The Enduring History of the Sámi People Told Through Beautiful Textile Embroidery
Mikono Art profiled Sámi artist Britta Marakatt-Labba, who uses textile embroidery to convey the enduring “Historjá” of the Sámi indigenous people whose native land of Sápmi once stretched across the Arctic Circle into Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Markatt-Labba shares the history of these people, how they lived in peaceful times herding reindeer, and their fierce resistance when war came.
We explore Britta’s process, her seasonal rhythm, and the stories behind her stitches. From the bloody Kautokeino uprising to the quiet wisdom of reindeer herding, Historjá is more than art. It is light in the dark. It is resistance in thread. It is Sámi memory, stitched back into history.
