Riddu Riddu is an annual indigenous festival in the Norwegian part of Sápmi (Saami indigenous territory). Literally translated into ‘little storm by the coast’, Riddu Riddu was first held in 1991 by Saami youth with the objective of re-claiming their identity after 150 years of assimilation politics.
Since the beginning, the organizers have connected with other indigenous from all over the world who carry similar struggles and beliefs. Nowadays, Riddu Riddu is a truly unique meeting ground for people from all different walks of life, who are either indigenous themselves or non-indigenous who want to experience the world through indigenous eyes for a few days. Sinchi Foundation went to the 2019 edition of Riddu Riddu in july to experience the Saami way of life first hand and made a full photo and video documentation of the program, including an interview with the 28 years old festival director Sandra Márjá West. What we found there was a genuine celebration of humanity and a place where all people can find something they enjoy. The Saami culture clearly has a leading role in this event, as they are the rightful caretakers of the breathtaking environment in which the festival takes place. This year, there were both workshops on traditional Saami customs like joiking, crafting swords, eco gardening the Saami way, but also Inuit throatsinging, Greenlandic mask dance, tea ceremonies from Altaj and Tuvan traditional music.
The output of this visit is translated into 2 short documentaries about Saami identity (soon to be published) and Riddu Riddu Festival, and a series of portraits of visitors and their stories.
All photography was taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Lene Antonsen and Borre Gaup are both affiliated with the UiT (Arctic Univeristy of Tromso, Norway) and are here at the Riddu to tell people about the Saami characters keyboard they have made for mobile phones and the translation tools such as online dictionaries and grammar checks; helping whomever might be interested to download the apps on their phone. The platform they’ve built is now also being used by other minority languages, which are not commonly represented in online translation tools. We were very impressed by their work and happy to listen to their story. Also, it so happened that Lene is the mother of the festival director and she is one of the first generation involved in the organization of Riddu Riddu.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Borre Gaup is affiliated with the UiT (Arctic Univeristy of Tromso, Norway) and are here at the Riddu to tell people about the Saami language app they have developed, helping Saami and whomever might be interested to install the app on their phone. The platform they’ve built is now also being used by other minority languages, which are not commonly represented by online translation tools.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Ida Holm Hansen isn’t 100% sure whether she’s Saami but she certainly feels connected to Riddu Riddu and she speaks the language! She’s from the Russian part of Sapmi and some years ago she volunteered to translate for the indigenous throat singers from Russia who were invited to the festival.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Ida Holm Hansen isn’t 100% sure whether she’s Saami but she certainly feels connected to Riddu Riddu and she speaks the language! She’s from the Russian part of Sapmi and some years ago she volunteered to translate for the indigenous throat singers from Russia who were invited to the festival.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Sajane grew up in this valley and she is partly Saami. Only 18 years of age, she is already the right hand of festival director Sandra, and even a Taekwan-do teacher and medal winner.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Sajane grew up in this valley and she is partly Saami. Only 18 years of age, she is already the right hand of festival director Sandra, and even a Taekwan-do teacher and medal winner.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Sandra Márjá West was appointed festival director last year. She is a truly well-spoken and passionate advocate for Saami culture and rights, having grown up in the valley and taken part as volunteer for many years before she applied for the job.
Fun Fact: Sandra was born in the same year as the first Riddu was organized, so she feels deeply connected to the developments of the festival and this was very evident during our conversations with her.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Sandra Márjá West was appointed festival director last year. She is a truly well-spoken and passionate advocate for Saami culture and rights, having grown up in the valley and taken part as volunteer for many years before she applied for the job.
