Mortensnes, Finnmark
Early morning found the Endeavour making her way deep into Varagerfjorden, Norway’s largest fjord in physical area. As skies began to clear, Zodiacs were dropped and we began moving towards the island of Ekyröye where hikes would be offered throughout the morning. Our sea journey was still taking us, through the lower Arctic with landings in tundra, and this was reflected in today’s hikes all around the low hills of Ekyröye Island. Walking along a well traveled trail, our gaze moved down around our feet, to the miniature world of cloud berries, crow berry, an occasional dwarf blueberry and many a stone covered with a myriad lichens and mosses. Every once in a while several of us would stop, kneel down and view this tiny world of tough plants eking out a living in this harsh environment called tundra. At the top of the island we found a bog, and several red-necked phalaropes were plying the waters for a possible morning meal in and amongst the cotton grass. Some of our group interested in serious birding continued around the island finding many species of birds. Several sea eagles were spotted, a highlight for the bird watchers. After circling the island, we returned through the village, admiring gardens, fishing boats, and enjoying this quiet and peaceful Norwegian way of life.
Once all guests had returned and Zodiacs were stowed the Endeavour continued northwest into Varagerfjorden for her afternoon anchorage just past Vadsö, capital of Finnmark, near Mortensnes (Morten’s Nose). It is recorded amongst the Sámi people that this place was once a battle sight between two brothers. Anders and Morten were returning from a long fishing trip. Upon sailing into this harbor a strong wind came up and Morten’s boat sank. Anders did not stop to try and help his brother, continuing on to shore. Upon arriving on shore he looked down the beach and saw a man coming towards him. Anders realized it was his brother Morten, and as Morten approached he grabbed his brother, Anders and began dragging him towards the sea. Anders yelled, “Come now and help, all who rest in their graves!” Morten cried: “All who live in the sea, come and help!” Then there was a great rumbling from the land and the sea; dauingene (the dead ones) came with sticks and coffins for weapons, and draugene (the sea monsters) came with seaweed stalks. The dead ones fought on Anders side, the sea monsters fought on Morten’s side. As dawn came over the battle the sea monsters had returned to the sea, they had lost their battle to the dead ones who stood their ground on shore. The day after the battle Anders returned to the beach to fetch his boat and found pieces of coffin and seaweed so thick that one could not wade close to shore. It was at this place Anders raised a memorial stone, commerating the battle.
The second half of our day would be spent exploring the traditional territory of the Sea Sámi. Part of our group headed for the archeological site where Anders raised his memorial stone also called Ceakkiš or the standing stone. This memorial sight, has been passed down in Samí legend for thousands of years. It is also called Ceavccageadgi or the Fish Oil Stone, but when the Samí storyteller speaks of this place the heart of the story refers to a place where one has stood his ground in battle, where one has endured.
The Samí as indigenous peoples coming from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia have endured. They settled this area of Finnmark thousands of years ago and have continued, persevering through one thousand years of contact with European cultures. They have traded their rich resources with all the nations who share and claim their territory. In recent years a renaissance has exploded across the world as people from many nations become acquainted with the Samí culture. For many of us, today was our first opportunity to meet and learn about the Sea Samí of Finnmark. We traveled by coach to the Varanger Samí Museum, along with excellent Samí guides, and viewed both indoor and outdoor displays representing much of the past and present of the Samí culture.
As the Arctic sun began to tip towards late afternoon our entire group gathered at Mortensnes at a traditional Samí communal gamme. This sod dwelling is constructed around a framework of birch. The communal gamme houses both people and animals in two separate rooms. The family’s room had a central fire and a smoke hole in the ceiling. As soon as our three groups were gathered, we were introduced to Johan and Margerite who would be doing some story telling through the traditional Sea Samí joik. During the next forty minutes we listened, enjoying two distinctive styles of “joiking” carried out on the wind, mixed with the sounds of the sea just below where we gathered. After a traditional gift exchange our expedition leader, Tom Ritchie invited our Samí hosts to join us for an evening on the Endeavour. Once everyone was back on board we moved to the lounge providing an opportunity to now become the hosts to our Samí guests. A question and answer session was opened up giving an opportunity for all of us to ask the many questions we had from our day in Finnmark. Education, fishing, culture, language and many other issues were posed to our Samí guests, each one taking time to answer and adding just a little humor, a thread that runs through the fabric of many indigenous cultures. As we moved towards dinner, Johan, who had found his experience with everyone from the Endeavour heartwarming and positive, was moved to joik us once again; he directed this joik to Captain Skog, reminding him to watch the winds, to be careful, remembering its potential force. We all felt the power of this joik, going through each of us, and carrying a blessing to our ship; reminding us all of the joy of cultural diversity and the privilege in this remote corner of the world, to experience even if just for a moment, another person’s way of saying thank you for our presence, our interest, and our smiles.
