SamiCare's Photobook Launch!

--中文見下--

You are cordially invited to the book launch at the Alta library on 24th November at 6 pm.

The photobook is based on the research project Coming of Age in Indigenous Societies, where the Indigenous communities in Sápmi and Taiwan meet.

Come join the book launch to check out the photobook and listen to the joik performed by Ellen Marianne Utsi from Máze.

The book is open access. Feel free to download SamiCare's Photobook :)

Preface

We live in a world with an ageing population. Too often we are taught to believe that ageing is something negative. Indeed, in economic and demographic research, it has been argued that a “silver tsunami is coming”, implying that older people are a burden on society. Within Indigenous worldviews, however, ageing is conceptualized not as ‘degradation’, but rather as an important part of the circle of life. Aging is more than a loss of physical and cognitive functions. It is also an enrichment. Accordingly, in Indigenous communities, Elders are often viewed as important conveyors of knowledge, wisdom of life, language and culture to the younger generations, e.g. related to farming, fishing, trapping, traditional handicrafts or animal herding.

In the research project that this book stems from, we have learnt about what ageing may entail by engaging with Elders living in Indigenous communities in Norway and Taiwan. A total of 42 Elders, 24 women and 18 men, were interviewed in 2019 and 2020. The participants were between 65 and 92 years of age at the time of our encounter, and lived in inland plains, rural towns and coastal villages in Finnmark, mountain areas of Mid-Norway, as well as in the river valleys of Taranan, north Tayal territory in Taiwan.

In this book, one or two photo stories by each of our participants are presented. The stories from the North Sámi territory are provided in North Sámi, Norwegian and English; the stories from the South Sámi territory are provided in South Sámi, Norwegian and English, and the stories from the north Tayal territory are provided in Tayal, Mandarin Chinese and English. As you will see, the stories are about love, joy, worries, resilience and resistance. The main message in this book is that relationships are pivotal for the well-being of the participants in this study, both relationships to significant landscapes or territories, to significant others, to traditional activities and to animals. The knowledge and perspectives conveyed in this book are important to enhance the majority culture’s understanding of what it means to be an older person living on Indigenous lands, and to foster an equal and just society in both Norway, Taiwan and beyond.

This photobook is made in collaboration with the talented artist, photographer, journalist and publisher Susanne Hætta. Susanne: it has been a great pleasure to collaborate with you on this book, and we are so grateful that you agreed to edit the photos, design and produce this book through your own publishing house.

First and foremost, this photobook is a gift to the participants of our research project. We are immensely thankful for their sharing of knowledge and experiences with us. In addition, this book will be made physically and digitally available for a wider public. In addition to this photobook, we hope to inspire decision-makers, other researchers and students to listen to the voices of the Elders by writing and publishing a number of scientific articles that will all be openly accessible in English for anyone interested. Please go to our webpage, and you will find our articles as soon as they are accepted for publication.

The research project “Coming of age in Indigenous communities” is financed by the Norwegian Research Council (project number 287301). Co-funding in terms of researchers’ working hours has been provided by UiT The Arctic University of Norway and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. We want to do good research where everyone is safe, comfortable and respected in the process. The Norwegian Centre for Research Data has helped us to do so and has granted us the necessary ethical permissions (project number 577949). We have also received very helpful suggestions and good advice from the leader of the Elders Council of the Sámi Parliament in Norway, Kristine Julie Eira.

With love from the research team,

Mai Camilla Munkejord, June Brita Eira, Anne Giæver, Jan-Erik Henriksen, Grete Mehus, Tove Mentsen Ness and Wasiq Silan.

「在原住民族部落中迎來成熟」相片集將於挪威芬馬克省發表

前言

當今，我們身處的是一個老化的世界。老化卻經常被賦予負面的意象，就如經濟學和人口學調查的用語「銀髮海嘯來襲」，暗指著老人是社會中的負擔。然而，原住民的文化知識體系當中，老化並不與「退化」劃上等號。老化，讓生命得以生生不息；它不單指生理跟認知的退化，相反地，它代表的是一種文化生活的經驗累積。也因此，原住民部落中，耆老之所以重要，是因為他們代表的是知識傳承者的身分，將生活、語言、文化中的智慧傳遞給年輕一代，如農耕、捕魚、陷阱設置、傳統編織、手工藝及圈養動物技術等等。

作為台灣與挪威的原住民族照護計畫的一部分，這本照片集以挪威與台灣的原住民耆老的視角以相片作為媒體來呈現老化議題。計畫於民國108到109年進行，參與的人員包含42位耆老，其中有24位女性、18位男性，年紀大略介於65到92歲之間。受訪者包含挪威薩米族（包括極北芬馬克省的內陸平原、偏鄉與沿海漁村、挪威中部的山脊）以及台灣泰雅族（集中在南勢溪流域）。

這本照片集的最終呈現，是由參與者挑選出一到兩張照片。語言使用的部分，南薩米故事以南薩米語、挪威語與英語書寫；北泰雅故事以泰雅語、中文與英語呈現。這些照片與故事圍繞著愛情、快樂、擔憂、韌性與抵抗。本書所希望傳達的價值是藉著耆老讓大家更了解，人與土地、傳統領域，他人，傳統活動、動物的關係，都是構成幸福的重要環節。這些收錄在本書中的故事中傳達的知識與視角，有助於主流文化深化對原住民族土地上的老人的理解，並在挪威、台灣或是其他地方，創造一個更平等與正義的社會。

這個相片集是與薩米族新銳藝術家、攝影師、記者與出版社負責人 Susanne Hætta 的合作結晶。透過她的巧思、編排與設計，泰雅族與薩米族的照片與故事透過兩邊文化代表性的顏色、圖騰與編織元素互相對話交融。

這本相片集是回饋給參與台灣與挪威的原住民族照護計畫「在原住民族部落中迎來成熟」受訪者的一份禮物，感謝所有參與者分享寶貴的知識與生命經驗。本書內容將實體印刷，相關資料也會在網路上公開（點此下載全書），讓更多對於原住民族照護議題有興趣的人可以觸及。其次，我們也正著手將這份資料翻譯英文、並發表在學術期刊吸引更多國際讀者。相關訊息請參考我們的網頁，或追蹤最新的學術出版文章。

「在原住民族部落中迎來成熟」(Coming of age in Indigenous communities)是一個由挪威研究中心獎助的台灣與挪威的原住民族照護計畫(計畫編號287301)，合作獎助單位為挪威北極圈大學與西挪威應用科技大學。我們希望在維持研究好的研究品質的同時，讓參與其中的人員在過程中都感到安全、自在和受到尊重。為此，挪威研究資料中心提供並協助本計畫進行必要的倫理審查(計畫編號577949)。最後，我們感謝挪威薩米議會的耆老委員會主席Kristine Julie Eira對本計畫的建議。

誠摯地感謝您。