All photos by Sara LindquistLast week on Thursday, the world's first Sápmi Pride kicked off in the Northern town of Kiruna in Sweden. It's the first ever LGBTQ pride event organised by and for the indigenous Sami people, which went on for four days and nights. Sápmi is the area in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia that is home to the indigenous Sami people. Although this LGBTQ event sounds pretty niche, Sápmi Pride welcomes everyone to participate, even if you don't originate from the Sami community. Also, their emphasis remains on encouraging other native minorities to follow suit.Behind the initiative is the democracy project Queering Sápmi, which is set up for the protection of queer Sami people - who have a particularly hard time coming out due to the conservative aspects in their culture - alongside LGBTQ-Sami-frontman Tobias Poggats. By his side is Pää, who's been working as a translator at the Sápmi Pride.I got hold of Pää to understand a little bit more about what's been going on.
VICE: Hi Pää, how's the atmosphere been over there?
Pää: Good - very hectic! I mean we had a debate on Friday, the parade was on Saturday, and when we spoke on Friday I had to run to translate the Sexworkshop and Queer Fuckshop-thing. We founded an organisation for the Sami queer community, actually. So we drafted a few paragraphs on that, too.Wow! That's something totally new, right?
We've been talking about doing this for a while, but yeah, it's new. It's happening right now! Considering that Queering Sápmi will end at the turn of the year, this will be next thing.Can you tell me more about that?
We've set up a queer-Sami organisation that we call Queer Sámit - Sámit in the Northern Sami language means 'Sami people'. It's a part of Queering Sápmi that we've talked about during a few months. We thought that the time was right for a constitutional meeting since as many as possible were gathered at Sápmi Pride. The organisation is by and for people of queer-Sami identity. But it's also possible to become a support member or supporting organisation.
So in what way does this project begin where Queering Sápmi ends?
The project Queering Sápmi has been put together by Sami people from different parts of Sweden. It has managed to gather all of us who have set up the new project. So it's basically the founding reason to the new project. The idea now is that the committee in this non-profit organisation will make sure that things will work out by the time Queering Sápmi ends. I think that Sápmi still needs to become more open and respectful than what it currently is.Can you tell me about Sápmi Pride?
I was only there as a volunteer and participant. The expectations beforehand were to make a safe and queer-Sami event where people could have fun together outside of the hetero- and white person norm, which it was.
Under Asfalten ett Fjäll with the Märak sisters and activists.How did the pride parade turn out?
I think there were about 200 people participating in the parade. I don't know if there's been any negative feedback around it since I didn't organise the thing, but media seems to have been positive about it!Is there a big demand in Sápmi for this kind of thing?
I'd say there's a big demand - even for Sami people who aren't living in a Sami context. The two-gender norm, racist structures, the suppression of minorities, and the hetero-norm are all everyday matters in both Sápmi and Sweden. People don't recognise this unless they're outside of what's considered "normal".Sweden doesn't meet UN's demand on indigenous people's rights. The idea of binary genders - that there are only so called "boys" and "girls" is so incredibly strong. Also, the idea that all people are sexual creatures is rarely questioned. I think that all societies would become better societies with a perspective that is non-capitalist and norm-critical. And that's what Sápmi Pride puts forward.Have you guys heard from other minorities since this initiative started?
Not what I know of. But I read about a Roma Pride - I think, and there was the Tornedalen Pride earlier this year. I hope this will become a trend!Thank you Pää, and Happy Pride!More from VICE:The Seedy Underworld of Muay Thai KickboxingVisions of Lorelei: Intimate Photographs of a Woman in TransitionYou Can Now Make a Career Out of Playing Zelda Really, Really Fast
Annons
Pää: Good - very hectic! I mean we had a debate on Friday, the parade was on Saturday, and when we spoke on Friday I had to run to translate the Sexworkshop and Queer Fuckshop-thing. We founded an organisation for the Sami queer community, actually. So we drafted a few paragraphs on that, too.Wow! That's something totally new, right?
We've been talking about doing this for a while, but yeah, it's new. It's happening right now! Considering that Queering Sápmi will end at the turn of the year, this will be next thing.Can you tell me more about that?
We've set up a queer-Sami organisation that we call Queer Sámit - Sámit in the Northern Sami language means 'Sami people'. It's a part of Queering Sápmi that we've talked about during a few months. We thought that the time was right for a constitutional meeting since as many as possible were gathered at Sápmi Pride. The organisation is by and for people of queer-Sami identity. But it's also possible to become a support member or supporting organisation.
Annons
The project Queering Sápmi has been put together by Sami people from different parts of Sweden. It has managed to gather all of us who have set up the new project. So it's basically the founding reason to the new project. The idea now is that the committee in this non-profit organisation will make sure that things will work out by the time Queering Sápmi ends. I think that Sápmi still needs to become more open and respectful than what it currently is.Can you tell me about Sápmi Pride?
I was only there as a volunteer and participant. The expectations beforehand were to make a safe and queer-Sami event where people could have fun together outside of the hetero- and white person norm, which it was.
I think there were about 200 people participating in the parade. I don't know if there's been any negative feedback around it since I didn't organise the thing, but media seems to have been positive about it!Is there a big demand in Sápmi for this kind of thing?
I'd say there's a big demand - even for Sami people who aren't living in a Sami context. The two-gender norm, racist structures, the suppression of minorities, and the hetero-norm are all everyday matters in both Sápmi and Sweden. People don't recognise this unless they're outside of what's considered "normal".
Annons
Not what I know of. But I read about a Roma Pride - I think, and there was the Tornedalen Pride earlier this year. I hope this will become a trend!Thank you Pää, and Happy Pride!More from VICE:The Seedy Underworld of Muay Thai KickboxingVisions of Lorelei: Intimate Photographs of a Woman in TransitionYou Can Now Make a Career Out of Playing Zelda Really, Really Fast