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Whowere these people?
But now it's too late. The reburial of the 94
skeletons took place on the last Sunday in
September in 2011, in spite of protests from
a number of Skjolt Sami in Neiden.
The Orthodox Church in Neiden is convin-
ced that the Sami were Christians, and thus
had to be buried in consecrated ground.
Archaeologist Asgeir Svestad is not so sure.
He has examined material from the grave-
yard in Neiden and believes that there are
clear indications that some of the skeletons
were buried in pre-Christian times.
The University of Oslo's Nicolaysen was
responsible for returning the remains, and
told NRK, Norway's National Broadcas-
ting Corporation, that DNA analyses and
carbon-14 dating showed that some of the
oldest remains were from 650 years ago.
That would mean the remains had been
buried before the Sami became Christians
in the 16th century.
The cemetery was also not known at the
time of excavation by other than the Skolt
Sami who lived in the area.
"You do not know who these people were.
It is unclear who belonged to the Christian
and pre-Christian religion. Brun dug up
not only skeletal material, but also objects.
But the items were not reburied, and this
in my view is ethically problematic. Rings,
jewellery and clothing cannot separated
from an individual when they are a part
of that person's personality, identity and
ethnicity," says Svestad.
Respect for forefathers
The 94 skeletons were also reburied in a
mass grave. This, too, Svestad believes is
ethically problematic, given that this type of
burial practice has never existed among the
Skolt Sami.
"To rebury someone in a mass grave about
whomwe know nothing, is a paradox in
my view and cannot be any more than a
symbolic and political effort. Whether this
action is worthwhile is a matter for discus-
sion. My opinion is that the majority of
the Skolt Sami in Neiden support research
on the skeletons, and not rapid re-burial,"
Svestad says.
Skolt Sami, who are also known as Eastern
Sami, today live on the Kola Peninsula, in
northern Finland and in Sør-Varanger. In
Norway, there are currently fewer than 150
Skolt Sami, and we know very little about
their way of life. Svestad has even sugge-
sted that the remains should be kept in the
Eastern Sami Museum in Neiden.
Sources:
Får sin grav til slutt;
universitas.no/nyhet/50414/
far-sin-grav-til-slutt.
Omdiskutert gjenbegravelse i
Neiden;
museumsnytt.no/artikkel-arkiv/omdiskutert-
gjenbegravelse-i-neiden.
Tilbakeføring av skjeletter til
Neiden;
Kronikk i Nordlys: uit.no/
University of Tromsø –
Labyrint E/11
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27
You do not know who
these people were.