Abstract
This article analyses different individuals’ actions in relation to Sámi sacrificial stones (sieidis) as they appear in narratives, missionary reports, and research; and relate them to discussions on heritage politics and the establishment of cultural ownership. In the long historical perspective, ownership to such cultural heritage sites can be understood both as sites of intercultural conflict leading to destruction or plunder, and as sites of ethnic revival leading to claims of repatriation and heritage status. But the sites and the narratives connected to them can also be understood as reports from a cultural border zone, where new cultural meanings are being developed all the time. Setting the stones in motion have changed their (de)localized meanings and changing contextualizations have continued to generate new interpretations.
Keywords
sacrificial stone, agency, indigenous heritage, border zones, repatriation
How to Cite
Mathiesen, S. R., (2009) “Narrated Sámi Sieidis.”, Ethnologia Europaea 39(2), 11-25. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.1051
Publisher Notes
- This article was previously published by Museum Tusculanum Press.