Project Plan
Contents and goals
Youth is documenting together with a project worker their everyday life; how it is to be a young city sámi today in Finland. Six youth are participating, three girls and three boys between 14-18 years old from different parts of Finland: Tampere, Oulu, Haukipudas and Kerava.
In Finland we are documenting how it is to be a "city sámi" youth from a point of youth´s view. How it is to live between two cultures. How the sámi heritage chances when lives in the city, and how do the youth understand sámi culture. Is their identity more sámi or finish, of what elements their identity is formed up, where goes the line of being sámi.
The youth shall document their life´s by video. Everyone is making a video document of their life that is their main task in the project. Museum have handed them equipments (video camera, laptop with editing software, headphone and a statif) which youth can keep after finishing working in the project. They also have other smaller assignments given by museum. All assignments are going to be part of the museum´s archives when the project is finished.
Project worker makes video interviews with each youth and is documenting their participation to sámi gatherings and youth conferences by video and photograps. In the interviews is brought up the chance in the youths way of thinking from the beginning of the project until the end, does their idea of their sámi identity and sámi land abroad during the project.
Youth work indepentendly from their homes, and there are no schools involved. Their working is mentored regularly by a project worker by visiting them, and also by e-mail and phone. She is giving assistance and guidance in technical and content issues, as well as motivating the youth. Project worker also gives them teaching of filming and editing in work shops and individual meetings.
Youth´s assignments
* Individual project plan
* Script for a video
* Video document of their life (main assaingment)
* Home album - scratch book that includes a family tree, photos, text etc.
* Selfportrait - questionnaire
* Writing a blog
Other activities
* Youth conference in Unjárga, No
* Youth conference in Jokkmokk, Swe
* Video filming and editing workshop in Oulu, Fi
* Video interviews for museum
* Several individual meetings with project worker
- Petra at Várjjat Sámi museum
Petra's film is of her life. She is filming her life on a boarding school during a weeks and on a weekends at home. She has also filmed her trip to Milan, Italy during a Christmas holiday. On a winter holiday she'll film her skiin trips in Inari/Ánar.
- Ola Singstar at the youth club in Unjárga
Ola is doing his film as a part of his school work. With his film he want's to chance people's misleading ideas of Sámi culture like sámi people don't live in Laavu or ride to local grocery by a reindeer etc. He is filming he´s own life and "interviewing" himsefl to the camera concerning the most important themes of his everyday life.
- Heija at Várjjat Sámi museum
Heija is making a video document of his snowboarding hobby. He is filming a snowboarding trip to skiing center in Lapland with his brother Ola. They did together video of a Reindeer sprint at Poroferia festival.
- Sunna at Várjjat Sámi museum
Sunna is making her film under name "My everyday life". Her document is about her life during a one year period. She tell's in a film of her family, how they live, her hobbies and interests. She's also filming her summer in Utsjoki/Ohcejohka with her sámi relatives. Instead of using her own voice she will use text clips for expressing her thoughts. She will work in the project until the end of july.
- Finishing a selfportrait assingment at Kerava trainstation.
- Learning to edit video.
Salla is making her film under a video diary theme. She has filmed her travel to Lapland where she visited at her Kolt Sámi grandmother in Ivalo/Avvil. She is also filming her gymnastic hobby, competition trip to Estonia, vacation with his father in London and life in Kerava. She is mixing video diary material to travel and every day life material.
- Mihkal editing at workshop in Oulu
Mihkal´s document is contrasting he's life to her grandmothers life form when she was a young. Also the film is paralling today's livelinghood in a isolated small lapland village to one of the biggest cities in Finland.
He is combining in document his summer in Lapland at Kuttura/Guhtur to his everyday life in Tampere. In Kuttura he is spending the whole summer with his àhkku. Before summer he is filming life in Tampere and interviewing he's father. He also show´s what are the source of livelihoods people have in Kuttura area and how those are different from the occupations in cities in southern Finland.
Mihkal is working on a project until the end of july.
Text & Photos: Terhi Silenius / Project worker