ABSTRACT
Indigenous peoples are an important priority to us, and the fusion of culture and indigenous peoples that we see at Isogaisa is simply unique. Isogaisa focuses on a very important part of the indigenous culture which otherwise is not very visible outside of small forums; namely the spiritual part, which at Isogaisa unfolds on indigenous peoples’ premises. Michael Harner visited indigenous areas during the 1980s and 1990s, in search of living shaman traditions, or traces thereof. He notes of his explorations in Sápmi that drums had gone out of practice, but that there were signs of a revival, due partly to the work of his centre and its students, one of whom was a Sámi. The Harner tradition positions shamanism as the heritage of all peoples, and tends to favour indigenous peoples but alongside a broader category of indigenous ancestors. Sámi spirituality is sometimes connected to a broader category of ‘indigenous spirituality’.
