Reclaiming Memory and Identity: First Person Documentaries by Sami Women

• Published in: Kültür ve İletişim
• Main Author: ŞEN, Aygün
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Turkish
• Published: İmge Kitabevi Yayınları 2022
• Subjects: Sami cinema;memory;identity;counter-narrative.; Sami sineması;bellek;kimlik;karşı-anlatı.; Film; Radyo; Televizyon; Radio; Television; Kadın Araştırmaları; Women's Studies; Norway; sami; Sapmi
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/kulturveiletisim/issue/72692/1126237; https://doi.org/10.18691/kulturveiletisim.1126237

Inhabiting the region of Sapmi in Finno-Scandinavia, the Sami are recognized by UNESCO as the only Indigenous people of Europe. They have been oppressed by settler states for a long time, and their lands, with the establishment of nation-states, were divided between the borders of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia. Assimilation process, which was conducted under the guise of civilization, lasted until the mid-twentieth century and did great harm to both Sami people and their culture. Educational institutions and the church played a crucial role in the assimilation process during which many Sami came to feel ashamed of their İndigenous culture and to reject their identity. Forbidden to speak their native language at boarding schools, the Sami children, also away from family support, were subjected to racist education. Beginning from 1970s, the Sami movement has been empowered with the effect of Global Indigenous Movement. It has struggled on political grounds to put an end to assimilation policies of nation-states, aiming, meanwhile, at restoring cultural memory through cultural revitalization. The Sami cinema emerged as a part of cultural revitalization process, and since they are represented with derogatory stereotypes in mainstream media, to reclaim control over their own representation, it endeavors to tell stories and histories of the Sami from their own perspectives. The first-person documentaries, namely Sami Daughter Yoik, Suddenly Sami, My Family Portrait, and Rebel, give an account of assimilation process through the eyes of women directors whose parents were exposed to boarding school trauma. This process is disregarded by official history. Bringing together family photo albums, archival documents, and personal testimonies, these films restore the Sami’s collective memory and weaving counter-narratives. Fenno-İskandinavya’da Sapmi adı verilen bölgede yaşayan Samiler, UNESCO tarafından Avrupa’nın tek Yerli halkı olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Sami halkı uzun yıllar yerleşimci toplumların baskısı altında ...