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Of Land, Memory, and Belonging: An Ethnographic Study of Sámi Resilience in Guovdageaidnu

Gonthier, Inès LU (2026) SANM05 20261
Social Anthropology
Abstract
This thesis explores resilience from an Indigenous perspective, drawing on a short ethnographic
fieldwork conducted in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) in 2025, one of the most distinctly Sámi
municipalities in Northern Norway. Rather than treating resilience as a simple reaction to
adversity, the study approaches the concept as an active and ongoing process embedded in daily
traditional practices and expressed through different dimensions of memory and artistic self-
representation. It is also made visible in political and ontological tensions over land,
governance, and types of knowledge. The method combines participant observation, informal
conversations, and content analysis of Sámi cultural production such as museum exhibitions, a
... (More)
This thesis explores resilience from an Indigenous perspective, drawing on a short ethnographic
fieldwork conducted in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) in 2025, one of the most distinctly Sámi
municipalities in Northern Norway. Rather than treating resilience as a simple reaction to
adversity, the study approaches the concept as an active and ongoing process embedded in daily
traditional practices and expressed through different dimensions of memory and artistic self-
representation. It is also made visible in political and ontological tensions over land,
governance, and types of knowledge. The method combines participant observation, informal
conversations, and content analysis of Sámi cultural production such as museum exhibitions, a
film and a ballet performance. This study also engages with literature on Sámi life, decolonial
theory, the relationship between human and non-human entities and Indigenous resilience. As
a non-Sámi student in social anthropology, I reflect throughout on my own position and my
ethical responsibilities in this research. The thesis first examines how resilience is lived as
community building and belonging through everyday practices such as language use and
traditional knowledge and collective practices. Second, it considers how Sámi self-
representation through duodji, joik and cultural productions carries collective and cultural
memory drawing on a cultural trauma. The final part explores how Sámi people navigate
different ontological perspectives in conflicts over land and natural resources, but also in more
subtle tensions around the concept of time and education. Together, these findings frame Sámi
resilience as a continuous negotiation within an enduring settler-colonial context. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Gonthier, Inès LU
supervisor
organization
course
SANM05 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Sámi - ethnography - resilience - traditional ecological knowledge - indigenous studies - ontologies - belonging - art - social anthropology
language
English
id
9236146
date added to LUP
2026-08-31 08:32:09
date last changed
2026-08-31 08:32:09
@misc{9236146,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores resilience from an Indigenous perspective, drawing on a short ethnographic
fieldwork conducted in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) in 2025, one of the most distinctly Sámi
municipalities in Northern Norway. Rather than treating resilience as a simple reaction to
adversity, the study approaches the concept as an active and ongoing process embedded in daily
traditional practices and expressed through different dimensions of memory and artistic self-
representation. It is also made visible in political and ontological tensions over land,
governance, and types of knowledge. The method combines participant observation, informal
conversations, and content analysis of Sámi cultural production such as museum exhibitions, a
film and a ballet performance. This study also engages with literature on Sámi life, decolonial
theory, the relationship between human and non-human entities and Indigenous resilience. As
a non-Sámi student in social anthropology, I reflect throughout on my own position and my
ethical responsibilities in this research. The thesis first examines how resilience is lived as
community building and belonging through everyday practices such as language use and
traditional knowledge and collective practices. Second, it considers how Sámi self-
representation through duodji, joik and cultural productions carries collective and cultural
memory drawing on a cultural trauma. The final part explores how Sámi people navigate
different ontological perspectives in conflicts over land and natural resources, but also in more
subtle tensions around the concept of time and education. Together, these findings frame Sámi
resilience as a continuous negotiation within an enduring settler-colonial context.}},
  author       = {{Gonthier, Inès}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Of Land, Memory, and Belonging: An Ethnographic Study of Sámi Resilience in Guovdageaidnu}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}