Sápmi – några anteckningar - även om San

Bårjås eller Porjus ligger lite norr om Jokkmokk, som på samiska kan heta Jåhkåmåhkke eller Dálvvadis. Vägen förbi Bårjås fortsätter mot Jiellevárri, som också kallas Váhčir eller Gällivare. Det var i Porjus/Bårjås som jag började skolan, när jag var på väg att fylla sju år. Vi bodde tre år i prästgården i detta kraftverkssamhälle men vår, sommar och höst tillbringade vi en vecka eller några helger i två andra byar: Saltoluokta och Vaisaluokta. Där fanns också prästbostäder. Prästkåtor. Vi låg i sovsäckar, på renfällar och under renfällarna björkris. Under björkrisen jordgolv. Jag minns dofterna och även en och annan mus, som sprang över min sovsäck innan jag somande.

Under dessa år åt vi ofta renkött och ännu oftare röding. Rödingen var saltad och jag minns att jag inte var så förtjust i den. Inte heller i ren-lever, som har en frän smak. Självklart åt vi mycket annat också. Men jag minns verkligen allt renkött och all salt röding.

Det är ofta som min uppväxt i Sapmi dyker upp i mitt medvetande. Även i södra Afrika finns ursprungsfolk. Ordet San, som beskriver de grupper som bor framför allt i Botswana och Namibia, liknar Same delvis men jag tror inte det finns någon språklig koppling.

När jag läser på Sametingets hemsida beskrivs ursprungsfolk eller urfolk såhär:

FN:s definition av ursprungfolk (enligt Cobo-studien) säger att ursprungsfolk är de som...

      ·  har en historisk kontinuitet med samhällen i det territorium som senare invaderades eller koloniserades av andra.

·  anser sig själva skilda från den allmänna befolkningen som nu lever i detta territorium.

·  strävar efter att bevara, utveckla och överföra sitt traditionella territorium och sin etniska identitet till framtida generationer.

Samerna själva identifierar sig som ett ursprungsfolk eller urfolk. Inte ursprungsbefolkning, en term som antyder att landområde och folk inte hör ihop. En befolkning, menar samerna, går enklare att flytta på!

Tre gånger den senaste veckan har nyheter relaterade till Sapmi dykt upp i mitt facebook-flöde.

Tydligen har RobertGustafsson gjort en mycket tveksam sketch i SNN News i TV4. Den är anmäld till Granskningsnämden men i svensk media är det, enligt vad jag förstår ganska tyst om den. Är det kanske symptomatiskt?

En annan sak jag sett är kulturprojektet "San – Sápmi exchange in Umeå", där en grupp från Botswana (Naro San) tillsammans med några samer och andra svenskar under någon vecka framför olika former av program. Den tillfälligt sammansatta gruppen gjorde också ett nedslag på Etnografiska museet i Stockholm och enligt en person som var där, skedde t ex det avslutande samtalet helt utan vare sig samisk eller sansk närvaro. Samtalet blev ett samtal om San och Sápmi istället för ett samtal med dem det berörde. Märkligt! 

Jag har hittat ett klipp på youtube som visar några minuter av detta kulturmöte, från Umeå. Jag har viss erfarenhet av både San och Sápmi och tror att det kunde ha varit mycket bättre än det som vi ser på klippet. Men jag var inte där, så jag kan inte uttala mig om programmet i sin helhet. Länken till klippet kommer här.

Det tredje exemplet är en artikel i Svenska Dagbladet av författaren Marcus Priftis som gäller gruvbrytningen i Kallak – Gállok. Frågor han ställer är:

Vem är rättmätig ägare till norra Sveriges naturresurser? Samerna eller staten Sverige? I dag faller dom mot aktivister som protesterat i Kallak. Men när kommer domen över svensk gruvkolonialism ….

Men det står inte så mycket i media, bloggar eller twitter om allt detta. Det verkar som om svensk media (både gammelmedia och social medier) har en slags tondövhet för detta. Och det gäller tyvärr även i södra Afrika. Vad är det som gör att majoritetsbefolkningar blir så provocerade av urfolk? Till den grad att de ofta helt osynliggörs? Vad det än är, så är det är djupt beklagligt!

9 days in Botswana

Having returned to South Africa after 9 days in Botswana I just have to sit down and write. Full of impressions. I hardly know where to start.

