Abstract
Arctic Shaman Circle was founded in Oslo in November 2018. This article discusses what the Circle’s founding document refers to as “spiritual activism”, and how this was translated into action over the year that followed. I will follow one case in particular, which concerns plans for a power plant at the base of the mountain Aahkansnjurhtjie in the South Sámi area. Aahkansnjurhtjie is a sacred Sámi mountain, the shamans claim, and should be protected accordingly. My focus is on the learning processes that have emerged as the shamans have explored and argued the case, locally and nationally. I examine the negotiations that have happened along the way, in a political climate that has so far been hostile to religious arguments of any sorts, and in this example, involves a group that is contested among the Sámi. Finally, I look at the role of “indigeneity” in regard to claims, performances and responses to these particular concerns, as these have played out in different parts of the Sámi geography.
Highlights
Indigenous people have a spiritual relationship to nature, which commits them to live in balance with Mother Earth
Arctic Shaman Circle2 is the most recent addition to shaman milieus in Norway.3. It is the most explicitly indigenous shaman organization to have been established in Norway and Sápmi more broadly and the first that has foregrounded spiritual activism, and positioned societal development over personal development
In an attempt to shed light on unfolding developments at the intersection of religion, activism and indigeneity, this article deals with the first year and a half of Arctic Shaman Circle (2018–2020)
Summary
Indigenous people have a spiritual relationship to nature, which commits them to live in balance with Mother Earth. The quote is from a letter to the editor in the Sámi newspaper Ságat, by the council of Arctic Shaman Circle (Eirik Myrhaug, Erena Rhöse, Nadia Fenina and Hege Dalen), under the title “Aahkansnjurhtjie /Kjerringtind ett hellig fjell”. Arktisk Sjamansirkel (Arctic Shaman Circle) was founded by Eirik Myrhaug, Erena Rhöse, Nadia Fenina and Hege Dalen and is currently led by a council (no.: råd) comprised by these same people. In an attempt to shed light on unfolding developments at the intersection of religion, activism and indigeneity, this article deals with the first year and a half of Arctic Shaman Circle (2018–2020). (Arctic Shaman Circle) and “Aahkansnjurhttjie: Kjerringtinden–beskytt hellige fjell” (protect sacred mountains) have enabled access to activities and communication along the way, for me and for the people involved, most of whom live spread across Norway and Sápmi.. I am interested in what indigenous religion enables, makes possible, and brings into existence, who uses and opposes these registers, and why and with which results
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