Duiskkas’ very last workshops with public events took place August 26-31, 2025. The project had finally arrived the northern- and easternmost unit of the six Sámi museums in Norway: Teän da Va’rjjel Mu’zeisiida /Deanu ja Várjjat Museasiida/Tana and Varanger Museumssida (DVM).[i] The foundation was established in 2012 by the Norwegian Sámi Parliament and three local municipalities and manages four museums. Dávvirat Duiskkas visited three of them and organized workshops with public events at two: Ä’vv Saa’mi Mu’zei/ Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum in Njauddâm/Neiden[ii] and Várjjat Sámi Musea/Varanger Sámi Museum in Vuonnabahta/Varangerbotn.[iii] Ä’vv had chosen “Borderland Matters: Skolt Sámi Cultural Heritage” as a topic to explore – the Skolt Sami live in an area that today is divided between Norway, Russia and Finland, while Várjjat had chosen the reactivation of cultural heritage as their topic. [iv]

Most of the participants in front of St. Trifon Orthodox Church in Če’vetjaü’rr/ Sevettijärvi, Finland. Front row from the left: Lisa Dunfjeld Aagård (Saemien Sijte South Sámi Museum), Jorun Jernsletten (DD/ Tana and Varanger Museumssida), Birgitta Fossum (DD/Saemien Sijte) and Elle Bals (RiddoDuoattarMuseat). Second row: Birgit Scheps (Dresden State Art Collections), Claudia Andratschke (Landesmuseum Hannover), Kjersti Myrnes Balto (Várdobáiki Sámi Center) and Lisa Vangen (Center of Northern Peoples). Third row: Ánne Mággá Wigelius (Tana and Varanger Museumssida), Maria Looks (Museum Europäischer Kulturen), Harrieth Aira (Árran Lule Sámi Center) and Sarah Nelly Friedland (Reiss-Engelhorn Museen, Mannheim). Back row: Mariann Wollmann Magga (Tana and Varanger Museumssida), Hanna Maaria Kiprianoff (Tana and Varanger Museumssida), NN and Sissel Ann Mikkelsen (DD/Sámi Museum Association in Norway). Not in the photo: Eija Ojanlatva, Eeva Kristiina Nylander and Elina Kuhmunen. Photo: C. Baglo.

Tuesday August 26, the participants arrived Girkonjárga/Kirkenes from Germany, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Wednesday was dedicated to an excursion by bus to the Savio Museum in Kirkenes,[v] an art museum dedicated to the Sami artist John Andreas Savio (1902-1938) but also a consolidated unit in DVM, as well as important sites within the local Skolt Sámi area. Historically, the Skolt Sámi, also known as the East(ern) Sámi,[vi] consisted of seven different communities (sijdds) with their own geographically delimited area of land use: Njauddâm (Neiden in Norwegian, Näätämö in Finnish), Paĉĉjokk (Pasvik in Norwegian, Paatsjoki in Finnish), Peäccam (Peisen orPetsjenga in Norwegian, Petsamo in Finnish), Suõʹnnʼjel (Søndergiel or Suonjel in Norwegian, Suonikylä in Finnish), Nuõʹttjäuʹrr (Nuortijärvi in Finnish, Notozero in Russian), Sââʹrvesjäuʹrr (Hirvasjärvi in Finnish, Girvasozero in Russian) and Mueʹtǩǩ (Muotka in Finnish and Norwegian). Today all of Peäccam, Suõʹnn’jel, Mueʹtǩǩ, Nuõʹttjäuʹrr
and Sââʹrvesjäuʹrr are situated within the Russian border. Half of Paččjokk is in Russia while the rest is in Norway. About 2/3 of Njauddâm is in Norway while the rest is in Finland (Rasmussen 2019, Skoltesamisk språksituasjon i Norge).

Liv Astrid K. Svaleng and Elin Magga at the Savio Museum introduce the life and works of the Sámi artist and pioneer John Andreas Savio (1902-1938). Savio grew up in Reaisvuonna/Bugøyfjord around 50 km NV of Kirkenes during a time when Sámi cultures and languages were subject to strict cultural assimilation policies by the Norwegian authorities. Yet Savio managed to carve a name for himself, mainly with renderings of Sámi daily life, especially in woodcut, and on a national and international scene. Photo: C. Baglo.

