Sofia Jannok, als u haar verhaal beluistert zult u haar horen zeggen dat haar volk overweldigd werd door “de witte mensen”. Dit is nu eens een illustratie van wat “wit” wil zeggen – zij is zelf hoogblond, blauwe ogen, blosje op de wangen. Wit is de koloniaal, de Noor, de Zweed, de Fin, de Rus die even met zijn (!) wet in de hand komt zeggen dat jouw land jouw land niet is, want waar zijn de eigendomspapieren? Zo ging het vijf eeuwen geleden, zo gaat het nog. Overal ter wereld.
Waarschijnlijk is “Wij zijn er nog steeds” een betere vertaling van de Engelse titel We are still here, maar gezien de context leek mij de gekozen zin ook zeer gepast.
Samische eurohouse.
Intro translated (Excerpts from the State Attorney’s intervention during the hearing in the court case between the Sámi reindeer herding community Girjas – from whence Sofia Jannok’s grandmother came – and the Swedish State. Gällivare Lapland District Court, June, 2015.):
“From the onset on, it is of importance to state that:
The Sámi have not been subjected to discrimination by the State.”
”The question then is what is meant by the concept of ethnicity, if it is to be claimed that the Sámi is an ethnic group.
And then it becomes clear that ethnicity as a concept is a highly debated one.”
”The ethnic aspect has been of no relevance from a historic point of view, when a distinction was made between nomads, in other words Lapps, and settlers.”
“[…] The entire archaeological evidence put forward by the Sámi reindeer herding community is of no relevance to the case in question.”
”The State consistently disputes the claim that the Sámi have been present in the area on a large scale basis […] before the 17th century.”
Sung by Sofia Jannok:
Kill the bison, dig out the reindeer’s land
Gold and iron, blood on greedy hands
Drown the lávvu, burn the tipi down
We raise new ones, survivors we are now
We are still here, we are still here
We are still here, we are still here
100 years back in the USA
Killed my sisters, cut their breasts away
In Peru my brothers always stayed
Shot down at home, but this was yesterday
We are still here, we are still here
We are still here, we are still here
Steal our mother, thieves are not to blame
That’s when laws are written by the same
We are still here, we are still here
We are still here, we are still here
Uitgelichte afbeelding: de zangeres met de eeuwenlang door de kolonialen verboden trommel.
Door Benoît Derrier – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3055153
