Let the River Flow
An Eco-Indigenous Uprising and Its Legacies in Art and Politics Published by Valiz/OCA.
Edited by Gunvor Guttorm, Harald Gaski, Katya García-Antón, Liv Brissach. Text by Ivar Bjørklund, Beaska Niillas, Synnøve Persen, Matti Aikio, Katarina Pirak Sikku, Aslak Holmberg, Eva Marie Fjellheim, Rauna Kuokkonen, Wanda Nanibush, Mari Boine, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, Sofia Jannok, Magne Ove Varsi, Crystal McKinnon, HolyElk Lafferty, Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska. On an exemplary case of Indigenous and non-Indigenous conflict and its legacies The People’s Action against the Nordic Áltá-Guovdageaidnu Waterway (c. 1978-82) radically shook the course of history in the region. Its call to “let the river live” clamored against the construction of a large dam across the Alltáeatnu river in Norway. The action grew to an unexpectedly broad movement of solidarity across civil society—Sámi and Norwegian, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples internationally—in which Sámi artists played a pivotal role.
Let the River Flow takes this eco-Indigenous rebellion, the first in Europe and inspirational worldwide, to reflect on events at the time and their correlations with international artists’ eco actions today. It is conceived as a reader, and addresses innovations in political organizing, new influences of Indigenous thinking on contemporary politics and the centrality of artists within the constellation of these activities. It also considers other Indigenous artists’ protests that happened in parallel to the actions mentioned.
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