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Book Chapter

Colonial Struggle and the Infrastructures of Knowing: A Story from Sápmi

By

Liv Østmo

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;

Johan Henrik M. Buljo

Johan Henrik M. Buljo

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;

Line Kalak

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;

John Law

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Doi:

https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478060772-006

Published:

June 2025

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

The lodden is a duck hunt central to the practice of many indigenous Sámi people that has been controversially squeezed to near extinction by the Norwegian state. This chapter explores the lodden as a knowledge practice and contrasts this with those of the state and its science. It argues that all forms of knowledge depend on specific infrastructures of knowing because they draw on, weave together, and reproduce heterogenous epistemic, embodied, material, social, economic, and metaphysical infrastructural resources. The chapter contrasts the infrastructures of knowing of the lodden with those of a major Sámi-authored report written in support of the hunt. It shows that this report draws on and reproduces quite different state-relevant infrastructures of knowing. These tactics are necessary but imply a paradox because its arguments for epistemic decentering and political decentralizing also reproduce the centered and centralized infrastructures of state knowing and state power that it is seeking to resist.

knowledge practices, infrastructures of knowing, infrastructure of state knowing, sociopolitical resistance

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Norway Court Rules Two Windfarms Harming Sami Reindeer Herders

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Associated Press

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Sami Artist Protests Norwegian Reindeer Cull with Unique Public Art Piece

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Sjaastad

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Mikkel Nils

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Misreading the Arctic Landscape: A Political Ecology of Reindeer, Carrying Capacities, and Overstocking in Finnmark, Norway

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Journal of Geography

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On Justification: Economies of Worth

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Princeton, NJ

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Briggs

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Science, Local Knowledge and Exclusionary Practices: Lessons from the Alta Dam Case

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Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift—Norwegian Journal of Geography

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2

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The Finnmark Estate: Dilution of Indigenous Rights or a Robust Compromise?” Northern Review

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Solveig

Joks

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The Infrastructures of Knowing

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Aboriginalizing Methodology: Considering the Canoe

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The Sámi: 25 Years of Indigenous Authority in Norway

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Árbediehtu (Sami Traditional Knowledge)—as a Concept and in Practice

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Working with Traditional Knowledge: Communities, Institutions, Information Systems, Law and Ethics

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Jelena

Porsanger

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Gunvor

Guttorm

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59

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Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino

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Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective

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The Temporality of the Landscape

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Joks

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Solveig

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2015

. “

‘Laksen trenger ro’: Tilnærming til tradisjonelle kunnskaper gjennom praksiser, begreper og fortellinger fra Sirbmá-området

” [“The salmon needs peace”: Approaching traditional knowledge through practices, concepts and stories from the Sirbmá area]. PhD diss.,

Tromsø UiT, Norges Arktiske Universitet

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Joks

,

Solveig

,

Liv

Østmo

, and

John

Law

.

2020

. “

Verbing meahcci: Living Sámi Lands

.” In “On Other Terms: Interfering in Social Science English,” edited by

Annemarie

Mol

and

John

Law

, special issue, Sociological Review

68

(

2

):

305

–

21

.

Kalak

,

Line Aimee

, and

Bjarne

Johansen

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2020

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Tradisjonell kunnskap og forvaltning av sjølaksefisket, Dieðut

.

Guovdageaidnu

:

Sámi Allaskuvla

.

Latour

,

Bruno

.

1990

. “

Drawing Things Together

.” In

Representation in Scientific Practice

, edited by

Michael

Lynch

and

Steve

Woolgar

,

19

–

68

.

Cambridge, MA

:

MIT Press

.

Law

,

John

.

2004

.

After Method: Mess in Social Science Research

.

London

:

Routledge

.

Law

,

John

.

2011

. “

Collateral Realities

.” In

The Politics of Knowledge

, edited by

Fernando

Domínguez

Rubio and

Patrick

Baert

,

156

–

178

.

London

:

Routledge

.

Lehtola

,

Veli-Pekka

.

2004

[1997].

The Sámi People: Traditions in Transition

.

Fairbanks

:

University of Alaska Press

.

Lehtola

,

Veli-Pekka

.

2018

. “

Evasive Strategies of Defiance—Everyday Resistance Histories among the Sámi

.” In

Knowing from the Indigenous North: Sámi Approaches to History, Politics and Belonging

, edited by

Thomas Hylland

Eriksen

,

Sanna

Valkonen

, and

Jarno

Valkonen

,

29

–

46

.

Abingdon

:

Routledge

.

Loddenutvalget

.

