The Kautokeino Rebellion

Photo source: The Norwegian Film Institute

8. november 1852 is a dark day for Scandinavian Sami population. According to a new movie, the Kautokeino rebellion emerges from a long conflict between a ruthless merchant and the local Sami families in Kautokeino in northern Norway.

The real-life conflict included ingredients such as abuse of alcohol, unjust debts and forced slaughtering of reindeers as payment of the debts, as well as tensions in diverse Christian practices, and last but not least, unexpected, highly unfair prisoning of Sami spokespersons.

The conflict escalates when the sheriff's men is chasing a young mother Elen Skum, wife of one of the imprisoned Sami brothers. To avoid another prisoning of a family member, the clan resists the slauthering of her reindeers.

The Rebellion Tragedy

To survive as a clan herding their reindeers, the group of Sami families was so provoked that they afterwards went together to Kautokeino and entered into what became a bloody battle against the local merchant, the priest, and some of their allies such as the new sheriff. Most of these were killed and the merchant's shop was burnt down (see brief on the background below).

However, this tragedy also continued: Several of the Sami leaders were later assassinated or sentenced to prison for months or years through a highly unfair trial by the authorities in the North of Norway. See a preliminary description of the real-life story here with some literature sources: http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kautokeinooppr%C3%B8ret

Taboo...

According to the film director Nils Gaup, himself a descendent from one of the Sami rebels, this Kautokeino story has been a taboo locally and it is also a dark chapter of Norwegian history though a few books exist.

Anyway, in 2008 this is now again possible to see, talk about and learn from.

The movie

The new movie by Nils Gaup seems to stay close to what actually happened (perhaps even underplayed? rather than exaggerated). In brief, it documents the emergence of the conflict between the scrupelless merchant in Kautokeino and his staff's daily tempting of the local Sami men towards drinking thus moving them into a serious debt situation. We also learn how the merchant allies with a new local priest and try to enroll other authorities to expand his business and avoid competition to accumulate wealth for his family as quickly as possible. The drinking at the merchant's store leads to family hardships in the Sami community when the wifes and grandmas have to look after the herd on their own. Here the film also offers insight into the Sami's traditional way of living literally in the nature.

Storytelling

In the movie, Elen Skum goes to the merchant's shop to fetch her drinking husband, which brings us directly into the core conflict and some key actors.

Somewhat later, a turning point in the movie is when she, and her husband, meets Læstadius, a Swedish priest moving hearts by preaching for the good and against drinking. Afterwards, through a series of escalating events Elen and Sami family members and friends finally stand up for justice against the local priest and the merchant, as well as judges. See more on this movie here http://www.nfi.no/english/norwegianfilms/show.html?id=699

Note that the authorities are not only biased. For example, the local sheriff at the time (soon however replaced) is played with sympathy and nuance, which is trustworthy.

Overall, the escalating tragic story reminds us how suppression of the original population can unfold as well as how the law and justice can be put aside when two worlds collide and also business greed, faith or own reputation is at stake. GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE NOW. Released January 2008.