From the Savio Museum, we travelled to Njauddâm/Neiden where we did a short stop at the Skolt Sámi Village cultural heritage site and St. Georg’s Chapel.[vii] Then we travelled to Če’vetjaü’rr/Sevettijärvi, an important Skolt Sámi cultural center on the eastern shore of Lake Inari in Finland, 44 km SW of (Norwegian) Neiden. In the war settlements with the Soviet Union in the wake of the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941–1944), Finland had to cede territory, including the Petsamo (Печенга/Petsjenga in Russian) region in the Southern part of the Paaččjokk/Pasvik valley which had provided access to the Barents Sea and constituted the border towards Norway since 1920. The same region had been transferred to Finland after the Russian defeat in World War I. The Skolt Sámi in the Petsamo region was evacuated and in 1949 the Suõʹnnʼjel community was relocated to the Sevettijärvi and Näätämö area (Finnish Neiden). In Sevettijärvi our group visited the Skolt Sámi Heritage House and the Open-Air Museum that both are part of Siida Sámi Museum,[viii] St. Trifon Orthodox Church, and the extraordinary graveyard surrounding it.

In front of St. George’s Chapel (with the Skolt Sámi cemetary) in the Skolt Sámi Village in Njauddâm/Neiden, the only Russian Orthodox building in Norway. The conversion of the Skolt Sámi to the Russian-Orthodox faith began in the 1500s. According to the sources, St. Trifon of Pechenga/Petsamo, a Russian monk and missionary, built chapels in Njauddâm and (what became) Boris Gleb on the Western shore of Paččjokk/ Pasvik River in 1565. The current St. Georg’s Chapel is about 200 years old. Njauddâm has been a Skolt Sámi summer settlement for centuries and in 2000 it became a protected cultural heritage site. The protection includes buildings, house foundations, graves, pits, and a waterfall. The village is located by the Njauddâmjokk/ Neiden River. 1 ½ km away is Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum established in 2017. From the left: Hanna Maaria Kiprianoff (Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum), Lisa Vangen and Birgitta Fossum. Photo: C. Baglo.

Graves decorated with reindeer lichen at the cemetery of St. Trifon’s Orthodox Church in Če’vetjaü’rr/Sevettijärvi, Finland. Needless to say, the height of the fence surrounding the cemetery had to be doubled to keep the reindeer out. Skolt Sámi faith, language, and culture differ from the other Sámi groups, not least due to the Karelian and Russian influence. A minority within the minority that have endured centuries of colonization, discrimination, assimilation, and geopolitical upheaval, the number of Skolt Sámi language speakers is today small: In Norway, out of approximately 400 people, only 10-12 speak the language. In Finland, the Skolt Sámi population is estimated at 600-700 people and about 300 of them speak the language. On the Russian side, before the invasion of Ukraine when contact with Sámi communities in Russia was put to an end almost from one day to the other, no more than 50 people spoke the language.[ix] Photo: C. Baglo.

From Sevettijärvi we drove back to Neiden and Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum, the most recent addition to the Sámi museums in Norway (2017). Äʹvv aims to contribute to the strengthening of Skolt Sámi culture, language and identity, as well as to convey knowledge about the Skolt Sámi past and present. [x] At Äʹvv, Dávvirat Duiskkas organized the public event “(Skolt)Sámi cultural heritage in German museums”. In addition to the DVM’s director and the project manager, the speakers were Hanna-Maaria Kiprianoff, Museum subject manager at Ä’vv and Birgit Scheps, Curator and Head of Provenance Research and Restitution at Dresden State Art Collections. Kiprianoff spoke about her visits with Dávvirat Duiskkas to German Museums and her encounters with Skolt Sámi heritage there, while Scheps presented the Sámi collection at Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden.

Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum, August 27, 2025. The director of Tana and Varanger Museumssida, Mariann Wollmann Magga, leads Dávvirat Duiskkas’ public event. Wollmann Magga has visited the Sámi collections in Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Kulturen der Welt in Köln, Museum Naturalienkabinett Waldenburg, Naturkundemuseum im Ottoneum in Kassel, Museum Natur und Mensch in Freiburg, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen Museum Weltkulturen in Mannheim, Museum für Völkerkunde in Dresden and Museum Europäischer Kulturen in Berlin. Like the rest of the participants in Dávvirat Duiskkas, the knowledge gained from these experiences, have provided new perspectives and a new position to speak from. Photo: C. Baglo.

