Intervju: Professor II Patrik Lantto om arbeidet med Brennpunkt nord (engelsk)

Bringing History to Focal Point North

Lantto has been working with Focal Point North for almost a year now. As an adjunct professor, he holds a 20% position, and splits his time between Tromsø and Umeå. He brings a historical perspective to the project, as well as a Swedish one. During his childhood, Lantto moved all over Sweden, from a small village near Piteå, to Stockholm and Malmö. He would start his university career in the field of Political Science at Umeå University. Eventually Lantto would move on to study history, but it would not be until beginning his PhD that he would start to specialize in Sweden’s Sami history.

Collaboration across Borders

Umeå University has had a long-standing relationship with Tromsø University, and eventually Lantto became part of this collaboration. When he was asked to join the Focal Point North team, he happily accepted. Lantto has enjoyed working in Tromsø, as he loves the city itself, and appreciates the university’s focus on Sami issues. He expressed that he greatly enjoys the quality of the work produced by the project, and the opportunity to work with such a talented group of researchers.

Future Plans

As a part of the project group, Lantto brings a background in Swedish Sami history and policy, and the capacity to compare state policies across the Barents Region. Currently, he is contributing to the planning of an excursion for the 2014 Masters students in Indigenous Studies at the University of Tromsø. He is looking forward to the trip, which will likely take place in April 2015 and will lead the group to the southern Sami areas of Norway and Sweden. Lantto hopes that the excursion will include visits to Sami schools, reindeer herding communities, research institutes, and historic Sami locations.

By Vanessa Brune and Chelsea Mackay – Students in the Masters of Indigenous Studies program