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The controversial reburial of 94 Sami skeletons took place in September 2011. Skeletons were buried according to Orthodox Christian tradition. Photos: Rolf Arvola.
Johan Brun undertook the excavations on
behalf of Kristian Emil Schreiner, of the
Anatomical Institute in Oslo. In a letter
from Brun to Schreiner, the dentist (and
doctor) says that he first asked local people
about being able to dig up "the oldest graves
around the Church, while of course I would
not touch the newer graves." He met with
resistance and wrote that "an old blind Skolt
woman, who is the person who keeps the
connection alive with the Russian Ortho-
dox pope and Russia", cursed him roundly
in "Sami and Norwegian-Finnish".
But he also met Åndre Jacobowitsj, another
Skolt Sami, who said that there were
skeletons on his property, just a bit beyond
the cemetery. Jacobowitsj asked for five
Norwegian kroner per skeleton. The deal
was struck.
Excommunicated
The local Orthodox Church excommuni-
cated Brun because of this, and more
recently has been responsible for efforts to
rebury the 94 skeletons, which since 1915
have been kept in the Schreinerske col-
lections at the University of Oslo. In 2008,
after a long struggle, the university decided
to return the remains.
"The remains have significant value, both
from an anthropological and cultural per-
spective, but because of the ethical aspects,
I have been very clear that we should return
them," said Gunnar Nicolaysen, head of the
department, to the University of Oslo news-
paper in 2008.
Additional research on the skeletons could
have been able to tell researchers about
the living conditions, nutrition, health and
diseases among the Skolt Sami. Archaeolo-
gists can even figure out how people were
clothed by looking for discoloration on the
skeletons, even though there is no actual
clothing left.
In 1915, Johan Brun, dentist to the royal family, dug
up 94 Skolt Sami skeletons in Neiden and sent them
toOslo. The decision to repatriate and rebury the
skeletons has been controversial.
Controversy over mass graves in Neiden
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Labyrint E/11
– University of Tromsø