Early morning found the Endeavour making her way deep into Varagerfjorden, Norway’s largest fjord in physical area. As skies began to clear, Zodiacs were dropped and we began moving towards the island of Ekyröye where hikes would be offered throughout the morning. Our sea journey was still taking us, through the lower Arctic with landings in tundra, and this was reflected in today’s hikes all around the low hills of Ekyröye Island. Walking along a well traveled trail, our gaze moved down around our feet, to the miniature world of cloud berries, crow berry, an occasional dwarf blueberry and many a stone covered with a myriad lichens and mosses. Every once in a while several of us would stop, kneel down and view this tiny world of tough plants eking out a living in this harsh environment called tundra. At the top of the island we found a bog, and several red-necked phalaropes were plying the waters for a possible morning meal in and amongst the cotton grass. Some of our group interested in serious birding continued around the island finding many species of birds. Several sea eagles were spotted, a highlight for the bird watchers. After circling the island, we returned through the village, admiring gardens, fishing boats, and enjoying this quiet and peaceful Norwegian way of life.
Once all guests had returned and Zodiacs were stowed the Endeavour continued northwest into Varagerfjorden for her afternoon anchorage just past Vadsö, capital of Finnmark, near Mortensnes (Morten’s Nose). It is recorded amongst the Sámi people that this place was once a battle sight between two brothers. Anders and Morten were returning from a long fishing trip. Upon sailing into this harbor a strong wind came up and Morten’s boat sank. Anders did not stop to try and help his brother, continuing on to shore. Upon arriving on shore he looked down the beach and saw a man coming towards him. Anders realized it was his brother Morten, and as Morten approached he grabbed his brother, Anders and began dragging him towards the sea. Anders yelled, “Come now and help, all who rest in their graves!” Morten cried: “All who live in the sea, come and help!” Then there was a great rumbling from the land and the sea; dauingene (the dead ones) came with sticks and coffins for weapons, and draugene (the sea monsters) came with seaweed stalks. The dead ones fought on Anders side, the sea monsters fought on Morten’s side. As dawn came over the battle the sea monsters had returned to the sea, they had lost their battle to the dead ones who stood their ground on shore. The day after the battle Anders returned to the beach to fetch his boat and found pieces of coffin and seaweed so thick that one could not wade close to shore. It was at this place Anders raised a memorial stone, commerating the battle.
The second half of our day would be spent exploring the traditional territory of the Sea Sámi. Part of our group headed for the archeological site where Anders raised his memorial stone also called Ceakkiš or the standing stone. This memorial sight, has been passed down in Samí legend for thousands of years. It is also called Ceavccageadgi or the Fish Oil Stone, but when the Samí storyteller speaks of this place the heart of the story refers to a place where one has stood his ground in battle, where one has endured.
The Samí as indigenous peoples coming from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia have endured. They settled this area of Finnmark thousands of years ago and have continued, persevering through one thousand years of contact with European cultures. They have traded their rich resources with all the nations who share and claim their territory. In recent years a renaissance has exploded across the world as people from many nations become acquainted with the Samí culture. For many of us, today was our first opportunity to meet and learn about the Sea Samí of Finnmark. We traveled by coach to the Varanger Samí Museum, along with excellent Samí guides, and viewed both indoor and outdoor displays representing much of the past and present of the Samí culture.
As the Arctic sun began to tip towards late afternoon our entire group gathered at Mortensnes at a traditional Samí communal gamme. This sod dwelling is constructed around a framework of birch. The communal gamme houses both people and animals in two separate rooms. The family’s room had a central fire and a smoke hole in the ceiling. As soon as our three groups were gathered, we were introduced to Johan and Margerite who would be doing some story telling through the traditional Sea Samí joik. During the next forty minutes we listened, enjoying two distinctive styles of “joiking” carried out on the wind, mixed with the sounds of the sea just below where we gathered. After a traditional gift exchange our expedition leader, Tom Ritchie invited our Samí hosts to join us for an evening on the Endeavour. Once everyone was back on board we moved to the lounge providing an opportunity to now become the hosts to our Samí guests. A question and answer session was opened up giving an opportunity for all of us to ask the many questions we had from our day in Finnmark. Education, fishing, culture, language and many other issues were posed to our Samí guests, each one taking time to answer and adding just a little humor, a thread that runs through the fabric of many indigenous cultures. As we moved towards dinner, Johan, who had found his experience with everyone from the Endeavour heartwarming and positive, was moved to joik us once again; he directed this joik to Captain Skog, reminding him to watch the winds, to be careful, remembering its potential force. We all felt the power of this joik, going through each of us, and carrying a blessing to our ship; reminding us all of the joy of cultural diversity and the privilege in this remote corner of the world, to experience even if just for a moment, another person’s way of saying thank you for our presence, our interest, and our smiles.
