Gifts from the Sentient Forest. Sámi Perspectives on Plants, Fungi, and Culture
August 14, 2024 / 3–5 p.m.
Helsinki Time
Online Seminar with contributions by Lone Beate Ebeltoft, Kyrre G. Franck and Åsa Andersson Martti
Organized by John Charles Ryan and Francis Joy
Indigenous people are bearers of different kinds of traditional knowledge that is only shared within the culture and personal knowledge that is shared among families and sometimes with people from outside. A great deal of this knowledge is sacred.
When Indigenous knowledge is shared, it can help change fixed ideas about other people and relationships with the natural world. This is why the Sámi have a long history of traditional knowledge expressed through art and oral traditions that is used for educational purposes. And the practice of sharing stories has many positive benefits in terms of supporting well-being, maintaining identity and preserving cultural memory.
Today, as Sámi traditions are revitalized, some people want to share their knowledge so that it might be given the recognition and value it deserves as an important resource, especially as climate change accelerates. Approaches such as Indigenous storytelling help us rethink and improve our relationships with forests and trees as well as the plant kingdom. Stories offer a sacred meeting place between peoples, cultures and worlds.
Lone Beate Ebeltoft will share how plants and fungi reinforce Sámi rituals and ceremonies. She will discuss the powers and healing properties of the fungi Amanita Muscaria and Chaga, her strongest allies along with her ancestors and local animal and nature spirit guides. Kyrre G. Franck will present his journey to meet the spirit of Chaga. Åsa Andersson Martti will offer insights into Mountain Angelica (Angelica archangelica) and the different ways to use it, especially as protection against unwanted surprises.
The free seminar will be offered as part of Gifts from the Sentient Forest with support from the Kone Foundation’s In the Woods funding programme. The project aims to understand how recognising the plant world of Northern Finland in contexts other than exploitation can illuminate the ways forests rejuvenate human-nature relationships and sustain the Earth.
To register, please send an email to sentientforestproject@gmail.com by Monday, August 12, 2024 at 5 p.m. Helsinki time.