Fun Fact: Sandra was born in the same year as the first Riddu was organized, so she feels deeply connected to the developments of the festival and this was very evident during our conversations with her.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Ole Arin Sakshaug grew up in a different part of Sapmi but he comes to this valley almost every year to visit the festival.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Nicholas Galani explains to us that its his second time at Riddu Riddu, two years ago he performed on the main stage with his band Indian Agent. This year he was invited to give a seminar at the Tromso museum, where he spent the whole week before coming to Riddu. Being an established visual artist, Nicholas travels all over the world, but he always returns to his Tlingkit community in Alaska, where he lives with his family. He showed us some pictures of his home, and we were blown away by its beauty and the way of life in Alaska.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Cynthia Pitsiulak. She is from Nunavut now living living in Ottawa, Canada, and a very talented Inuk throat singer and musician. Together with her Inuk sister (and fellow throat-singer) Charlotte Qamaniq and brother Rise Ashen on the drum machine, she rocked the main stage with a wonderful blend of Inuit traditional sounds and contemporary grooves.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Charlotte Qaminaq. She is from Nunavut now living in Ottawa, Canada, and a very talented Inuk throat singer and musician. Together with her Inuk sister (and fellow throat-singer) Cynthia Pitsiulak and brother Rise Ashen on the drum machine, she rocked the main stage with a wonderful blend of Inuit traditional sounds and contemporary grooves.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Silla & Rise after their performance on the mainstage of Riddu Riddu. Their music is a combination of traditional Inuit throatsinging from Nunavut and contemporary grooves which are a perfect fit for the Ottawa nightlife which they feel so closely connected to. Bringing best of both worlds to a higher level, their unique musical expression creates an energy amongst the crowd that is something beyond words. We certainly felt it!
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Elisabeth Heilmann Blind is posing here with her traditional Greenlandic mask still painted on after her performance at Riddu. When we met Elisabeth the day before, she came across as a wonderfully soft person, but she is a highly skilled and experienced performer in mask dance and she can transform herself into an almost extraterrestrial creature. Elisabeth is one of the few Greenlandic mask dancer passing on this ancient tradition to future generations by giving workshops and lessons all over the world, but she does it in her own way:
“I don’t want to imitate my ancestors. I do it in my own way and I teach my disciples to find their own source.”
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Elisabeth Heilmann Blind is posing here with one of our Sinchi team members with her traditional Greenlandic mask still painted on, after her performance at Riddu. When we met Elisabeth the day before, she came across as a wonderfully soft person, but she is a highly skilled and experienced performer in mask dance and she can transform herself into an almost extraterrestrial creature. Elisabeth is one of the few Greenlandic mask dancer passing on this ancient tradition to future generations by giving workshops and lessons all over the world, but she does it in her own way:
“I don’t want to imitate my ancestors. I do it in my own way and I teach my disciples to find their own source.”
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Elisabeth Heilmann Blind with her traditional Greenlandic mask still painted on, after her performance at Riddu. When we met Elisabeth the day before, she came across as a wonderfully soft person, but she is a highly skilled and experienced performer in mask dance and she can transform herself into an almost extraterrestrial creature. Elisabeth is one of the few Greenlandic mask dancer passing on this ancient tradition to future generations by giving workshops and lessons all over the world, but she does it in her own way:
“I don’t want to imitate my ancestors. I do it in my own way and I teach my disciples to find their own source.”
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Elisabeth Heilmann Blind is posing here with her traditional Greenlandic mask still painted on after her performance at Riddu. When we met Elisabeth the day before, she came across as a wonderfully soft person, but she is a highly skilled and experienced performer in mask dance and she can transform herself into an almost extraterrestrial creature. Elisabeth is one of the few Greenlandic mask dancer passing on this ancient tradition to future generations by giving workshops and lessons all over the world, but she does it in her own way:
“I don’t want to imitate my ancestors. I do it in my own way and I teach my disciples to find their own source.”
