Kristina Katarina Larsdotter, popularly known as “Big Stina”, died 170 years ago.
But she was then exhumed and brought 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, her skeleton was found and the remains were returned to Malå cemetery on Saturday.
– The most important thing about this day is that a fellow human being can come home and be restored to peace. But it is also a big day for Malå, for the Sami in Malå and the Sami community in general, says Samuel Hellgren, diocesan assistant professor for Sami church life in Luleå diocese.
“A great day”
Stefan Larsson from the Malå Sami Association says that it has been a long process.
– There have been years of preparation, and there is no manual on how a return to this dignity is done, so we have to hope that we do it right, he says.
It will be a day full of emotions of all kinds.
– It’s a big day, it’s hard to put the feelings into words, there will be both joy and sadness. The watchword from the beginning for us has been that it should be reverent.