#18: Living with Sami Reindeer Herders – with Erika Larsen

Unfolding Maps

Sitting in a snow-covered tent, surrounded by a pretty harsh environment where no horizon can be seen, in the arctic circle. Cooking with reindeer blood and learning the fascinating Sami language.

Photographer Erika Larsen experienced all this when she lived with the Sami people in Scandinavia for a total of four years. She had been looking for people who lived in unity with nature and were able to interpret “their” landscapes for the rest of the world. Erika was able to gain unprecedented access into the lives, work and culture of the Sami community.

Her monograph ‘Sami-Walking with Reindeer’, a reflection of her time living in the Scandinavian Arctic, was published in 2013.

Erikas work has been shown all over the world, for instance in the National Geographic magazine, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington and the United States Embassy in Oslo. In 2020 she was the Eliza Scidmore Award recipient for immersive storytelling.

What did she learn about Sami culture? And what does the oldest tradition in the world - storytelling - mean to her? That's what she talks about in this episode.

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