{"id":338,"date":"2026-06-19T15:33:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/?p=338"},"modified":"2026-06-19T15:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:35:20","slug":"uarctic-congress-26-29-may-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.uit.no\/biebmolassi\/uarctic-congress-26-29-may-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"UArctic Congress 26\u201329 May 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UArctic<\/a> took place in T\u00f3rshavn, Faroe Islands, at the Arena vi\u00f0 Tjarnir<\/em>. The event was hosted by the University of the Faroe Islands (Setur), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture and the Faroe Marine Research Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathias (V\u00e1rdob\u00e1iki), Trude and Eli-Anita (UiT) from the Biebmolassi-project participated with the presentation \u201cReconciling S\u00e1mi Food Systems<\/a>\u201d in the session \u201cIndigenous Food Systems and Foodways of the Arctic,\u201d organized by Dr. Amy Caughey from the Nunavut Research Institute in Iqaluit, Canada. We had 15 minutes to present two projects on S\u00e1mi Food Systems, the Interreg-project M\u00e1htut<\/a> and the NRC-project Biebmolassi<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M\u00e1htut<\/strong> (2023\u20132026) is led by the University of Lapland (Finland). The other partners are the S\u00e1mi Education Institute (Finland), V\u00e1rdduo the Centre for S\u00e1mi Research (Sweden) and the Arctic University Museum of Norway (UiT). <\/strong>On the Norwegian side, UiT has a close collaboration with Davvi \u00c1lbmogiid Guovdd\u00e1\u0161 (D\u00c1G). The project examines the coastal S\u00e1mi food system in G\u00e1ivuotna (K\u00e5fjord), centering on the traditional cod roe soup, guohpparm\u00e1lis<\/em>. At the UArctic, Eli-Anita presented the project\u2019s overall aims and facts, and took us through the four bargob\u00e1dji<\/em> (workshops) the project had together with D\u00c1G and eight 8th grade students and their teacher on conservation, fishing and the making of the soup. One of the outcomes of the project was a teaching material – a booklet for secondary school students – created by the students and their teacher at Olmm\u00e1iv\u00e1kki School, which we distributed among those present. Trude introduced how the project has explored the museum archives for traces of coastal S\u00e1mi food traditions, and presented some of the findings from these investigations. Through tracing coastal S\u00e1mi food traditions in the museum\u2019s archives questions are raised about how archives can be decolonized, as well as how tradition and knowledge in the archives can be passed on to new generations and transformed in the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The teaching material for secondary school students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Biebmolassi<\/strong> (2025\u20132028) is a follow-up to the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Norway, and is a collaboration between UiT, V\u00e1rdob\u00e1iki s\u00e1mi guovdd\u00e1\u0161, Nordland Research Institute and Salten Mat. The project examines historical and contemporary S\u00e1mi food systems in Sallto (Salten) in Nordland and Stuornj\u00e1rga (the Sk\u00e5nland Peninsula) in Southern Troms – both regions in the north of Norway. The project aims to (among other things) map local S\u00e1mi food traditions and practices in these two regions. At the UArctic, Eli-Anita briefly introduced the project’s overall aims and facts, while Mathias presented V\u00e1rdob\u00e1iki\u2019s part of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presentation was very well-received, and there was significant interest in the project\u2014particularly in the teaching booklet. Several participants expressed a desire to receive a copy of it and wanted to connect with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other presenters from the session on Indigenous Food Systems were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n