About the Exhibit:
In just a few decades, the Sámi, Northern Europe's only indigenous people, have leapt from second-class status with schools that banned their language to becoming a semi-autonomous people with parliaments in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Now, they are grappling with new threats to their cultural survival, such as industrial and energy developments on ancestral lands. With a front-row seat to climate change, the Sámi have also watched as rapid shifts in ecosystems north of the Arctic Circle increasingly threaten their way of life.
The Sámi have much to say about climate and cultural change in northern Scandinavia. This collection of portraits and interviews, curated by accomplished journalist and photographer Randall Hyman, is intended to be a platform for the Sámi to speak frankly and directly to Americans and Scandinavians alike, sharing their concerns about a world that is swiftly changing around them. With each photo, viewers can listen as portrait subjects speak directly to them in their native language.
Photo Credit: Randall Hyman, Ana Maria Eira