Much of Thursday was also spent at Ä’vv. The day started with a guided tour of the museum and its permanent exhibition “Saaʹmijânnam” – Skolt Sámi Land. The exhibition consists of three separate rooms. In the room, called “The People”, the visitor learns about traditions, cultural roots and how the communities were organized. “The Land” constitutes the next room. It portrays the different seasons, the most important resources at different times of the year, and the way this influenced Skolt Sámi seasonal settlements. The last room, called “The World”, portrays the effects of influences, changes, and challenges that was brought to the Skolt Sámi land from the outside.

«Jue’ ǩǩe jânnam” – “Dividing the Land”. Hanna Maaria Kiprianoff at Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum with maps of the Skolt Sámi land and the change of their surroundings in 1826, 1920, and 1949. In 1826 the border between Norway and Russia was drawn, in 1920 Russia lost Petsamo to Finland, and in 1949 Finland lost Petsamo to the Soviet Union. The changes had severe effects on the Skolt Sámi communities. Not only did they lose rights to land and the seasonal resources their life cycles depended on. Families and communities were split and separated. Photo: C. Baglo.

After the guided tour, the workshop “Borderland Matters: Skolt Sámi Cultural Heritage” took place. Mariann Wollmann Magga, Director of Tana and Varanger Museumssida introduced the foundation and the event; Eija Ojanlatva, Chief curator at Siida Sámi Museum spoke about the decades of dialogue between Siida and the Skolt Sámi community; Claudia Andratschke, Head of collections, research and provenance research at Landesmuseum Hannover presented their Sámi collection with emphasis on Skolt Sámi heritage; Eeva-Kristiina Nylander, Researcher, highlighted the same topic on the basis of the Sámi collection at Museum Europäischer Kulturen in Berlin; while Venke Tørmænen, a Skolt Sámi Ǩiõtt-tuâjjlaž (duojar or artisan) and community developer descending from the Paĉĉjokk sijdd, spoke about her own experiences of discovering and revitalizing her family’s Skolt Sámi roots and culture. The people and the land of the Paĉĉjokk sijdd has been divided between three nation states.

«Yes, I am Saa’m (Skolt Sámi)! ». Venke Tørmænen, artisan, cultural worker and former teacher, directs the group’s attention to her personal story. The story reflects the deep-seated effects of “Norwegianization” that still assert themselves in Sør-Varanger. Tørmænen is also known from the documentary “Maaddâr äkk šaamšiǩ” = Great Grandmother’s Hat (2022),[xi] where she makes her own Skolt Sámi hat with the help of a Skolt Sámi elder on the Finnish side. In the process she learns about the history of the Skolt Sámi on the Norwegian side of the nation state border. Photo: C. Baglo.

From Neiden we continued to Várjjat Sámi Musea/Varanger Sámi Museum in Vuonnabahta/Varangerbotn, a village in the municipality of Unjárga/Nesseby at the head of the Varangerfjord. Varanger Sámi Museum communicates the coastal Sámi history and culture. The museum opened in 1994, and the main themes of the exhibitions are prehistory, Sámi faith and mythology, pre-colonial Sámi society, and the Sámi economies in the area: Fishing, animal husbandry and reindeer herding.[xii] While Sámi languages and (material) cultures were largely discontinued in Sør-Varanger, also due to the destruction of WWII – Sør-Varanger remained in the war zone for more than three years – the same has not been the case in Unjárga. Jorunn Jernsletten who is a senior curator and mediator at Varanger Sámi Museum, gave the group a tour of the house and its exhibitions.

“Anthropometric investigations in the Varanger area in 1875 and Sámi Ancestral Remains in Berlin”. Maria Looks, research associate at Museum Europäischer Kulturen (MEK) in Berlin. Looks also gave an update on the provenance research project on MEK’s Sámi collection: Of 940 objects, 457 seem to originate from the Finnish side, 240 seem to be from the Swedish side, 133 from the Norwegian side while 5 objects are from the Russian side. 87 objects have unknown provenance. Photo: C. Baglo.

