19.6.2025

This post includes issues about Forest and Inari Sámi rights and politics. Some people can feel uncomfortable about the issue so remember you can always skip this rare statement post in my blog. But the ones who are interested about the human rights and the truths behind the scenes benefit from this statement. 

Today is a sad day. Finland parliament accepted the racist Sámi Parliament Act despite all the Lapland MP's, except one who was absent, vote against it. 

That actually is very interesting because most of Sámi People who have been accepted on the Sámi Parilament's listing live somewhere else than actually in Lapland, Finland. Most of Forest Sámi and Inari Sámi people still live in their ancient areas in Lapland and follow their traditional and cultural lifestyle. In practical Lapland issues have now been decided somewhere else than in Lapland and by someone else than the real original indigenous Sámi people of Finland. 

That Finland which is known about the equality and well being doesn't exist anymore. It has been weakening in the past yeas but by this act crashed it down. 

The process of accepting the reform of Sámi Parliament act has included a lot of dishonest lobbing and fake news for the reform and against Forest and Inari Sámi people. The key points have been the fake translations about UN Human Rights Committee and CERD Committee monitoring Finland's Sámi situation. Anyone who can read can check all that out and find the truth. See Hard Politics Behind The Scene by Parliament of Sámi Villages in Finland that has uploaded the article on its English site.

They base the new law on the language issue, not descent facts like ILO convention 169. The new Sámi Parliament Act discriminates Forest and Inari Sámi people because they have lost their spoken Sámi language in the past 100-150 years because of the colonialism, assimilation and church acts. We can prove our grand and great parents spoke the Sámi language but the problem is Sámi Parliament call us liars because they don't believe our testimonies. It is interesting to know that they accept and reject even the siblings of the same family into their listing. We even can prove our descent connection by genealogy and gene tests but they claim that is not enough either. 

The truth is that Inari and Forest Sámi people were here first. Reindeer Sámi people arrived only 150-200 years ago from north parts of Norway and Sweden and have been causing troubles to Inari and Forest Sámi tribes who lived on the region first since that. 

Our problem is that Sámi Parliament has connects to everywhere in Finnish society; parliament, ministries, amnesty, media etc. meanwhile they get huge funding for their act. We send correcting request almost daily to the media but they don't correct the fake news. Not even if the news would be totally wrong. 

This racist act of Finland  and Sámi parliament can't silence Forest and Inari Sámi people anymore. Our culture has been hidden from the outsiders and we have lived it in the private homes because of cruel bullying and discrimination by other Sámi and Finnish people. But our culture is still very much alive and we are not going to hide it anymore. 

Expressions "I am sorry" or "My apologies" were not originally part of Sámi culture nor language. As a Forest Sámi I was brought up in the way that I must live my life in the way that there will not be a reason for these words. But living in the pressure of Finnish culture I have learnt there are forgivable and unforgivable actions. I have also learnt that the ones who ask you to turn the other cheek usually hit you again. We are not turning our other cheeks anymore because they have already hit each generations' both cheeks.

You know me as TaijaS. My name is Taija Sillanpää. But my name is also Petra Kiesseluohtâ. Petra is my second name given to me by my Sámi mother. It means a female Forest Deer. Kiesseluohtâ is my original Sámi family name the christian priests never consent to write on the official papers. They translated it to Finnish as Kesälahti. They said it's better in that way. But it is not. It literally means Summer Bay. But it originally is Kiesseluohtâ, nothing else but Kiesseluohtâ and it comes from the exact place on the planet Earth that was ours to live through the eternal time before it all was stolen away from us.

Thank you for listening!

Siejddemuorrâ

This is my own design and piece of textile art Siejddemuorrâ - Seitapuu - Seita Tree. Seita is a sacred place of Sámi people. Seita can be for example a stone or tree. But not any stone or tree. You need to know more about the culture to understand which stone or which tree is seita. So, in practical some seitas are marked even on maps as an ancient monument or landmark. But most are not. When I meet seita in the nature I always salute seita and if possible leave something to seita.

