The Story Behind Reindeer Island Hammerfest
Some visitors ask deeper questions.
This page exists to explain the reality behind the tradition you meet at Reindeer Island Hammerfest — a reality shaped by family, law, art, and lived experience.
This background is not part of the tour program.
It is shared to create understanding.
A Living Livelihood Under Modern Limits
For generations, reindeer herding in Sámi areas has been a living livelihood — not only a culture, but daily work tied to land, seasons, and animals.
In recent decades, modern regulations and herd limits have changed what is possible. For many reindeer herders, these limits decide whether reindeer herding can continue as a livelihood at all.
This reality has directly shaped my family.
The Court Case
My brother, Jovsset Ánte Sara, was a young reindeer herder when Norwegian authorities decided that his herd had to be reduced to 75 reindeer.
For a reindeer herder, this number is far too low to sustain a traditional livelihood. It marks the point where reindeer herding can no longer provide a living from the land.
Jovsset chose to challenge this decision through the legal system.
Over several years, the case moved through the Norwegian courts. He won both in the District Court and the Court of Appeal, where the courts acknowledged that the forced reduction would make continued reindeer herding impossible. The decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court of Norway.
After all national legal options were exhausted, the case was brought before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which concluded that Norway had violated Jovsset Ánte Sara’s cultural rights under international human rights law.
The case became internationally known because it showed, in practice, how modern regulation affects Indigenous livelihoods.
Art Beside the Courtroom – Pile o’Sápmi
While the legal case unfolded, my sister, Máret Ánne Sara, followed the process closely as an artist and family member.
Instead of responding through political debate or legal argument, she responded through art.
During the first court hearings in Tana in 2016, she created the artwork Pile o’Sápmi and placed it outside the courthouse.
The installation was made from reindeer skulls taken from slaughtered animals, forming a physical and unavoidable presence alongside the legal proceedings.
As the case moved forward, her art followed it.
Works connected to Pile o’Sápmi were presented in connection with hearings in Tromsø, and later in Oslo, when the case reached the Supreme Court of Norway.
The artwork evolved alongside the legal process, giving form to what legal documents cannot show — the emotional weight, the loss, and the lived consequences behind administrative decisions.
From Courtroom to Museum
Pile o’Sápmi became a defining work in Máret Ánne Sara’s artistic practice and played a key role in establishing her as a contemporary Sámi artist.
Today, a major version of the work — Pile o’Sápmi Supreme — is permanently displayed in the main entrance hall of the National Museum in Oslo, where it meets thousands of visitors every day.
Following the recognition of this work, Máret Ánne Sara’s broader artistic practice has been invited to some of the world’s most important contemporary art institutions, including:
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documenta 14 (2017)
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The Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2022)
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Tate Modern, London – Hyundai Commission (2022)
At these exhibitions, she presented other works, continuing to explore Sámi knowledge, land, materials, and law through contemporary art.
The Generation Before Us
Before court cases, museums, and tourism, there were my parents.
My father spent his entire life working with reindeer in Hammerfest. He belongs to the last generation of Sámi reindeer herders who were born in a gámme — a traditional Sámi turf hut.
My grandfather used to tell how, on the night my father was born, he had to stay awake outside in 30–40 degrees below zero, chopping firewood through the night so that his wife and newborn child could stay warm.
This was not a heroic story. It was simply everyday life.
My father also became part of another reality shared by many Sámi children of his generation.
He was sent to boarding school, separated from family, language, and home — something that was common during the period of forced assimilation. Like many, he carried this experience quietly and returned to the land as soon as he could. Reindeer herding became his life’s work.
My mother grew up as the eldest of nine siblings.
While my father followed the reindeer across the land, she became the one who held everyday life together — caring for the children, the home, and the continuity of family.
She is the academic voice in our family and has always had a deep interest in Sámi history.
From the time we were children, she made sure we learned where we come from — not only through stories, but through understanding.
Much of what is shared during our tours today is shaped by that upbringing: a combination of lived experience on the land and historical knowledge passed on at home.
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Different Paths, Shared Reality
My brother and sister are not part of the daily operation of Reindeer Island Hammerfest.
Each of us chose different ways of responding to the same reality:
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One through the legal system
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One through art
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One through remaining on the land
I chose to stay in Hammerfest, care for the reindeer that are still allowed here, and continue the tradition through everyday life and tourism.
Why This Matters When You Visit
When you visit Reindeer Island Hammerfest, you meet reindeer herding as it exists today — shaped by history, adaptation, and continuity.
This background is shared to explain why things look the way they do.
