Many describe Jokkmokk as a multicultural meeting place. That’s quite accurate. The influx of different peoples and nationalities has created a special dynamic. Perhaps it has been an advantage that large areas were and still are roadless. The benefit of getting to know each other becomes greater then.
Roadless land. What is it? Isolated? Not at all. Roadless simply means there are no year-round roads for vehicle traffic. Being in roadless land means using snow, water, and ice for transportation. That’s how it’s always been, ever since our regions were populated some eight thousand years ago. It’s only during a few weeks in autumn and spring, when the ice is neither strong enough to bear weight nor completely gone, that it can become somewhat isolated.
Busy traffic despite the absence of roads
In the past, when there were still many permanent residents by lakes and waterways even in the most remote mountain areas, traffic was perhaps especially lively. Reindeer-herding Sami moved with their herds between grazing lands every autumn and spring. People rowed, walked, skied, and traveled with draft animals back and forth in the river valleys to conduct their business. No one hesitated to travel many miles away. Perhaps they wanted to visit relatives in the Pite River Valley. Or attend the winter market in Jokkmokk.
The market became a hub
The Jokkmokk market has more than four hundred years under its belt. What originally was an opportunity for the state to collect taxes from the Lapland residents, spread God’s word, and maintain church records, eventually became the most important and popular event of the entire year. At the market, Sami and settlers sold fish, meat, and furs, traded goods, acquired coffee, flour, salt, tobacco, and other necessities, met relatives and friends, and generally enjoyed themselves. They also published banns, got married, buried their loved ones, and answered to the court.
What is Swedish and what is Sami?
Drawing a sharp distinction between settlers and Sami when separating Swedish and Sami cultural traditions is a blunt approach. People in the area have long lived side by side, married each other, created family ties, spoken each other’s languages, traded goods, and gotten into conflicts with each other, just as people tend to do. But most of all, they have benefited from each other. The knowledge of survival and utilizing fish, meat, and other raw materials was inherited through generations by everyone, whether settler or Sami. The climate was also the same for all, at times harsh but predictable.
Many languages
In the parish, it wasn’t just Sami and Swedish that were spoken in recent centuries. In fact, there were many more languages, and most people could make themselves understood in at least two. The Sami spoke Lule Sami, North Sami, or South Sami. Some spoke Norwegian, others Finnish or Tornedal Finnish. Some even spoke Russian. And the Swedes brought all their dialects with them when they moved in. One might wonder how quickly the settlers from Småland understood the Lule Valley dialect.
A mutual dependence
For the self-sufficient reindeer herders and settlers, money played a small role. Their survival didn’t depend on cash but on being able to do everything themselves. And what one couldn’t do, someone else could. Barter trade flourished.
Personal work played a much bigger role. Women’s and men’s work was equally important. The homestead was a family business where both husband and wife were providers. Without one, the other couldn’t provide for the family. When men worked in the forest and were away for months, women managed the entire operation of the small farm, with everything that entailed.
The dependence on each other’s knowledge and work contribution is fundamentally a good thing. When women’s and men’s work is valued equally, a balance emerges, even if tasks are divided. Each person does what they’re best at, or what needs to be done at the time, and both know that it’s the whole that must function.
And how is it today?
Today, traffic in Jokkmokk’s roadless land continues summer and winter. With snowmobiles, ATVs, helicopters, and other vehicles, it’s relatively easy to reach most places, though not all. Inside the national parks, vehicles are banned. Only reindeer-herding Sami can get exemptions when truly necessary. Perhaps traditional roads are overrated when you can create your own paths with skis, snowshoes, or on foot. The feeling of looking back after traveling a few kilometers and seeing your own tracks in the snow is unique, almost symbolic. My path through life…
Jokkmokk’s market is an unparalleled folk festival and a meeting place for both Sami from all of Sápmi and people from the rest of the world. The commerce and cultural offerings during these days in February are still the absolute highlight of the year. Jokkmokk as a meeting place holds its position.
Today, the languages spoken in the municipality are more numerous than ever. For many decades, many Europeans have moved to Jokkmokk, often to the more sparsely populated areas where most run some form of business. Today, Jokkmokk’s population consists of people from all continents, and the many cultures enrich the community. The atmosphere is permissive, and there’s a natural curiosity about newcomers.
In Jokkmokk’s politics, there have long been equal numbers of women and men involved. Women also hold many leadership positions throughout the community. Perhaps it’s a legacy from previous generations, where it was natural to value women’s and men’s work contributions equally.
The connection to nature runs deep. Many share concerns when the climate is no longer as predictable, even though survival now largely depends on supermarket freezers. Still, the tradition of gathering food for winter is deeply rooted. Households without a well-stocked freezer before winter are few. Those who have stored meat, fish, and berries feel rich.
What’s considerably trickier, however, is managing without money. In today’s consumer society, we get nervous if we can’t immediately buy what we want, whether we need it or not. Money, stores, and 24/7 online shops have become the foundation of our time.
Whether it was better in the past or not remains unsaid. It’s different, yet in many ways the same.
But you must agree it’s fascinating to have some perspective on the past. It makes the present a bit more comprehensible. Doesn’t it?
Text: Iréne Lundström Photo: David Björkén, Carl-Johan Utsi