Special issue title: The Sámi, the Resilient Indigenous People of the European Arctic: Celebrating 80 Years of Il Polo

This special issue stems from a field research expedition carried out in September 2024 across Sápmi, and northern Finland, on the occasion of the presentation of a volume of Il Polo at the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, in Rovaniemi. In addition to the presentation, a field research mission was conducted in Sápmi, the homeland areas of the Indigenous Sámi people. Thanks to the collaboration of researchers Francis Joy and Nuccio Mazzullo (University of Lapland and Arctic Centre) and Vesa Matteo Piludu (University of Helsinki), the research documented was concerned with both the values and importance of local sacred places, cultural practices, and contemporary forms of resilience linking the use of traditional heritage with the modern life of Sámi communities.
This special issue also coincides with a year of particular significance for the
“Silvio Zavatti” Polar Geographic Institute: in 2025, we celebrate both the
80th anniversary of the founding of Il Polo (Forlì, 1945) and the 40th anniversary
of the passing of its founder, Silvio Zavatti (1985).
Celebrating this double anniversary means not only paying tribute to a cultural
and scientific legacy of great value, but also renewing the Institute’s
commitment to promoting polar studies and intercultural dialogue in Italy
and internationally. Alongside its editorial activity, the Institute continues
with renewed momentum the interdisciplinary Charter of Arctic Peoples project.
Launched in 2002 and officially presented during the Fourth International
Polar Year (2007–2008), the first phase of this project was completed at the
end of that cycle. Among its main thematic areas are contemporary shamanism
and the role of art as a tool of intercultural mediation.
In parallel, the Institute continues to preserve the memory of the great Italian
polar explorations, with particular attention to Luigi Amedeo, Duke of
the Abruzzi (1873–1933), one of the foremost geographical explorers of his
time. On this occasion, the Institute has launched a new and wide-ranging
research and valorisation project, led and curated by Flavia Orsati, dedicated
to the Duke of the Abruzzi. This project explores his role not only in polar and
Himalayan expeditions, but also in his African ventures, as well as the cultural
and material heritage he left behind. After leading the Arctic expedition
of the Stella Polare (1899–1900), which reached the northernmost latitude
achieved at that time, and the historic K2 expedition (1909), the Duke also
6 undertook missions in East Africa, where he founded the Villaggio Duca degli
Abruzzi in Jowhar, Somalia. Today, the Polar Museum conserves essential artefacts from the Arctic expedition, donated by the Association Grande Nord
in Turin.
This special issue is entitled “Sámi, the Resilient Indigenous People of the European Arctic.” The title highlights the cultural significance of the Sámi, the
only officially recognised Indigenous people of Europe, who inhabit Sápmi
– a region encompassing northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola
Peninsula in the Russian Federation. The Sámi embody a remarkable example
of resilience: despite centuries of linguistic and cultural assimilation following
the colonisation of their lands and traditions by kingdoms, empires,
regimes, and states; the traumas of the two world wars; and today’s severe
impacts of climate change and global warming, the Sámi have managed to
recover and therefore, preserve much of their traditions, languages, and
ecological knowledge tied to fishing and reindeer herding. They have also established Sámi parliaments in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as vocational schools, radio stations, and news programs in various Sámi languages.
Contemporary arts and music have brought Sámi culture to global attention,
including participation in the Venice Biennale. Sámi museums are now actively
engaged in the process of repatriating and contextualising Sámi objects
once dispersed across Europe, reconnecting them with local communities.
Only fragments of the pre-Christian cosmology that underpinned shamanism
have survived. These can still be traced in the symbols and figures of
ancient rock art landscapes and in the painted depictions on sacred drums,
reflecting oral traditions and sacred narratives dating back to predominantly
to the 17th century. Several Sámi sacred places are being reactivated today
through contemporary offering practices, as individuals and groups recover,
revitalize and reclaim knowledge systems in the forms of traditions, beliefs,
and practices that were once banned. Today, ten Sámi languages are still spoken; some have been lost, while others survive in fragments across different regions.
The volume presents contributions addressing Sámi ontology and ritual traditions, the interpretation and contextualisation of Sámi artefacts in Italian
and Vatican Museum collections, contemporary Sámi art and photography,
as well as current debates on Indigenous rights, sustainability, and energy
justice. It also includes reflections on the 80th anniversary of Il Polo and the
relaunch of the Charter of Arctic Peoples project in preparation for the International Polar Year 2032–33. A photographic reportage by Valentina Tamborra, capturing hidden lives and remote landscapes, enriches the volume with a sharp and powerful gaze.
This issue brings together contributions from scholars and researchers affiliated
with prestigious academic and museum institutions, including the
University of Helsinki and the Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science 7
(HELSUS), the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland, the University of
Bologna, the “Museo delle Civiltà” (MUCIV) in Rome, the “Anima Mundi” Ethnological Museum of the Vatican Museums, the Italian Geographical Society,
and other Italian and international organisations engaged in safeguarding
cultural heritage, ensuring the sustainability of traditions, and studying Arctic
knowledge and practices.
This volume has been jointly curated by a group of Italian and international
scholars in a spirit of multidisciplinary collaboration that brings together scientific research, cultural heritage, and Indigenous knowledge.
Alongside myself, the curators are Flavia Orsati (art historian and editor of
Il Polo), Francis Joy (postdoctoral researcher, Arctic Anthropology Research
Team, University of Lapland Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi), Marco Volpe (Arctic
Centre, University of Lapland), Daniela Zanin (anthropologist, specialist in
the Americas), and Vesa Matteo Piludu (University of Helsinki).