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Inga Ravna Eira, traditionally a reindeer herder from Sapmi, a joiker and a skilled writer. She explained to us that, despite being Saami and Speaking Saami, she had to come to Oslo to learn her own written language. Not many Saami write or even speak the language. Nowadays, Inga only writes her (children)books in Saami because she wants to encourage other Saami to learn the written language. She also created a Saami language and literature program for young Saami to express their artistic nature in their indigenous language.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Inga Ravna Eira, traditionally a reindeer herder from Sapmi, a joiker and a skilled writer. She explained to us that, despite being Saami and Speaking Saami, she had to come to Oslo to learn her own written language. Not many Saami write or even speak the language. Nowadays, Inga only writes her (children)books in Saami because she wants to encourage other Saami to learn the written language. She also created a Saami language and literature program for young Saami to express their artistic nature in their indigenous language.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Ánná Káisá Partapuoli is a reindeer herding Saami and one of the participants on the Saami written language and literature program to encourage young Saami to learn their own written language. Ánná Káisá is 24 years old and won the 2018 Nords Kulturpris (Culture Award) for her poetry slams in Saami language. At this years’ Riddu Riddu festival, she introduced a new performance concept where she combined video-art with poetry.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Ánná Káisá Partapuoli is a reindeer herding Saami and one of the participants on the Saami written language and literature program to encourage young Saami to learn their own written language. Ánná Káisá is 24 years old and won the 2018 Nords Kulturpris (Culture Award) for her poetry slams in Saami language. At this years’ Riddu Riddu festival, she introduced a new performance concept where she combined video-art with poetry.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Hawkie. Born to indigenous Ecuadorian parents, Hawkie was adopted by her Norwegian parents and grew up in the Trondheim area. Hawkie is very fascinated by Saami culture because she recently found out that her family has Saami ancestry and she is even starting to learn one of the Saami dialects. As a result of the research into her roots, she came across an ad for Riddu Riddu and decided to become a volunteer at this years’ festival, despite her being partially sighted. Hawkie is a highly self reliant girl and her dream is to inspire other blind and partially sighted people to go to festivals like Riddu Riddu and get out of their comfortzone. She is truly inspirational and we were happy to share conversations with her.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Willi from Vanuatu. Vanuatu is an island group in the Pacific where most of its natives still live according to old traditions. Willie moved to Tromso after he fell in love with a Norwegian anthropology student and has been coming to Riddu Riddu for many years.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
These are Kristine & Jonette, who just arrived at the festival when we struck up a conversation with them. They both live in Tromso and have many Saami friends. When we asked them whether they had learnt something new about Saami culture during their visits to Riddu Riddu (this wasn’t their first time), they said ‘no’. Saami culture has always been very present in their lives, the reason they go to Riddu Riddu is the relaxt atmosphere and the music.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This is Aslak Holmberg. In Saami, Aslak’s full name would be Skuvlaalbma Aslat Niilus Aslat, but he prefers using his Norwegian name, to keep it simple. Aslak is from Tana and his family are traditional salmon fishers, as opposed to ‘salmon farmers’, which he says is a very different thing. Aslak wrote his thesis about sustainable salmon fishing called ‘To ask for salmon’ and he held a talk during the festival about it.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Andes Somby caught our attention with his t-shirt, which had the slogan ‘The Revolution is Indigenized’ on it. Unfortunately he didn’t speak english, but we did understand from a few exchanged sentences that he is a representative for the traditional reindeer herding Saami in the Saami partliament. Nowadays, only 10% of Saami are still herding reindeer, we assumed that Andes belongs to this 10%.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
This older Saami lady is wearing a traditional gakti. The gakti was outlawed for many decades since the second world war, yet has had a grand revival when a group of young Saami (at the time) decided to do research into what the gakti used to look like, and now many have reclaimed the tradition.
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Main stage on the last night
Photo taken by Sinchi Photographer Mike van Kruchten
Saami indigenous music formation ISÁK (aka ‘the hottest name in Sápmi music) giving an enchanting live performance at the main stage, blending traditional yoik, urban synths and a text universe that combines both English and Saami.