Maybe I need to start the day before departure. Thursday evening, at home, in Pietermaritzburg. The wife had caught a cold earlier in the week, been to the doctor and got antibiotics. We were confident. She was going to make it. But then I started to feel warm and dizzy. Close to 12 hours before departure. 38.9 degrees Celsius! Not good! I packed my things, took some painkillers and went to bed. In the morning the thermometer showed 37. A miracle!

We decided to go to Maun and maybe make a two nights stop at a hotel and recover before continuing with the rest of the group. (With us was my sister, nephew and a friend of my sister). So off we went to the airport and flew to Johannesburg. A few hours later we sat on the plane to Maun. After more than an hour we were told to leave the plane. Something was wrong with the fuel tanks. This incident made us come late to Maun and plans needed to be changed, which gave us a night in Maun instead of the bush and maybe this was what at least I needed. Anyhow - we got to Maun and were fetched by the guide and brought to the river lodge and got supper.

Next morning we left for Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta. Fascinating with this delta – one of few places were a flood ends with a delta far from the sea. Right in the desert! Very special! But our camp site was not close to water. We got there and had some lunch before we set out for some game viewing. I have been to a number of game reserves and seen many of the big mammals that southern Africa can offer. So far no leopard, though. This time I was happy that both the guide and my sister, who had organized the tour from our side, had lots of knowledge about birds. We saw many. Very beautiful and with interesting stories. I believe that people who just look for the big five miss a lot.

A lilac-breasted roller, by some called the national bird of Botswana.

Obviously we had short time in Moremi. Partly because of the delay with the flight. It was still OK. We saw a lot, we slept in tents in the middle of the park. I slept very hard but the others heard lions close. In the morning we also saw the spoor. An old, male lion. But we did not see him. On our way out of the camp we saw a big heard of elephants led by its matriarch. She stood close to the road and saw that all the other elephants, including the babies, could pass safely. We just had to wait! Impressive.

Day three meant quite a long drive from Moremi, via Maun to Tsodilo Hills in the north west of Botswana, close to Namibia. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list. We arrived just in time to see the mighty mountains in sunset. Male hill, Female Hill, Child hill and another small hill which is called either the Grandchild hill or the Hill of the first wife. We spent two nights there and managed to see a lot. First of all a multitude of rock paintings along the rhino trail. Amazing! Another highlight was the Serpent cave. The carved snake is huge and possibly between 70 000 and 100 000 years old. We also knelt in the hollows, where human being was created according to one of the myths. A sacred place with very long history.

In the Serpent cave.

From Tsodilo we went back to Maun to rest a night at the river lodge. Well, for me it was not much of rest. According to Wikipedia Montezuma was emperor of Mexico but this night he took his revenge on me, in Botswana. The following morning I was not at all happy about the planning. First taxi to the bus station, bus from Maun to D’Kar and a pick up from D’Kar villige to the Dqae Qare San lodge. Anyhow, with much assistance from the group and some magic pills from the nurse, I survived and arrived in one piece and found a bed, for which I could have given my kingdom.

And it was good that I made it to the farm. Day seven we spent with a San family. I did not manage everything but appreciated that which I took part in. Like in the afternoon, when we walked in the semi desert. Sand and seemingly lifeless bushes. Suddenly one of the women starts to dig. It takes some time, others help her. But finally they have found water tubers. All of us got a piece. The taste was similar to raw potato but it contained much more water. 

I still cannot understand how they found it.

It looked quite easy to brush off the sand. Even the peel was eatable.

Another special experience was the healing dance around the fire in the night. Although it is specially arranged for tourists we all felt welcome. Especially when the healers also laid hands on us, as if we belonged to the group.

Day eight we relaxed and only made a visit to the museum and the art shop. We bought some ostrich egg-shell jewelry, the so called Perals of the Kalahari. The day before we had seen how the San people work every little pearl for a long time.

The last day with a taxi to Maun and two flights, went smooth. We arrived to Durban on time and were happy to find our home in good order with a happy dog, which had been spoiled by our friends, who had been house-sitting for us. A bit tired but also very satisfied we went to bed after nine good days on our Botswana trip. Some health problems and some air obstacles but nothing serious. Thank you, dear sister, for showing us this wonderful part of Africa!