6 Tourism’s connection to crafts, art and design in Sápmi
6.1 How to develop a Sámi-rooted sustainable business model?
It is particularly interesting that the ongoing tourism development work seeks to preserve the “sharing culture and knowledge” which is an important principle within traditional knowledge and ensures that knowledge and culture are considered “common property”. Many of the participants in the conference emphasised the importance of maintaining these considerations in their innovation and product development. This work will not only benefit Sámi tourism companies but also have transferable value to creative industries and future tourism development in the long term.
Actors from tourism and from the arts and creative industries have long recognised that they share many common reference points. Despite this, it has proven challenging to connect these two knowledge areas. There are several reasons for this. Importantly, these two interconnected fields have different institutional frameworks of tools, requirements, and evaluation methods. For example, in Norway tourism is managed by Innovation Norway, while culture and cultural production are managed by the Arts Council Norway. These two institutions have different funding guidelines and criteria for measuring success.
The Arts Council Norway has a range of discipline-specific calls and professional committees with their own criteria within music, visual arts, literature, performing arts, museums and cultural heritage, venue development, creative industries, etc. These two areas primarily differ in their value systems—they assess quality and success differently, and their budgetary guidelines differ both at the national level and within the constraints of the European Economic Area regulations regarding which activities can be supported. It is evident how market values are central to the company and its products under development. Other values and collective societal considerations, which are important to many of the Sámi creative industry actors and tourism businesses and the community-building work they do on behalf of the Sámi population, are not visible.
Efforts should be made to ensure that business programmes targeting Sámi experience-based businesses and creative industries can integrate and model their programmes based on Sámi values and practices as they exist today. This will be a comprehensive task but also necessary for innovation and business establishment to occur on behalf of the Sámi community, where tourism can further develop into a stronger integrity as a learning and reconciliation arena.
6.2 The way forward
Innovation is about developing something valuable for both the entrepreneur and the customer. This is especially important in the Sámi context. This involves viewing tourism and creative industries as a potential arena for the creative use of Sámi knowledge traditions. Knowledge is at the heart of innovation. This means that it will be important for innovation and product development in Sámi tourism and creative industries to be based on Sámi values, narratives, and landscapes rather than “the other’s gaze” or what is believed the market expects. It is also important that national programmes adjust their expectations to ensure that such orientations form the foundation for product and market thinking.
In the Sámi community, the concept of “birgen” – the ability to manage and sustain oneself – remains a central value in most practices. This is clearly reflected in how people harvest berries, fish, and hunt. New generations learn through stories and narratives, and they learn from their elders to take only what they need – no more. Sustainable management is realised through this ongoing transmission of knowledge. Respect for nature, rivers, fish, and animals is embedded in the worldview that sustains Sámi culture. There are numerous practices and rituals, stories, and narratives that make Sámi values, practices, and worldviews present in everyday Sámi life. These are concrete actions where the human perspective on connections and the reciprocity of these relationships should be acknowledged, as well as the respectful, knowledge-based relationships.
This requires, as Tore Johnsen (2022) argues, the establishment of a harmonious relationship with the invisible and not-so-obvious aspects of existence. He documents the Sámi practices of jearrat lobi – asking for permission – and ráfi sihtat – seeking peace – as fundamental relational and cosmological principles.
National investments, including those by the Sámi Parliaments, in creative industries must establish meaningful links between cultural heritage, artistic expression, duodji, and business activities. These investments must account for the preparatory work and research required to create tourist objects, experiences and stories that are meaningful to the Sámi community and uphold their values.
Certain aspects of the Sámi relationship with their culture and community are too valuable to be sacrificed for the sake of market appeal. At the same time, Sámi artists and tourism entrepreneurs recognise that launching and sustaining their businesses require navigating formalised financial systems, which often demand compromises and adjustments.
As an example of an innovation that connects Indigenous crafts and ecological concerns, one presentation at the Indigenous Tourism Research Symposium which was part of the EITC 2025 conference suggested that tourists could make their own sustainable souvenirs by learning local handicraft techniques from local guides and using as material, for example, plastic junk that can be found on the sea shore in the visited place:
Connecting culture, land and nature: reimaging a new model of Northern tourism program
Traditionally, tour operators deliver education via the tourism platform. However, the sensitivity of the Arctic environment and the speed with which it is changing dictates that northern universities should become involved in Indigenous knowledge transfer, raising public awareness of climate change, and encouraging stewardship of the Arctic. Tourism including art and science is a possible mechanism for this effort. Developing a model for sustainable tourism should include: (1) indigenous ways of living, (2) citizen-engaged environmental observation, (3) place-based sustainable art, and (4) professional development of outdoor recreation and leadership. This concept is focused on knowledge co-production to provide tourism “packages” that raise awareness of the changing Arctic and encourage stewardship behaviour on the part of participants. Interdisciplinary solutions are needed to increase knowledge and engagement concerning sustainable tourism in the Arctic. This presentation provided a background of the framework and the design process to create a place-based sustainable souvenir (art) that brings visitors closer to places through positive memories. The major contribution was to instigate a new conversation linking Indigenous knowledge, connecting visitors to the land, and highlighting hands-on participatory experience through storytelling, and souvenir-making using sustainable materials. A creative approach provides a deeper connection and meaning to the experience.Herminia Din, Professor Emerita, University of Alaska Anchorage, USA
Complementary Perspective on Sales: Decolonising Trade and Value Chain
As well as the reflections presented in this report, the EITC 2025 conference highlighted sales as a central issue linked to ownership, storytelling, and cultural representation. It has been emphasised that Indigenous peoples should have control over how their culture is represented and offered on a tourism market. Hence certifications become a tool to safeguard authenticity and trust. Ann-Kristine Vinka proposes a complementary perspective that focuses on trade and the value chain, and in this way adopts a broader view of trade as a system that should be decolonised and Indigenised:
Why is this perspective needed?
