Sammendrag
Homemaking – creating a space that provides shelter, comfort, and a strong self of being oneself - is one of the most fundamental cultural practices. In our presentation, we begin to unravel the material and meaningful practice of homemaking in Indigenous Sámi lives in Norway. We use the physical symbols of Sáminess in peoples homes, and the practices associated with them, and follow the the multiple ways these items – pictures, cups, knives, blankets - affect the lives of those living there and articulate that this is a Sámi home.
Homes are spaces that traverse time, place and social status, as dynamic social constructions that are variously related to policies, places, families, kin, self, gender, feelings, journeys and practices. It is a place for togetherness, care and wellbeing, coming together and creating a ‘household’. Homemaking is therefore crucial for social reproduction, social identities and social transformation, where the “trivial” everyday practices of homemaking in everyday life are interconnected with ontologies and politics.
In Scandinavia there has been little attention given to the indirect assimilation – the well meaning welfare politics, that has led to an assimilation of the physical house. From the outside – all houses look “the same”. In the INDHOME project we investigate how people articulate being Sámi through the materialities and practices of the home. We argue that this can be seen as a form of resistance to assimilation.
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