Kristina Katarina Larsdotter is buried today at Malå cemetery, 170 years after her death.
She is one of those who were exhumed and taken to southern Sweden for research, and for a long time it was believed that her remains burned up in a fire at the Karolinska Institute in 1892.
But against all odds parts of Kristina’s skeleton were found and Malå Sameby and the Malå Sami Association subsequently requested the repatriation of the remains and last autumn the government decided that the Karolinska Institute should meet them.
“A lot about economics”
– When she now comes home, she will receive a dignified return. But it is so difficult to know when faced with a task like this, who to turn to, which paths to take and how to finance, says Stefan Larsson from Malå Sameförening in this week’s 15 minutes from Sápmi and continues:
– It’s a lot about finances and it was a concern from the beginning how we would be able to afford this, but Karolinska has been helpful.
The Sámi Parliament has been criticized for not working actively with the issue.
– Finance is needed to carry out repatriations as quickly as the Sami public expects it to go, says Lars-Johan Johansson, board member of the Sami Parliament.
Have asked for money
Kristina Katarina Larsdotter is just one in a series of cases involving Sami remains that have been exhumed from their graves and used for research and since then stored at universities and the like around the country.
But earlier this year, the National Antiquities Authority submitted a report that will facilitate the return of Sami remains.
– It is a gratifying report, there is something that we can start from and we expect to have a central influence. We have also submitted to the government a claim for SEK 800,000 for a repatriation investigation, which we hope we will receive.
See this week’s 15 minutes from Sápmi on Saturday at 16:05 in SVT2. Or anytime on SVT Play.