Riddu Riđđu Festivàla is an international indigenous festival that takes place in July each year in the Coastal Sami municipality Gáivuotna - Kåfjord in Northern Troms (July 11th-15th in 2012). The Riddu Riđđu Festival, which takes its name from the sami word for small storm on the coast, started out as a group of Coastal Sami youth who wanted to revive their culture and language. Due to long-time integration with the Norwegian population, prejudice and, in earlier days, policies enforcing assimilation, many Sami could no longer speak the language of their ancestors and were unfamiliar with their own heritage. Many even felt ashamed of their ethnicity. In 1991 when the first Riddu Riđđu festival was organized, it was an attempt by this movement of engaged youth to provide a place where young Sami people could get together to sing, talk and discover their history and traditions and build an identity as Coastal Sami. (Coastal Sami are different from the better known Reindeer herding Sami. Coastal Sami settled on the coast and got their livelihood from fishing and farming)
Over the last 21 years the ambitious festival has developed into a a leading festival in the fields of arts, culture and music with special emphasis on the Arctic and the High North. The festival has grown to become one of the most significant international indigenous festivals in Europe, and in addition to the strong Coastal Sami profile, the goal is to include indigenous cultures from all over the world. In 2009 the festival, which typically hosts an audience of about 3500, was awarded status as a “knutepunktfestival” or a “hub-festival” if you like. This distinction is offered by the Norwegian government to festivals that excel in a certain niche or genre and are considered to be the best in their field. Norway’s twelve hub-festivals receive funding from all levels of government and are included in the federal budget. Riddu Riđđu’s programming is broad, and during this year’s festival there were more than 100 events, including music, art, film, theater, dance, literature, workshops and seminars.
“Through our extensive quality programming and network building Riddu Riđđu has an ambituous goal of becoming the world’s number one stage for indigenous performances” says festival director Kirsti Lervoll. “We want to bring to the forefront the Coastal Sami culture and traditions as well as give young indigenous people from all over the world an arena where they can get to know both their own and each others backgrounds, exchange views and discuss the situation of the many indigenous peoples across the world.”
Heather Daley of Iqaluit, Nunavut made the trip through “3 days, 4 flights and a 2-hour drive through the majestic mountains and stunning fjords” to participate. So did Jennifer Watkins of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, Northern Quebec and Hayley Moorhouse of Goose Bay, Labrador. The three were visiting the festival on the invitation of the Norwegian Embassy in Canada as part of the Embassy’s focus on the High North and effort to support indigenous people. Heather Daley is the Director for the Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit, another multi-disciplinary festival, centered on Inuit and international artists and the circumpolar world. Jennifer Watkins is the president of the National Inuit Youth Council (NIYC) in Canada – a body committed to promoting the interests of Inuit youth, while Hayley Moorhouse works as a Youth Coordinator at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) – Canada’s national Inuit organization, representing the interests of the 55,000 Inuit living in the four Inuit regions of Canada.
A vital part of the Riddu Riđđu festival is the Indigenous Youth Gathering and the What’s up North conference. Through workshops, courses, discussions and social gatherings, the aim is for the participants to build pride and awareness in their own cultures by coming together, exchange information and share experiences. At the conference Watkins and Moorhouse worked with Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, a Canadian filmmaker with both Sámi and First Nations background, interviewing indigenous youth and visitors about promoting change in their home communities. Many indigenous communities are faced with great social challenges such as alcoholism, substance abuse, unemployment, poor housing conditions and a high suicide rates. Many are also affected by climate change in that their traditional way of life is threatened by shorter hunting seasons, disappearing travel routes and diminishing natural resources. How can the younger generation break the circle and stake out a new course without leaving their heritage behind? Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and the circumpolar youth worked on creating messages to communicate to other indigenous youth with a focus on reinforcing a sense of pride and identity. The youth were given an opportunity to present stories from their communities, their personal stories of hardship or success, and share ideas of how change can be made.
Kathleen Merrit, another youth coordinator with ITK and programmer for the Alianait festival, is herself an accomplished Inuit artist and politically active. When speaking to her and Heather Daly at Toronto’s indigenous festival Planet IndigenUs, immediately following Riddu Riđđu, she says that What’s Up North and other arenas like this are important in order to bring these young, strong voices together. The key to create a better situation for indigenous groups is to get people involved she says. “Political leaders always say that young people are the future. We are not the future! We are right now!” It is important that young Inuit feel that they matter and that they are heard. In her role with the National Inuit Organization ITK she works to get more young Inuit involved in decision making both locally and nationally.
The aim of the Indigenous Youth Gathering, the cornerstone of Riddu Riđđu, is that indigenous youth from around the world meet and share their knowledge and traditions. The camp is held over five days, with various workshops each day; song, dance and craft traditions from different indigenous areas, and of course Sami joik; the traditional, wordless chanting used for thousands of years to musically describe something, whether it be an object, a location or a person. At each festival a special focus is also given to a particular indigenous group. This year’s “northern people of the year” was the Greenland Inuit who presented their food, music, dance and craft traditions throughout the festival. Heather Daly from Iqaluit says that one of the highlights from her visit to the festival was the Greenlandic Mask Dance: Drum and mask - dance was used both as a means of entertaining and to solve an argument or dispute. If someone has a disagreement one would simply have a drum dance battle, with the goal of ridiculing the opponent. ‘Song brothers’ would sing and dance, while all the same making fun of each other. This sort of dance would take place at a social and fun event with the purpose of entertaining. But the drum and mask - dance would also be used to solve serious conflicts between families or individuals. In that case, the mockery was thoroughly planned and the one who brought forth the most laughter from the audience, was named the winner of the dispute. The Greenlandic mask dance is a tradition that dates back at least 3-4 000 years, and is the oldest form of dramatic expression among the Inuit there.
IYG builds networks across geographical boundaries and the boundaries of artistic genres and the gathering ends with a performance by the participants based on the workshops they have attended. For Ms. Daley, her aim is now to work together with the organizers of the Riddu Riđđu Festival to bring the Indigenous Youth Gathering to Nunavut. She says that “this is a lifetime experience for indigenous youth and I loved watching their joy and cultural pride. And of course the Greenlandic mask dancing!”
Additional information
www.riddu.no
www.ltk.ca
Riddu Riddu's Flickr stream: www.flickr.com/photos/riddu/