Riddu Riđđu: "A place for celebration and political debate”
The annual indigenous festival in Kåfjord this year took place under the slogan "The Arctic is not for sale."
New mining, windmills, roads and railways. Land areas home to traditional reindeer herding by Sami people are under pressure across northern Scandinavia. Voices critical to the impact the global shift towards renewable energy and green technologies could have on indigenous life get stronger.
"The Arctic is not for sale," branding of the Riddu Riđđu festival in Kåfjord, northern Norway, is aimed as a clear signal to authorities and industry: Green colonialism will not be accepted.
Festival director Sajje Solbakk highlights the importance of collaboration and solidarity between indigenous peoples.
“This is a place for celebration and political debate”, says Solbakk to the Barents Observer. She highlights this year's collaboration with the Greenlandic national theather.
"It is a kind of political campaign and an answer to the geopolitical address to an Arctic run by powerful men. This is our way of saying the Arctic is our home, nothing that can be stolen, sold or owned by others."
"It is ours and we are here to protect it," Sajje Solbakk makes clear.
The festival was officially opened on Thursday evening with a speech by Sámi activist and singer Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen. While warmly welcoming everybody to the coming days of celebration and community, the speech also carried a serious tone. The recently concluded civil disobedience lawsuit in favour of the Fosen activists and the ongoing demonstrations in Repparfjord, Finnmark, against the establishment of a copper mine, both present battles for Sámi lands.
