115 years ago, more precisely in 1908, LKAB’s and Kiruna’s strongman Hjalmar Lundbohm is said to have taken a seite with him during a visit to a sacred Sami place.
Now the Talma Sami village wants back the object that was used by the Talma Sami in connection with annual migrations.
Has been stored at the Hjalmar Lundbohm farm
A representative from the Sami village wrote a letter to the government and LKAB a few weeks ago, requesting its return, reports the news agency Siren, something that LKAB views positively.
– Seiten has been stored at the Hjalmar Lundbohm farm which LKAB took over in 2015 from Kiruna municipality. We then packed everything up in 2016 and for several years the farm has been renovated and it was only last year that we opened it again and decided not to exhibit the site. Instead, we started an investigation and we didn’t have time to complete that process before Talma Samiby contacted us, which we saw positively, says Anders Lindberg, press manager at LKAB.
Had first meeting
At the Hjalmar Lundbohm farm, the intention is instead to have a memory of the seiten.
– We think that you might have a picture and a sign where you tell the story of the seiten, how it came to LKAB and what significance it has and how Sami culture was viewed at that time.
When can it be appropriate to return it?
– It is difficult to say right now, we have had a first meeting with the Sami village and are in dialogue with them, we will decide how and when it will be done, says Lindberg.