Thursday evening the public event “Sámi cultural heritage and ancestral remains in German heritage institutions” took place at the museum. Cathrine Baglo provided information on Dávvirat Duiskkas and status in the project, Jorunn Jernsletten shared some of her experiences from the project’s visits to German museums with Sámi collections, while Maria Looks gave an update on the provenance research project on Museum Europäischer Kulturen’s Sámi collection (2022-2025). In addition, Looks shared information on the American Alexander van der Horck’s (1852–1912) anthropometric investigations in the Varanger area in 1875, with a clearly affected audience. While the mapping of Sámi ancestral remains is not a part of Dávvirat Duiskkas’ mandate, the collecting of cultural objects and physical remains were closely entwined, as Looks presentation demonstrated.

The eating of cake has been an essential part of Dávvirat Duiskkas’ workshops and public events at the Sámi museums in Norway. Not only has it been a friendly gesture to the local public who often travel far to learn about the project. Our accompanying staff, people from museums at home and abroad, have to endure long days. Since the public event at Varanger Sámi Museum was Dávvirat Duiskkas’ very last, we treated ourselves to a marzipan cake with a picture from the visit to Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Kulturen der Welt in Köln two years earlier. Photo: C. Baglo.

Ceavccageađgi/Mortensnes Cultural Heritage Area[xiii] was the first item on the agenda Friday morning. It is one of the richest and most distinctive areas of ancient monuments in Scandinavia. The site is particularly distinguished for the considerable length of time it has been inhabited and used, and the large number and variety of ancient monuments. The North Sámi name for the area refers to the eye-catching Ceavccageaðge – “the fish oil stone”, a large upright stone pillar where people offered fish oil. A stone labyrinth surrounds the pillar. Another unique feature at Mortensnes is the flagstone scree along the shore where nearly 300 graves can be found. This burial site has been used from about 400 B.C. to the 17th century when the Danish-Norwegian Christianization of the Sámi in Varanger began (with the exemption of the Skolt Sámi that were approached by St. Trifon of Pechenga/Petsamo as mentioned before).

Our guide, Jorunn Jernsletten, in front of the Ceavccageaðge – “the fish oil stone” and the labyrinth at Mortensnes Cultural Heritage Area. All the way in the back the white contours of Nesseby Church from 1858 are made out. The first church in Nesseby was built at Angsnes across the fjord in 1719 by the Sámi missionary Thomas von Westen. In the missionary process, Von Westen appropriated almost a hundred ceremonial drums from Sámi communities on the Norwegian side of the Sámi lands. Photo: C. Baglo.

However, Mortensnes was also a trading post, among other run by Andreas Georg Nordvi (1821-1892). The trading post was situated right next to the burial ground, and the foundation walls are still visible although the house itself was moved to Vadsø. Nordvi who had trained as an archaeologist in Denmark, ran the trading post from 1840 to 1877 when it was declared bankrupt. During this time, Nordvi conducted excavations and studies of Sámi burial customs, and he established his own private museum collection. Later he moved to Kristiania (Oslo) where he was employed at the University’s collection of antiquities. Sámi craniums and human remains where much sought after by the scientific community from the 1870s and Nordvi sold material from his excavations to museums and collectors across much of Europe and the United States.[xiv]

Overlooking part of the flagstone scree with nearly 300 graves at Ceavccageađgi/Mortensnes Cultural Heritage Area. The site is located on the north side of the Varangerfjord. The foundation walls of the trading post where Andreas Georg Nordvi once had his business are barely visible as a rectangle against the horizon to the right in the picture. Photo: C. Baglo.

Inside the communal goahti – turf hut at Mortenses Cultural Heritage Area. In the 1800s, people began to build large turf huts, with housing for people in one room and barns for livestock in another room. The communal goahti at Mortensnes is a reconstruction built in the 1990s. Photo: C. Baglo.

After lunch Friday the workshop “Reactivating cultural heritage” took place at Varanger Sámi Museum. Sarah Nelly Friedland at Reiss-Engelhorn Museen spoke about “Sámi Heritage in Mannheim. First steps on a long road”; Ánne Mággá Wigelius at Deanu Musea/Tana Museum, the fourth consolidated unit in DVM, spoke about the sewing and copying of the Njereveadji/Nervei gákti, a woman’s Sámi costume supposedly from the 1880s that was returned to Tana Museum from Oslo through the Bååstede project;[xvi] Ellinor Guttorm Utsi spoke about her participation as a duojár/artisan in Museum Europäischer Kulturen’s Sámi provenance research project; Elina Kuhmunen at Ájtte Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum spoke about their institution’s work to make the collections come alive, while Jorunn Jernsletten summarized at the end of the day.