2021

.

Lodden—en samisk kulturbærende sedvane: En utredning om lodden i Guovdageaidnu

.

Guovdageaidnu

:

Guovdageainnu suohkan/Kautokeino kommune

.

Lovdata

.

2023

. “

Forskrift om lodden (vårjakt på ender) fra og med 1. mai 2023–6. juni 2028, Kautokeino kommune, Troms og Finnmark

” [Regulation on the lodden (spring duck hunting) from and including 1 May 2023–6 June 2028, Kautokeino municipality, Troms and Finnmark]. Lovdata, accessed

April

29

. https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/2023-04-04-483.

Magga

,

Ole Henrik

,

Nils

Oskal

, and

Mikkel

Nils Sara

.

2002

.

Animal Welfare in Sámi Culture

.

Guovdageaidnu

:

Sámi Allaskuvla

.

Mazzullo

,

Nuccio

, and

Tim

Ingold

.

2008

. “

Being Along: Place, Time and Movement among Sámi People

.” In

Mobility and Place: Enacting Northern European Peripheries

, edited by

Jørgen

Ole Bærenholdt

and

Brynhild

Granås

,

27

–

38

.

Aldershot

:

Ashgate

.

Minde

,

Henry

.

2003

. “

Assimilation of the Sami—Implementation and Consequences

.”

Acta Borealia

20

(

2

):

121

–

46

. https://doi.org/10.1080/08003830310002877.

Nadasdy

,

Paul

.

2003

.

Hunters and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge and Aboriginal-State Relations in the Southwest Yukon

.

Vancouver

:

UBC Press

.

Ong

,

Walter J.

1988

.

Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

.

London

:

Routledge

.

Oskal

,

Nils

.

2000

. “

On Nature and Reindeer Luck

.”

Rangfer

20

(

2–3

):

175

–

80

.

Østmo

,

Liv

, and

John

Law

.

2018

. “

Mis/translation, Colonialism and Environmental Conflict

.”

Environmental Humanities

10

(

2

):

349

–

69

.

Porsanger

,

Jelena

.

2012

. “

Indigenous Sámi Religion: General Considerations about Relationships

.” In

The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe: Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the Delos Initiative

, edited by

Jose-Maria

Mallarach

,

Thymio

Papayannis

, and

Rauno

Väisänen

,

37

–

45

.

Gland, Switzerland

:

International Union for Conservation of Nature

.

Sara

,

Mikkel Nils

.

2009

. “

Siida and Traditional Sámi Reindeer Herding Knowledge

.”

Northern Review

30

:

153

–

78

.

Schanche

,

Audhild

.

2004

. “

Horizontal and Vertical Perceptions of Saami Landscapes

.” In

Landscape, Law and Customary Rights

, edited by

Michael

Jones

and

Audhild

Schanche

,

1

–

10

. Guovdageaidnu: Sámi Instituhtta.

Scott

,

James C.

1998

.

Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

.

New Haven, CT

:

Yale University Press

.

Sjöberg

,

Lovisa Mienna

.

2018

. “

Att Leava i Ständig Välsignele: En Studie av Sivdnidit som Religiös Praxis

.” PhD diss., University of Oslo.

Smith

,

Linda Tuhiwai

.

2012

.

Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples

. 2nd ed.

London

:

Zed

.

Turi

,

Johan Mathis

.

2012

[1910].

An Account of the Sámi

[Muitalus sámiid birra].

Kárášjohka

:

ČálliidLágádus

.

Uutiset

.

2017

. “

Sámi Activists Occupy Island in Protest at Tenojoki Fishing Rules

.”

Yle

,

July

17

,

2017

. https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/sami_activists_occupy_island_in_protest_at_tenojoki_fishing_rules/9717663.

Figures & Tables

Book cover for Decentralizing Knowledges: Essays on Distributed Agency

Decentralizing Knowledges: Essays on Distributed Agency

Edited by

Duke University Press

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478060772

Copyright:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

ISBN electronic:

978-1-4780-9428-9

Publication date:

2025

References

Agence France-Presse

.

2021

. “

Norway Court Rules Two Windfarms Harming Sami Reindeer Herders

.”

Guardian

,

October

11

,

2021

. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/11/norway-court-rules-two-windfarms-harming-sami-reindeer-herders-turbines-torn-down.

Associated Press

.

2017

. “

Sami Artist Protests Norwegian Reindeer Cull with Unique Public Art Piece

.”

CBC, Radio Canada, December 7

,

2017

. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/sami-reindeers-norway-1.4437517.

