{"id":77,"date":"2026-01-26T12:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/?page_id=77"},"modified":"2026-06-19T20:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T18:04:33","slug":"about-biebmolassi","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/about-biebmolassi\/","title":{"rendered":"About Biebmolassi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Biebmolassi examines S\u00e1mi and local food systems in Sallto (Salten) and Stuornj\u00e1rga (the Sk\u00e5nland Penisula), focusing on how knowledge about food practices can contribute to reconciliation processes in these regions.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taking as a point of departure the disruption of local and S\u00e1mi food systems in a region characterized by Norwegianization processes, this project aims to contribute to the emerging reconciliation processes for S\u00e1mi in Norway.&nbsp;<strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>&nbsp;draws upon and operationalizes an Indigenous understanding of food systems,&nbsp;where food is a central part of culture and an arena for reconciliation that can serve to bridge the past with the present acknowledging&nbsp;traditional S\u00e1mi foods as a valued part of S\u00e1mi culture.&nbsp;In the project,&nbsp;we&nbsp;focus on&nbsp;local S\u00e1mi food systems in&nbsp;Stuornj\u00e1rga&nbsp;(Sk\u00e5nlandshalv\u00f8ya)&nbsp;in&nbsp;Southern Troms and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Sallto&nbsp;(Salten)&nbsp;region in&nbsp;Nordland, and&nbsp;how&nbsp;the&nbsp;vitalization of food systems can contribute to&nbsp;reconciliation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>&nbsp;addresses&nbsp;knowledge&nbsp;gaps&nbsp;identified&nbsp;in the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation&nbsp;Commission (NTRC)&nbsp;Report.&nbsp;During the modernization of fisheries and&nbsp;agriculture, S\u00e1mi&nbsp;food systems and traditions were&nbsp;integrated into the larger societal political and economic structures&nbsp;of the increasingly industrial food production systems.&nbsp;The&nbsp;NTRC&nbsp;highlights how the state policy of Norwegianization disrupted S\u00e1mi use of nature. This disruption occurred because it conflicted with the Norwegian agricultural expansion in northern Norway. The expansion prioritized agricultural needs over nomadic reindeer husbandry and nature harvest practices.&nbsp;Consequently,&nbsp;government policies strengthened the colonization of agricultural land in parts of Nordland and Troms&nbsp;at&nbsp;the beginning of the 20<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;century&nbsp;(H\u00f8ybr\u00e5ten&nbsp;et al.&nbsp;2023,&nbsp;245).&nbsp;In&nbsp;coastal&nbsp;S\u00e1mi&nbsp;regions, local&nbsp;fishermen&nbsp;report that regulations put combination industries under pressure and restricted&nbsp;the possibilities to practice traditional industries, which in turn have consequences for language and cultural practices in sea S\u00e1mi areas (H\u00f8ybr\u00e5ten&nbsp;et&nbsp;al.&nbsp;2023,&nbsp;582).&nbsp;Addressing these&nbsp;challenges&nbsp;is&nbsp;critical for improving the understanding and recognition of S\u00e1mi&nbsp;food&nbsp;practices in Norwegian policy and governance frameworks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>\u00a0will explore historical and present-time S\u00e1mi and local food systems in\u00a0Sallto\u00a0and\u00a0Stuornj\u00e1rga; how they have been disrupted,\u00a0how they have changed, and what innovations and new products can be developed based on local S\u00e1mi food traditions.\u00a0<strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>\u00a0is a S\u00e1mi concept referring to harvesting\u00a0and\u00a0subsistence\u00a0practices, such as berry picking, fishing, hunting,\u00a0pastoralism,\u00a0and\u00a0food production.\u00a0The role\u00a0of\u00a0Indigenous\u00a0peoples\u2019\u00a0food systems in achieving global biodiversity targets\u00a0and\u00a0mitigating and adapting to climate change\u00a0is an\u00a0emerging\u00a0field of action and research in sustainability science and Indigenous studies\u00a0(Kuhnlein\u00a0et al.\u00a02019;\u00a0Bezner\u00a0Kerr et al. 2022;\u00a0Oskal\u00a0et al. 2023;\u00a0Rybr\u00e5ten\u00a0et al. 2024).\u00a0The purpose of\u00a0<strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>\u00a0is to\u00a0examine\u00a0local and Indigenous\u00a0S\u00e1mi\u00a0food systems as\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Indigenous food systems\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0environmental and cultural sustainability fields of research.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most research on&nbsp;S\u00e1mi food systems&nbsp;has&nbsp;been conducted&nbsp;in&nbsp;Finnmark&nbsp;County&nbsp;in&nbsp;the context of reindeer husbandry.&nbsp;At the same time, Norwegianization&nbsp;processes&nbsp;played out differently in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Sallto&nbsp;and&nbsp;Stuornj\u00e1rga&nbsp;regions&nbsp;compared to the \u201ccore areas\u201d in&nbsp;Finnmark,&nbsp;which&nbsp;impacts&nbsp;the degree to which food&nbsp;systems and food&nbsp;practices&nbsp;are currently recognized and remembered as distinctly&nbsp;S\u00e1mi&nbsp;or Norwegian.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>&nbsp;is uniquely positioned to investigate the food systems in&nbsp;Sallto&nbsp;and&nbsp;Stuornj\u00e1rga&nbsp;due to its cooperation with local actors who are well-positioned and trusted.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The&nbsp;<strong>BIEBMOLASSI<\/strong>&nbsp;project\u2019s&nbsp;primary&nbsp;objective&nbsp;is to<\/em>&nbsp;<em>contribute to the emerging reconciliation processes for S\u00e1mi in the&nbsp;Sallto&nbsp;and&nbsp;Stuornj\u00e1rga&nbsp;regions&nbsp;through increased knowledge production on local S\u00e1mi food systems<\/em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biebmolassi examines S\u00e1mi and local food systems in Sallto (Salten) and Stuornj\u00e1rga (the Sk\u00e5nland Penisula), focusing on how knowledge about food practices can contribute to reconciliation processes in these regions. Taking as a point of departure the disruption of local and S\u00e1mi food systems in a region characterized by Norwegianization processes, this project aims to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123712,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-77","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123712"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":402,"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}