Contents
Acknowledgments
She Was Taught How to Be Born
Our tents are small volcanoes
Rodda—Hard going (too little snow)
A Thousand Words for Snow
In the Age of Print
Seanas—The dry, large-grained, and water-holding snow at the deepest layers, closest to the ground surface, found in late winter and spring; it is easy for reindeer to dig through seanas
Beallgalmmas—Half-frozen
Cartography
Vuohttit—To observe and learn from tracks 15 Drawing Blanks
Jolas—Tracks made in the snow by reindeer, dogs, or wolves, which have gone in a row
Njáhcu—Thaw
Moarri—Thin ice crust that breaks and cuts the hoofs of horses and reindeers
Mapping the Drum
Exhibit 422: The Shaman’s Drum
Jasa—Patch of snow in summer or late spring
Spildi—Very thin layer of ice on water or milk
Likewise Great Observers of Omens
Oppas—Tracks
Suovdnji—Hole in the snow where ptarmigan hide; grazing hole dug by reindeer; hole dug by humans when melting snow or to shelter from a storm
Ulahat—Almost unrecognizable winter way or track covered by drifted snow
Stolen by Colonizers: Google Search for Our Sámi Drums
Skoavdi—Empty space between snow and the ground
Soatma—Ice-slush or snow-slush on the water of a river or a lake
The Fire Tender
Goahpálat—The kind of snowstorm in which the snow falls thickly and sticks to things
Drum Jingle
Unravel the Wind
Unleash
Joavgat—When falling snow is driven along by the wind
Transgenerationalmigrationallinguisticalgenocidalinaudible historicalvernacular
Fáskka—Snow blown by the wind into an embankment
Jođáhat—Tracks in the snow left by a migrating reindeer herd
Veađahat—Place where snow has been blown away; (nearly) bare patch
Baahke—Snow blowing in the wind in warm weather
Joavgama—Deep snow lying undisturbed and does not get blown away (in a place there is shelter from the wind like in a forest) 51 Sonnet for Migrations
Guoldu—Cloud of snow blowing up from the ground when there is a hard frost without very much wind
Muohtaborga—Cloud or spray of snow, either falling or whirled up from the ground by a strong wind
Traveling to the Sun
Doali—Road or track covered by snow, but still distinguishable
Oavlluš—Depression or hollow with slushy snow in it, on land or on ice
Skávvi—Crust of ice on snow, formed in the evening after the sun has thawed the top of the snow during the day
Earpmi—A little snowfall where the snowflakes are very small
How to say IT
Vuožži—Wet bare ice
Our skulls are filled with suns
Loanjis—Tracks of the whole herd of reindeer
Check the Box
Gaska-geardi—Layer of crust
Write like a Sámi
Ukiuq—Become winter
A Dark Imagining
All the Sámi Findings
Bulltje—Large lumps of snow that stick to a house
Imagine not knowing if you’re a man or a reindeer
Njeađgga—Ground drift: drifting snow blown up from the ground, covering roads or tracks
White Reindeer’s Skull Is the Sky
Siivu—The going; the state of the ground for traveling, the travel conditions
Anthroapology
Observant
Šalka—Firm, hard, winter way; hard-trodden snow on yard, a marked-place
Roavku—Portion of water (river, lake, marsh) or frozen bank, waterside (near a spring), where the ice has formed in such a way that there is a hollow space under the top layer
Google Saami
Čuohki—Ice sheet formed by rain on open ground that subsequently freezes; this causes the worst grazing as the reindeer are unable to dig down to the lichen
The Tent Wall Still Breathes
Boara—During spring when the ice melts on a river and ice-slush is gushing out
Ainnádat—When snow has covered the (ski/animal) tracks but they are still slightly visible
Observations of the Lapp Jaw
Ritni—Rime on trees and other things (thick)
Lavki—Slippery going; ice covered with loose, dry snow with no foothold
Survival Skills
Bihci—Rime (frost)
Srevlla—The state of things where the spring snow is so soft that one sinks into it
Šlahta—Rainy, wet snow or sleet
Gavdda—Thin ice, bay (or young) ice
Across the Drum Skin
To Be Found Due to Tracks
Remedy for Assimilation
Notes