In these pictures in my blog you can't see all of Siejddemuorrâ. It includes also a sacrificial table under it. The table is made of drift tree and is placed on the floor. All together as a complete piece of art and cultural object it needs open floor place where the seita can freely hung from the ceiling. So, it needs at least 3m high open floor place (modern architecture will be just fine). Siejddemuorrâ is made of different kind of yarns, glass beads, salmon vertebra, wood and metal. It includes a lot of cultural information which I will explain to the buyer if the one is a private person and unfamiliar to our Sámi culture but wants to support our cultural work and leaves the contact information for me to get in touch. (We don't get any funding from the government of Finland, Sámi Parliament of Finland or any business.)

In my previous blogpost I announced the price 5000 € for this piece of art Siejddemuorrâ. In July Siejddemuorrâ will be shown and on sale at Lyylin Salonki, Salla, Finland. It is open from Monday to Friday, weekends closed. Lyylin Salonki takes 10% commission from the sales so there the price will be 5500 €. It is a local small business so it needs to get some profit. We (me and my siida) are still planning to get Siejddemuorrâ at public place but if and when it will be sold I will use the money to publish my book. 

When visiting the exhibition at Lyylin Salonki you can bring your own gift to seita and place it on its sacrificial table.

Siejddemuorrâ is already in Salla. This week I took it and two Sámi costumes to Salla for the Forest Sámi Summer Expo 2025. Instead of staying at friends my mom wanted to test some cottages for the upcoming SummerExpo so she rent a cottage at Sallatunturin Tuvat. She was quite satisfied with the cottage and service so she has rent it again for the summer expo. I have nothing to complain about it but I need to say I loved its sauna!!!! The sauna was clean, able to be set hot (or cold) enough easily and the spirit was right!

OpenExhibition

This spring at work I received an interesting email. They were organizing a group exhibition Töissä täällä - Working here for the workers whose employer is Tornio City. Because I work at Tornio Community College my employer is Tornio City. I decided to participate and show First Kiss which none has ever seen "live" anywhere because it is part of the private collection. It has been shown only here in my blog 11 years ago!

Here is the list of artists and their pieces of art you can see in June 2025 at Tornio City library. I have updated this exhibition and one other that is upcoming in July 2025 on my OnTour page. If you are around, take yourself there to enjoy about local art that are seldom seen anywhere else, especially in the Finland capital and big city areas. Salla exhibition is up to upcoming Forest Sámi Summer Expo 2025. Anyone is welcomed to see around and learn about Forest Sámi.

PS. If you are visiting anywhere in Finland and want to see local art, go to the library. Libraries are usually free places for artists to show their art. Galleries and museums are far too expensive unless you have applied and received a public funding for your exhibition. And many don't because they are far too humble to do so even they are super talent. Just be silent, polite, and sneak around. Take pics only when none appears in your photos. It is allowed to photograph in public places but it is considered extremely rude to do so if there is a local person in your photo. Show respect for this and you can see a local person to smile. For my picture of this art exhibition wall I waited for about 5 minutes to get the wild child in photo to hide well enough so that it is called polite and compliment to take the photo and publish it. I could have cut off the child in the picture but I want to show you what is ok and what is not.

Experiments

My plant dye kettle is on again. I have an interesting plant dye experiments going on.

I am using local plants and time to repeat the experiments I started last summer. This recipe you can find in my upcoming book later in the future.

Secrets

At the moment I have started to finish my long-term craft project. It is going to be a piece of textile craft art. It will be shown in a craft expo in Salla, Finland this summer (July 2025). It is for sale (5000€ +  commission if the gallery takes one) but is looking for a accessible public place so it can also be donated if such a place can be found. It has special limitations and demands for the location it can be placed. It is a visible part of Forest Sámi culture. I am not in a hurry giving a new home to it so we will seek the new home for it in peace.

I am in the middle of another secret project too. I am investigating a special plant dye method. I will make an experiment and about that you will hear later in my upcoming book if it will be succeeded. It is not a secret anymore that I am writing a book: Forest Sámi Costume History And Present Days.