Mijá duobddága: Sankingspraksiser i samiske kystområder – relasjoner, verdier og bærekraft

Compared to the Sámi practices of reindeer herding and coastal fishing, Sámi gathering activities like berry picking have received little academic attention. Still, cloudberries for sale and subsistence have been of fundamental importance to Sámi livelihoods, and even today, great significance is attributed to these berries. Based on qualitative data from interviews with Sámi cloudberry pickers in Divtasvuodna-Tysfjord, Porsáŋgu-Porsanger and Unjárga-Nesseby, this article places emphasis on the knowledge and values involved in current cloudberry practices. Empirical examples provide insights into cloudberry picking as a way of being in, and interacting with, the landscape, inclusive of care and rules of conduct. The respect and mutual relationships integral to examples of Coastal Sámi gathering activities can, we argue, be described as sustainability in practice. Learning from these principles may contribute significantly to the ongoing debate on what sustainable development is or should be. Coastal Sámi land, berries, practices, values, sustainability