Alta
At midnight today our cruise ship sailed around Nordkapp (the North Cape) of Norway. We caught a slight glimpse of of the midnight sun behind clouds.
In the morning we took a cultural tour called Sami Adventure & Riverboat Trip in Maze.
For a number of days prior to arriving in Alta we heard about how the Sami (the Indigenous people of Scandanavia) were treated in Norway up until recent times. They were forbidden to practice their own culture, prevented from owning land and were forced to speak Norwegian. in 1970 a proposed dam project on the Alta River would have wiped out one of the Sami villages including an ancient graveyard.
Protests broke out all over Norway and the military was called in to stop the protests, but the protests continued. In 1972 the Norwegian Government finally gave in and the project was moved. One major outcome of the protests was that Norway recognized the Sami and allowed them to once again embrace their culture, their language and their practices of nomadic reindeer herding. Our tour today was to this small village of Maze and the graveyard that initiated these changes.
The Sami father and his family who run the tour were all dressed in their traditional clothign.
We took an open wooden boat across the river to the site of the graveyard. Before boarding the boat we needed to put on giant floatation devices that made you feel like you would be part of a fake sumo wrestling contest. Getting into the boat was quite a challenge, and despite the cold, you could not get cold in the gear we wore.
Once across the river we ascended a fairly steep and muddy path still wearing out orange lifejackets to the ancient burial ground.. The graveyard has also been used in recent times. The old graves do not have stones so they can’t determine how many Suni were buried at the gravesite. There is also a very small and simple church on the site that was originally constructed when Christianity came to Norway.. The original church was also used as a school house. This church was rebuilt after the original church burned down.
Before leaving the area we got a lesson in the Suni language. There are 4 Suni languages: one in Northern Scandinavia, one in the central part and one in the south. The fourth is in Russia. Interestingly only people who speak Suni in the north and central regions can understand each other.
After returning to the boat we took a short ride down the river to the only farm remaining in the village. Once back at outr starting point we all warmed up inside a lavvu (Suni tee-pee) where we were treated to reindeer stew and a Sami dessert. As we ate we we learned about some of the Sunii customs and clothing. The clothing in these photos is all traditional Suni designs and was made by the family.
We loved this excursion. When we travel it is great to be able to do something that gives one a feel for the culture. This one exceeded our expectations.