The Sámi Collection at MEK. A Multiperspective Approach of Provenance Research

The Sámi are the only indigenous people in Europe. They come from the Sápmi region, which covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. Since the 16th century, as part of the processes of "Nordic colonialism", the Sámi people have been marginalised and, for the most part, subjected to strong assimilation policies. Their cultural traditions and languages, as well as their practical and spiritual knowledge, were suppressed or destroyed. At the same time, material and immaterial expressions of their historical and contemporary culture were collected and distributed to museums throughout Europe and North America. Sámi culture was categorised as Europes tribal other and exhibited in an exoticising way.

The research project „The Sámi Collection at MEK. A Multiperspective Approach of Provenance Research will investigate the provenance of the Sámi collection at the Museum Europäischer Kulturen (MEK; Museum of European Cultures), which, with over 1,000 objects, is one of the largest and most important collections of Sámi artefacts outside Northern Europe. Most of the objects were collected between 1880 and 1929, and are very heterogeneous in terms of material, use and meaning, mainly belonging to the fields of everyday culture and handicrafts (duodji).

Apart from a few objects like the Gåbbdá (shaman drums) and ládjogahpirat (so called hornhats), little research has been done on the Sámi Collection. Names and descriptions often date back to the 19th and early 20th centuries. Indigenous terminology or contexts of use are mostly missing, and place names are sometimes incorrect or vague. The history of how the objects came to be in the museum is also largely unexplored. Having started on 1 December 2022, the collection will be studied in collaboration with Sámi duojárs, researchers, artists and other representatives of Sámi communities.

The project will be carried out in close cooperation with the Sámi Museum Siida (Aanaar/Anár/Inari, Finland), with Ájtte the Swedish Mountain and Sami Museum (Jåhkåmåhke/Dálvvadis/Jokkmokk, Sweden) and with Dávvirat Duiskkas (Project Sámi Collections in German Museums, Norwegian Museums Association).

(c) Museum Europäischer Kulturen.