Sandra Márjá West

Buorre beaivi buohkaide, lea hui somá dinguin deaivvadit dáppe Donjevuonas.

Buongiorno a tutti, e benvenuti in Sápmi!

Let me start with a story about an exceptional sámi woman and coastal fisher: 

Anne Marie would go where no one else was fishing, and she would put her nets there. 

Anne Marie said «It sounds strange for sure, but I got fish even when no one got anything. And then a fisherman would yell there rows Anne Marie!and all of them would follow me.” 

Today we have sonar and radar. But Anne Marie had to rely on our traditional knowledge and skills. She knew the fjords, the currents, the bottom ratio and the behavior of the fish – skills that were passed on to her from her ancestors. And she was able to feed herself and her family. 

The Sámi Parliament is a a proud supporter of the candidacy of stockfish for UNESCO world heritage status, and to this seminar. And it is a great joy to wish you welcome to Sápmi. 

We are now in a coastal Sámi area, where the sea has provided every thing you need to survive, both for food and clothes. And stockfish has been a staple for thousands of years, both for sustenance, but also for trade. 

Food systems are complex, and in an Indigenous perspective, our whole lives are connected to food. A Sámi friend said to me that eating traditional Sámi food is our single most important act to uphold our Indigenous culture. 

Because, if you want to eat traditional, then you need know the land and have the skill to survive the weather. You need to know how to make traditional clothes, in order to keep warm. You need to live in close connection to mother earth, and you need to protect her. And you need your Indigenous community, and the support of your people. 

Food systems touches into so many of the most important topics of our time. It’s about climate change, it’s about resilience, it’s about land ownership. It affects our mental health and well-being. And it’s connected to our languages and storytelling. 

The Sámi Parliament has done a significant job on food systems the last three years. The president of the Sámi Parliament has been a member of the Indigenous food coalition in the UN Food and Agriculture Organizaton (FAO) in Rome. We know that Indigenous Peoples are stewards of 80 % of the biodiversity in the world. We know that Indigenous Peoples knowledge and participation is important. And we also know that Indigenous Peoples are amongst the last to get help in catastrophes and crises. The states make many decisions in FAO, that affect Indigenous Peoples, and it is important that we have a say in matters that affect us. 

The Sámi Parliament has also done work in our own context. We have made a model to describe the food systems of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic. Our goal is to make a white paper on Sámi Food Systems. Last month we arranged the first Sámi food conference, Máistu, in Alta. And last year we hosted the 2nd International Gathering of Indigenous Salmon Peoples. 

When Sámis fish, we use the word bivdit. Bivdit means to fish, but it also means to ask for fish. Bivdit says a lot about our perspective on fishing. We accept that to get fish is not a given. When asking we pay respect to the Mother Earth and to her spirits. We also pay respect to the fish. The worst thing you can do is to have fish left in the freezer when summer comes. It’s a bad sign – it means that you either haven’t shared enough of your catch, or that you caught more than you needed. 

With this balance and respect, we have managed our resources for thousands of years. Our knowledge about management of lands and waters have been passed down to us by our ancestors. Our ancestors have given us the knowledge on what foods we need to be maintain our well-being. There are no coincidences, our diet through the year is adapted to what is available at certain times, and which nutrition we need. 

Our ancestors taught us to hunt ducks in the spring, so we get the fat we need after the long winter. They taught us to pick berries and store them for winter, so we get the vitamins and sugars we need. They taught us to fish for cod to get vitamin D in the time when we don’t have sun. 

I cannot believe that any diet is healthier for us than the one that our ancestors have given us. Avocado tastes good, but it can’t be very sustainable to transport it here to Donjevuotna. To eat the foods from our own surroundings is the most healthy and sustainable act from our side. And to pass on our traditions and knowledge to our children is the most important investment we can make for our future, for our wellbeing and for our planet. 

Eating goikeguolli, or stockfish, is something that I’ve grown up with. I especially enjoy in the summer, with a cold beer, looking at the fjord. But I can also recommend it as a travel snack. Gas stations in Norway have mostly sweets and soda, but one of the best foods that you can get in gas stations in the north is stockfish. I have some friends who are very active in the gym, and they were very impressed with the protein content. It is not a coincidence that our ancestors have carried the stockfish knowledge to us. 

I must also say that I love the Italian way of cooking stockfish. I had delicious baccala alla puttanesca on one of my visits to Rome, for meetings in FAO. 

UNESCO’s mission is to recognize and safeguard the world’s intangible cultural heritage. In goikeguolli, we find a living tradition that embodies the very principles UNESCO seeks to uphold sustainability, intergenerational knowledge, biodiversity, and cultural identity. 

Anne Marie, the Sámi fisher woman, certainly had the knowledge from our ancestors. She said: 

Once a fisherman from a neighboring village said to me: “Anne Marie you always get fish, you find the fish, and we, us others, we chase both you and the fish when we follow.” 

Let us carry forth the goikeguolli tradition. Let us protect it, not in a museum, but in our kitchens, on our drying racks and in our stomachs. 

Giitu. Thank you.