Sami author Annica Wennström’s novel Lappskatteland (2007) tells the entwined stories of the Sami girl Njenna in mid-nineteenth century Sábme and her descendant, an unnamed young woman in present-day Northern Sweden. After having been raped by a Swedish settler, Njenna leaves her family behind. Over the years, Njenna, her children and grandchildren subsequently attempt to overcome the stigma of Sami belonging by assimilating into Swedish culture. While this offers them protection, the denial of Sami identity also creates sorrow and shame, passed down over generations. In an attempt to overcome such feelings, her great-granddaughter begins a search for her hidden Sami family history. As such, Lappskatteland is a narrative about Swedish colonial trajectories and its consequences on an intimate and emotional level but also a story about intra-generational trauma and healing. This paper is a personal reading of the novel through a decolonial and Indigenous feminist lens. In dialogue with the novel it explores colonial divisions of the Sami in Sweden, “inherited sorrow” (Pirak Sikku 2014), and Sami identity and belonging.

Ina Knobblock is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Gender Studies, Lund University, currently active at Vaartoe – Centre for Sami research, Umeå University. Through conversations with Sami feminists, with the aim of learning and sharing feminist analyses and experiences, she explores Sami- and Indigenous feminist contributions to feminist theory with a particular interest in issues of decolonisation, self-determination, gender and Indigeneity.

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