Introduction

With a focus on the Norwegian part of Sápmi, this book presents case studies and theoretical frameworks aimed at exploring the ways in which memory institutions such as museums, archives, biennales, and festivals participate in and guide processes of appropriation, decolonization, and memory-making. Considering the proliferation of cultural interventions and the growth of Sámi mobilization, which calls into question assumptions about how best to activate and experience Sámi cultural heritage and what constitutes appropriate stewardship, this book sheds light on initiatives to return artefacts to the Sámi community. With particular attention to the ways in which Sámi self-determination and the shifting boundaries between Indigenous and settler identities are articulated, challenged, and renegotiated, it draws on approaches from critical museology and Indigenous methodologies to explore the initiation, experience, and operationalizing of restitution projects.