The two sisters Maxida och Mimie Märak were the source of inspiration for this song by Tommy. Their energy in the (as shown in a four episodes documentary broadcasted by the Swedish state television, SVT) made it necessary to grab the pen and the guitar. Please find a proper stereo to play it; if you use a telephone, then at least use headphones.
In the documentary (episode 2), The Sápmi sisters claim their rights through rap, yoik and dance. They are an interesting example of how it is possible to find ways to “speak up” and resist. They are also an example on how younger generations are trying to secure a continuous Sámi struggle; a struggle that does not imply “victory over the other part”, but rather a struggle resulting in better dialogues between the state, the corporations and the indigenous, local, people.
Another source of inspiration, also found in the documentary, is a scene when a corporation has a Public Relations event. The man talking is Clive Sinclair-Poulton, representing Beowulf Mining, and he says that ”I show this slide primarily for the people in UK and Ireland because one of the major questions I get is what are the local people gonna say about this project. And I show them this picture and I say ‘what local people?’” (the picture is all nature, taken near Jokkmokk).
This example of “what local people?” is relevant because it represents a common story on how indigenous people are marginalized (on many places on this earth) and how they lose in court. It is also a story that are backed up by academic research – both in terms of relations to corporations (see e.g. Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee, 1, Naomi Klein, 2) and in relation to the state (e.g. Bradley Reed Howard, 3). For example, they do not share the notion of property rights, an essential part of the jurisdictional lingua franca in the Western part of the world (e.g. Helen Verran, 4). The same story can be found in Kiruna and the state-owned company LKAB’s relation to the Sámi people, e.g. in recent years primarily concerning the villages Gabna and Laevas who are both affected by the movement of Kiruna town (e.g. 4 below).
Us local people?
Text, music, instruments, lead vocals, production: Tommy Jensen
Backing vocals: Pia Jensen
The song Us local people contains a short excerpt from Sofia-Jannok and the jojk “Yoik of the wind”.
A room of ties
Camera flashes
Silver grey speaks
Its all nature
What about locals?
The crowd asks
”What local people”
The grey says
No mans land
Says local people
Its on loan
To freely roam
Herding reindeers’
Telling stories
Chanting the yoik
For at least 2500 years
Us global people
We the few
We the elite
Earth’s real nomads
We will fight
And keep tell
What local people?
What local people?
What local people
Us local people
We the few
We the north
We in Sápmi
We will fight
To claim our rights
Laplanders in
A territorial vague land
Don’t call it clash of civilization
In the name of mixophobia and purity
In the name of mixophobia and purity
In the name of mixophobia and purity
Recognize the property rights view
Where to own – all things are commoditized
Is to control – all things are optimized
Is to rule – all things are capitalized
Is to exploit – we are all victimized
Be it animals, plants or people
Be it minerals, soil or rocks
In a legal room
Full of suits and Gákti
There was heat
But only one part will take the beat
A man with a black tie
But with the white noise
Spoke in the name
Of the business model
In the silent court
A woman voiced
Through syllabic
Improvisation
The Sámi tongue
Called for luondu
And all things intrinsic value
The judge favored
Capital injection
Said goodbye with a
Bang for your buck
But we will fight
To keep our right
What else can we do
References
1. Banerjee Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee (2000), “Whose land is it anyway? National interest, indigenous stakeholders and colonial discourses: The case of the Jabiluka uranium mine”. Organization & Environment, 13(11), p.3-38.
Banerjee Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee (2003), “The practice of stakeholder colonialism: National interest and colonial discourses in the management of indigenous stakeholders.” In Prasad, A. (ed.), Postcolonial Theory and Organizational Analysis. New York: Palgrave.
Banerjee Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee (2007), ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. ‘, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
2. Klein, Naomi. (2014), This Changes Everything: Capitalism Against the Climate. New
York: Simon & Schuster.
3. Bradley Reed Howard (2003), Indigenous people and the state: The struggle for native rights. Northern Illinois University Press.
4. Verran, Helen (1998), ‘Re-Imagining Land Ownership in Australia’, Postcolonial Studies, 1: 237-254.
Verran, H & Christie, M. (2011) Doing Difference Together – Towards a Dialogue with Aboriginal Knowledge Authorities Through an Australian Comparative Empirical Philosophical Inquiry, Culture and Dialogue, 1(2), 21-36.
Verran, H. (2011), “Imagining Nature Politics in the Era of Australia’s Emerging Market in Environmental Services Interventions.” Special Issue: “The Politics of Imagination.” J. Latimer & B. Skeggs, eds. The Sociological Review 59.3: 411–431.
5. Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark and Miriam Talah (2007). Samernas rätt till deltagande och samråd: Fysisk planering och infrastruktur. Report for Svenska Avdelningen av Internationella Juristkommissionen.