Kunsten å vende hjem: Lars Hættas miniatyrduodji

Abstract

This article centres on Lars Hætta’s miniature duodji , made while Hætta was imprisoned at Akershus Fortress (1856–1867) and collected by the Ethnographic Museum in Christiania (Oslo). The collection demonstrates problematic issues concerning artefacts created and acquired in circumstances dominated by asymmetric power relations. While emphasising the importance of Hætta’s Sámi knowledge and the agency of the artefacts themselves, the article also sheds critical light on the difficult sociopolitical and historical background of the miniatures. In the context of the prison, the miniatures are interpreted as empowering tools, allowing Hætta to perform important memory-work.