Ahkat – MotherEarth / The Hidden
The story of a people we are risking to lose
Áhkát: in the ancient Sami religions are “The mothers”
Goddesses of the nature, nature – that at extreme borders of the world – rules everything
Magic and reality
Spirituality and traditions
Earth mother of a boundless people
Mother earth of a migrant people
Between Tromsø and North Cape runs an icy “route 66”.
It’s the way to reach the northermost part of Norway: the Finnmark.
Forests, lakes, fjords, mountains: a breathtaking scenario that forces you to stop several times to deeply breathe its beauty.
But there is a point of passage, a border, a non-perceived frontier.
It’s the Manndalen Valley: a place where the Sea Sami live.
A land rich in history, tradition, magic.
From here, a hidden path through the forest, climbing more and more to get there, where the land touches the sky and seems like the moon: the Tundra, where the nomadic herders live and dedicate themselves to the reindeers from thousands of years.
Golden Eagles, arctic foxes, reindeers and overthere, close to the horizon, some cabins, a fence and few humans.
Sea Sami and Reindeer Sami: “Urfolk” – The ancient people.
Divided by a four-state border (Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia) they live in a wide area called “Sápmi”.
It’s through the tundra the way to Kautokeino and Karasjok: Sami cultural Capital the former, where over 90% of the population speaks the Sami language, seat of the Sami Parliament the latter.
Between fjords and tundra, endless nights and days when the sun never sets, we’ll tell about traditions, history, culture and habits of a people that preserves the ancient knowledge without refusing the future. We’ll tell of free grazing reindeer and of an App which tracks their movements, of snowmobiles and ATVs riding in the tundra following the herd and that adapts to their rhythms and lives, of traditional dresses (Gakti) that, even if used by the youth just on certain occasions, remain the everyday dress for the elders. Enchanted landscapes and wild nature, a pace in between reality and fairy tales, to tell of an ancient and charming people.
