Indigenizing by the Assembling Actors of Riddu Riđđu’s Ritual / Spectacle

• Main Author: Harvey, Graham
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: sami
• Online Access: https://oro.open.ac.uk/59679/; https://oro.open.ac.uk/59679/1/JRS_33.1_Harvey%2027-37.pdf; https://www.pitt.edu/~strather/journal.htm

Reflection on key aspects of a Sami organised cultural festival generates discussion of relational processes that resonate with and/or expand on Latour’s actor-network and composting proposals. Riddu Riđđu is a trans-Indigenous cultural festival, i.e. one that brings together performers, presenters and participants from many Indigenous nations globally. As such, it provides an invaluable lens through which to ignite new thinking about “indigenizing”, empathy with customary practices, and ritual as world-making in relational ontologies. The article pays attention to diverse styles of performance to illustrate understandings of ritual, including performances, speech-making and etiquette. The festival’s geographical location provides insights into other-than-modernist relations with mountains and rivers as relations. This approach to larger-than-human community casts interesting light on ritual-related discussions.