Friday evening a sáhkku-tournament waited those who still had energy left. Sáhkku is a Sámi board game that Varanger Sámi Museum has helped reactivate. Saturday was devoted to Vuonnamárkanat/ Varanger Market, a yearly Sámi market for nature-based and handmade products. Vuonnamárkanat is based on the traditional “Varanger Market” that is described in historical sources. It was established in inner Varanger in 1688 by order of the king. From Vuonnamárkanat in Varangerbotn we returned to Neiden where the yearly St. Trifon’s pilgrimage was going to take place. The pilgrimage started in St. Georg’s Chapel in the Skolt Sámi Village with a commemoration pray for the deceased and ended up at Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum and with coffee, cake, and a choir concert. Dissemination of elements of living cultural heritage and contemporary Sámi cultures is one of Dávvirat Duiskkas five impact goals. This last Sunday in August, we all made a brilliant effort at that.

Vuonnamárkanat/ Varanger Market, a Sámi market that takes place right outside Varanger Sámi Museum the last Saturday of every August. Both the museum and the museum staff take part in the activities. Photo. C. Baglo.

Back in Njauddâm/Neiden and Ä’vv Skolt Sámi Museum where St. Trifon’s pilgrimage has arrived. Our last stop of a week-long program. Birgit Scheps, Dresden State Art Collections and Claudia Andratschke, Landesmuseum Hannover in the foreground. Photo: C. Baglo.

Many thanks to our accommodating hosts at Tana and Varanger Museumssida and all the wonderful colleagues involved. The next big event will be the End-of-Project Conference in Áltá/Alta March 23-25, 2026. There will be limitations on spots available, but I will keep you posted.

Jïjnjh heelsegh

Cathrine Baglo

Project manager Dávvirat Duiskkas

[i] Welcome to Tana and Varanger Museumssiida! – Tana og Varanger Museumssiida

[ii] https://museumsforbundet.no/nyheter/velkommen-til-miniseminar-pa-avv-om-skoltesamisk-kulturarv-i-tyske-museer/

[iii] https://museumsforbundet.no/nyheter/velkommen-til-miniseminar-pa-varanger-samiske-museum-torsdag-kveld-28-8/

[iv] https://museumsforbundet.no/nyheter/program-for-workshops-with-public-events-at-avv-skolt-sami-museum-and-varjjat-sami-musea/

[v] https://dvmv.no/en/saviomuseet/home/

[vi] The use of the two terms is contested and has recently been brought to the fore again. A few decades ago, it became common on the Norwegian side to use the term “East” or “Eastern Sami” both within the communities themselves as well as in official language, even though this is a broader term that linguistically also includes Kildin Sami, Ter Sami and Akkala Sami in today’s Russia. Since then the term “Skolt Sami” has been reclaimed. On the Finnish side, a special report ordered by the Finnish Truth and Reconciliation Commission recently recommended the term “Eastern Sámi”. The Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission used the term “Skolt Sámi”. The self-designated term is Säʹmmlaž (sing.) säʹmmla (plur) = Sámi. A community meeting has already taken place on the matter and the conversation continues.

[vii]https://dvmv.no/en/ssm-kulturminner/the-skolt-village/; https://dvmv.no/en/ssm-kulturminner/st-georgs-chapel/

[viii] https://siida.fi/en/the-sami-museum/skolt-sami-heritage-house/

[ix] https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/news/the-battle-for-the-skolt-sami-language/437057

[x] https://dvmv.no/en/vv-skoltesamisk-muse/avv-skoltesami-museum/

[xi] See for example DVMV’s own video: https://dvmv.no/ssm-formidling/digital-formidling/

[xii] https://dvmv.no/en/varanger-samiske-mus/home/

[xiii] https://dvmv.no/en/vsm-kulturminner/ceavccageadge-mortensnes/. See also https://mortensneskulturminner.no/index-en.html

[xiv] https://mortensneskulturminner.no/handelsgard.html

[xv] https://mortensneskulturminner.no/fellesgammen.html

[xvi] https://dvmv.no/baastede-kopieringsprosjekt-pa-deanu-musea-tana-museum-tenon-museo/