Tourism has historically functioned as a colonial structure – not only through narratives but also through economic systems. Today, tourism operates as a commodity within a global network of production, logistics, marketing, and sales. The discussion on decolonisation often focuses on narratives and ownership but overlooks that we are part of a larger trade structure.We mostly talk about sales but forget that we are part of national and international trade. Trade is the overarching system for the exchange of goods and services, including production, logistics, marketing, and sales. Sales are only the actual transaction where our services are transferred for payment. Distribution concerns how our services are delivered to resellers or end customers.Simply taking over sales and distribution from the majority society without changing the methods risks reproducing the same colonial logic. The current value chain is built for the needs and annual cycle of traditional tourism – not for Indigenous values or ecological conditions.The trade and value chain perspective can contribute to a systemic shift.What needs to be done?
We need to build an entirely new value chain for Indigenous tourism – where trade is included in a broader perspective than just sales and distribution. Together, we need to ensure that Indigenous resources are seen as sacred and worthy of protection, not exploitable. We need to contribute to a systemic shift where trade is not just an economic flow but primarily a protective mechanism where every step in the value chain strengthens nature, culture, and self-determination.Together, we need to transform trade from a colonial legacy into a regenerative system that strengthens nature, culture, and Indigenous self-determination.This can serve as a basis for research and for follow-up actions related to Indigenous tourism.Ann-Kristine Vinka, Coordinator and Executive Director, Biosphere Reserve Vindelälven-Juhhtátahkka, Sweden
6.3 The role of traditional knowledge and decolonial practices
As Finbog (2023) argues, duojárs (Sámi artisans) engage in a symbolic repatriation process, reclaiming both the material objects they create and the árbediehtu (traditional knowledge) embedded in their craftsmanship. Sámi designers operate in a complex space, balancing institutional frameworks with local knowledge and community expectations. This dynamic requires them to mediate and integrate diverse perspectives throughout their creative and research processes.
National political institutions, programmes, and funding bodies must recognise the multifaceted responsibilities of Sámi artists. The knowledge they need is not always readily accessible, largely due to the legacy of colonialism. These artists work not only for their own benefit but also for the future of Sámi society. The loss of local knowledge, coupled with the absence of traditional knowledge holders in some communities, has created an urgent need to cultivate creative spaces. These spaces would provide opportunities for the next generation to find inspiration and collaborate across cultural and artistic boundaries as well as with Sámi tourism entrepreneurs.
Sámi artists aspire to delve deeper into Sámi worldviews and ontologies, reclaiming their relationships with landscapes, memories, stories, and ancestral knowledge. Despite the significant losses caused by colonialism, many are actively engaging in decolonial practices to restore and preserve their cultural heritage.
6.4 Decolonial aesthetics and Indigenous sovereignty
Escobar (2007) highlights how decolonial aesthetics disrupt coloniality’s reliance on hyper-individualism, instead fostering shared artistic processes that imagine “worlds otherwise.” This approach creates new, radical subjectivities rooted in Indigenous survival and resurgence, mirroring the efforts of other communities engaged in decolonial struggles. A recent example of this movement is the establishment of NANU Sámi Art International, an Indigenous-led export office created through collaboration between the Sámi Artist Network (Dáiddadállu) and the Sámi Indigenous festival Riddu Riđđu in Norway. This initiative represents a significant step toward Indigenous sovereignty – a concept of self-determination that predates colonial states and is essential for upholding Indigenous rights and ensuring their cultural and physical survival. Sovereignty encompasses jurisdiction over lands, resources, and cultural practices.
During the opening of artist Máret Ánne Sára’s Hyundai Commission at the Tate Modern, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality announced its support for NANU, providing start-up funding of one million NOK. This initiative is envisioned as a pathway for Sámi tourism providers, storytellers, and knowledge holders to engage within commercial frameworks while preserving their cultural integrity.