Benjaminsen

,

Tor A.

,

Hugo

Reinert

,

Espen

Sjaastad

, and

Mikkel Nils

Sara

.

2015

. “

Misreading the Arctic Landscape: A Political Ecology of Reindeer, Carrying Capacities, and Overstocking in Finnmark, Norway

.”

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift—Norwegian

Journal of Geography

69

(

4

):

219

–

29

. https://doi.org/10.1080/00291951.2015.1031274.

Boltanski

,

Luc

, and

Laurent

Thévenot

.

2006

.

On Justification: Economies of Worth

.

Princeton, NJ

:

Princeton University Press

.

Briggs

,

Chad M.

2006

. “

Science, Local Knowledge and Exclusionary Practices: Lessons from the Alta Dam Case

.”

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift—Norwegian Journal of Geography

60

(

2

):

149

–

60

. https://doi.org/10.1080/00291950600723146.

Broderstad

,

Else Grete

.

2015

. “

The Finnmark Estate: Dilution of Indigenous Rights or a Robust Compromise?” Northern Review

39

:

8

–

21

.

Cardwell

,

Emma

,

Solveig

Joks

, and

John

Law

.

2024

. “

The Infrastructures of Knowing

.” In

Elgar Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Studies

, edited by

Ulrike

Felt

and

Alan

Irwin

,

43

–

51

.

Cheltenham, UK

:

Edward Elgar

.

Cole

,

Peter

.

2002

. “

Aboriginalizing Methodology: Considering the Canoe

.”

International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education

15

(

4

):

447

–

59

. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390210145516.

Falch

,

Torvald

,

Per

Selle

, and

Kristin

Strømsnes

.

2016

. “

The Sámi: 25 Years of Indigenous Authority in Norway

.”

Ethnopolitics

15

(

1

):

125

–

43

. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449057.2015.1101846.

Foucault

,

Michel

.

1976

.

The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception

.

London

:

Tavistock

.

Guttorm

,

Gunvor

.

2011

. “

Árbediehtu (Sami Traditional Knowledge)—as a Concept and in Practice

.” In

Working with Traditional Knowledge: Communities, Institutions, Information Systems, Law and Ethics

, edited by

Jelena

Porsanger

and

Gunvor

Guttorm

,

59

–

76

.

Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino

:

Sámi allaskuvla/Sámi University College

.

Haraway

,

Donna J.

1988

. “

Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective

.”

Feminist Studies

14

(

3

):

575

–

99

.

Hætta

,

Susanne

.

2022

. “

The Crows Take Everything: Interview with Britta Marakatt-Labba 11.04.22

.”

Kunstkrittik/Nordic Art Review

. https://kunstkritikk.com/the-crows-take-everything/.

Hess

,

Martine Aamodt

.

2023

. “

Norway's Treatment of Sámi Indigenous People Makes a Mockery of Its Progressive Image

.”

Jacobin

,

March

13

,

2023

. https://jacobin.com/2023/03/norway-sami-indigenous-people-reindeer-herding-wind-turbines-dispossession-protest.

Ingold

,

Tim

.

1993

. “

The Temporality of the Landscape

.”

World Archaeology

25

:

152

–

74

.

Joks

,

Solveig

.

2015

. “

‘Laksen trenger ro’: Tilnærming til tradisjonelle kunnskaper gjennom praksiser, begreper og fortellinger fra Sirbmá-området

” [“The salmon needs peace”: Approaching traditional knowledge through practices, concepts and stories from the Sirbmá area]. PhD diss.,

Tromsø UiT, Norges Arktiske Universitet

.

Joks

,

Solveig

,

Liv

Østmo

, and

John

Law

.

2020

. “

Verbing meahcci: Living Sámi Lands

.” In “On Other Terms: Interfering in Social Science English,” edited by

Annemarie

Mol

and

John

Law

, special issue, Sociological Review

68

(

2

):

305

–

21

.

Kalak

,

Line Aimee

, and

Bjarne

Johansen

.

2020

.

Tradisjonell kunnskap og forvaltning av sjølaksefisket, Dieðut

.

Guovdageaidnu

:

Sámi Allaskuvla

.

Latour

,

Bruno

.

1990

. “

Drawing Things Together

.” In

Representation in Scientific Practice

, edited by

Michael

Lynch

and

Steve

Woolgar

,

19

–

68

.

Cambridge, MA

:

MIT Press

.

Law

,

John

.

2004

.

After Method: Mess in Social Science Research

.

London

:

Routledge

.

Law

,

John

.

2011

. “

Collateral Realities

.” In

The Politics of Knowledge

, edited by

Fernando

Domínguez

Rubio and

Patrick

Baert

,

156

–

178

.

London

:

Routledge

.

Lehtola

,

Veli-Pekka

.

2004

[1997].

The Sámi People: Traditions in Transition

.

Fairbanks

:

University of Alaska Press

.

Lehtola

,

Veli-Pekka

.

2018

. “

Evasive Strategies of Defiance—Everyday Resistance Histories among the Sámi

.” In

Knowing from the Indigenous North: Sámi Approaches to History, Politics and Belonging

, edited by

Thomas Hylland

Eriksen

,

Sanna

Valkonen

, and

Jarno

Valkonen

,

29

–

46

.

Abingdon

:

Routledge

.

Loddenutvalget

.

2021

.

Lodden—en samisk kulturbærende sedvane: En utredning om lodden i Guovdageaidnu

.

Guovdageaidnu

:

Guovdageainnu suohkan/Kautokeino kommune

.

Lovdata

.

2023

. “

Forskrift om lodden (vårjakt på ender) fra og med 1. mai 2023–6. juni 2028, Kautokeino kommune, Troms og Finnmark

” [Regulation on the lodden (spring duck hunting) from and including 1 May 2023–6 June 2028, Kautokeino municipality, Troms and Finnmark]. Lovdata, accessed

April

29

. https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/2023-04-04-483.

Magga

,

Ole Henrik

,

Nils

Oskal

, and

Mikkel

Nils Sara

.

2002

.

Animal Welfare in Sámi Culture

.

Guovdageaidnu

:

Sámi Allaskuvla

.

Mazzullo

,

Nuccio

, and

Tim

Ingold

.

2008

. “

Being Along: Place, Time and Movement among Sámi People

.” In

Mobility and Place: Enacting Northern European Peripheries

, edited by

Jørgen

Ole Bærenholdt

and

Brynhild

Granås

,

27

–

38

.

Aldershot

:

Ashgate

.

Minde

,

Henry

.

2003

. “

Assimilation of the Sami—Implementation and Consequences

.”

Acta Borealia

20

(

2

):

121

–

46

. https://doi.org/10.1080/08003830310002877.

Nadasdy

,

Paul

.

2003

.

Hunters and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge and Aboriginal-State Relations in the Southwest Yukon

.

Vancouver

:

UBC Press

.

Ong

,

Walter J.

1988

.

Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

.

London

:

Routledge

.

Oskal

,

Nils

.

2000

. “

On Nature and Reindeer Luck

.”

Rangfer

20

(

2–3

):

175

–

80

.

Østmo

,

Liv

, and

John

Law

.

2018

. “

Mis/translation, Colonialism and Environmental Conflict

.”

Environmental Humanities

10

(

2

):

349

–

69

.

Porsanger

,

Jelena

.

2012

. “

Indigenous Sámi Religion: General Considerations about Relationships

.” In

The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe: Proceedings of the Third Workshop of the Delos Initiative

, edited by

Jose-Maria

Mallarach

,

Thymio

Papayannis

, and

Rauno

Väisänen

,

37

–

45

.

Gland, Switzerland

:

International Union for Conservation of Nature

.

Sara

,

Mikkel Nils

.

2009

. “

Siida and Traditional Sámi Reindeer Herding Knowledge

.”

Northern Review

30

:

153

–

78

.

Schanche

,

Audhild

.

2004

. “

Horizontal and Vertical Perceptions of Saami Landscapes

.” In

Landscape, Law and Customary Rights

, edited by

Michael

Jones

and

Audhild

Schanche

,

1

–

10

. Guovdageaidnu: Sámi Instituhtta.

Scott

,

James C.

1998

.

Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

.

New Haven, CT

:

Yale University Press

.

Sjöberg

,

Lovisa Mienna

.

2018

. “

Att Leava i Ständig Välsignele: En Studie av Sivdnidit som Religiös Praxis

.” PhD diss., University of Oslo.

Smith

,

Linda Tuhiwai

.

2012

.

Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples

. 2nd ed.

London

:

Zed

.

Turi

,

Johan Mathis

.

2012

[1910].

An Account of the Sámi

[Muitalus sámiid birra].

Kárášjohka

:

ČálliidLágádus

.

Uutiset

.

2017

. “

Sámi Activists Occupy Island in Protest at Tenojoki Fishing Rules

.”

Yle

,

July

17

,

2017

. https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/sami_activists_occupy_island_in_protest_at_tenojoki_fishing_rules/9717663.