Papers by Natalia Magnani
This dissertation considers experiences of embodied memory and indigenous connection to land by w... more This dissertation considers experiences of embodied memory and indigenous connection to land by which people reconstitute social life in Skolt Sámi resettlement areas of Arctic Finland. After their Petsamo homeland was ceded to the Soviet Union following the Second World War, Skolt relocation to new areas of northern Finland radically transformed social, political, and subsistence lifeways, including through education in Finnish boarding schools. Continuing out-migration to Finnish cities has contributed to the suppression of identity and threats to community wellbeing, felt in ruptures of practice associated with material culture, language, and relationships with local ecologies. Though most studies in the region still focus on the reindeer herding and fishing commonly associated with Sámi populations, there is actually resurgence of Skolt craft (boats, tools, dress), as well as collection and processing of wild foods, which form the core of a vibrant cultural revival. Through participant observation and life history methods, I follow the making of things using local materials as a means by which people remake relationships with the land and with each other. The thesis focuses on the first 14 months of fieldwork in Čeʹvetjäuʹrr (F. Sevettijärvi) 2014-2015, out of a total of 26 months of multi-sited research in the Sámi regions. Scholarship on memory, practice, and displacement examines how memory becomes embodied, reworked, and reconciled across generations, and how material objects and the creation of home in new places create connections to original homelands. Meanwhile, studies among indigenous communities highlight how people use craft and art to establish connections to land despite, and through, displacement and movement. However, to understand the tangible mechanisms of these attachments and interventions, I inquire into the material practices by which people form relationships to resettlement environments. The thesis follows the concept of practical knowledge as transformed and mobilised through revival [...]
Current Anthropology, 2022
Human mobility is perpetuated at the intersection of opportunity and pressure. In this photograph... more Human mobility is perpetuated at the intersection of opportunity and pressure. In this photographic essay, I explore reverberations of movement from the Arctic to East Africa, where I have done ethnographic fieldwork or passed through on my own anthropological and personal journey. The photos compare continuities of movement for transborder Skolt Sámi communities in Fennoscandia, sedentarized East African hunters, West African migrants in Madrid, and my own transnational movement. I show that just as the camera works by reflecting an image, the movement of the anthropologist intersects with interlocutor mobilities to reveal global inequalities of movement.
American Anthropologist, 2020
Current Anthropology, 2022
The theory and practice of decolonization present an awkward paradox: How can social change occur... more The theory and practice of decolonization present an awkward paradox: How can social change occur in everyday life to disrupt state structures while entangled with the mundane, social, and institutional practices and representations that perpetuate state power? In Sápmi, the transborder Indigenous Sámi homeland, decolonization has been intertwined with the institutionalization of Sámi governance and cultural reclamation through national governing bodies. In the Finnish-controlled regions, failures of national recognition of Sámi self-determination have fueled disenchantment with established political platforms and a growing movement to enact self-representation outside these realms. A study of Sámi craft making uncovers embodied mechanisms of decolonization, actualized through production as fluid boundary making and intergenerational healing. Craft makers reinforce relationships to land and family networks in ways that unsettle racialized and legal delineations of community belonging, redirecting the power of representation away from state-constrained decision-making bodies and toward everyday Sámi practice. In doing so, they also negotiate their own use of rejected tropes and colonial networks of production. This interplay establishes the transformative potential and constraints of an embodied decolonization.
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2022
Global crises drastically alter human behavior, rapidly impacting patterns of movement and consum... more Global crises drastically alter human behavior, rapidly impacting patterns of movement and consumption. A rapid-response analysis of material culture brings new perspective to disasters as they unfold. We present a case study of the coronavirus pandemic in Tromsø, Norway, based on fieldwork from March 2020 to April 2021. Using a methodology rooted in social distancing and through systematic, diachronic, and spatial analysis of trash (e.g., discarded gloves, sanitization products), signage, and barriers, we show how material perspectives improve understanding of relationships between public action and government policy (in this case examined in relation to the Norwegian concept of collective labor, dugnad). We demonstrate that the materiality of individual, small-scale innovations and behaviors that typified the pandemic will have the lowest long-term visibility, as they are increasingly replaced or outnumbered by more durable representations generated by centralized state and corporate bodies that suggest close affinity between state directive and local action. We reflect on how the differential durability of material responses to COVID-19 will shape future memories of the crisis.
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 2021
This article shows how to record current events from an archaeological perspective. With a case s... more This article shows how to record current events from an archaeological perspective. With a case study from the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, we provide accessible tools to document broad spatial and behavioral patterns through material culture as they emerge. Stressing the importance of ethical engagement with contemporary subjects, we adapt archaeological field methods-including geolocation, photography, and three-dimensional modeling-to analyze the changing relationships between materiality and human sociality through the crisis. Integrating data from four contributors, we suggest that this workflow may engage broader publics as anthropological data collectors to describe unexpected social phenomena. Contemporary archaeological perspectives, deployed in rapid response, provide alternative readings on the development of current events. In the presented case, we suggest that local ways of coping with the pandemic may be overshadowed by the materiality of large-scale corporate and state response.
Social Anthropology, 2020
Current Anthropology, 2019
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2018
Indigenous social movements contest histories of relocation, assimilation, and inequality. Archae... more Indigenous social movements contest histories of relocation, assimilation, and inequality. Archaeologists too have identified such processes in recent and deeper time. But what can ongoing sites of indigenous resistance tell us about those of the archaeological record, and what is the value in the present of linking such phenomena through time? The production of material culture embodies the motivations and constraints of these movements. Objects made and used promise to bridge temporalities, yet have been largely overlooked by anthropologists. To strengthen the ability to theorize such movements, we carry out an archaeological ethnography with the Skolt Sámi community of Arctic Finland. We focus our analysis on revitalization movements—a phenomena recognized at archaeological sites from the Pueblo homelands to western Europe—whereby communities intentionally direct cultural change in response to social stress. We bring anthropological conceptions of revitalization into dialogue with definitions of the term enacted by indigenous communities. The study analyzes the revival of technologies associated with Skolt lifeways: a boat made of planks sewn together with pine roots, and tools used to process inner pine bark.
Journal of Cultural Heritage, 2018
Ethnographic museum collections have traditionally been acquired, maintained, and utilized by ant... more Ethnographic museum collections have traditionally been acquired, maintained, and utilized by anthro-pological and other museum-based researchers. Increasingly, indigenous communities consult museum holdings in order to inform social movements reclaiming cultural heritage, though collections and their records are often not conserved or made accessible with these goals in mind. We report a project conducted with Arctic Sámi communities in collaboration with the Sámi Museum Siida. Coupling the results of detailed ethnographic interviews with accessible three-dimensional modeling techniques – in particular photogrammetry – we propose a community-based methodology in archaeological ethnogra-phy aimed at increasing accessibility for descendant community members that may potentially expand collections' use for researchers. Concurrently, we stress that such an integrative approach must be particularly cautious in the sharing of models of indigenous cultural heritage, which encounter frequent threats of misuse and appropriation in an era of easy 3D modeling and printing. This abstract appears below in North Sámi.
Davvisámegiella: Etnográfalaš museaidčoakkáldagaid leat dábálaččatčoaggán, bajásdoallán ja geavahan antropologiijadahje museasuorggi dutkit. Eamiálbmotservošat galledit muse-aidčoakkáldagaidain eanet ja eanet vai besset ealáskahttit iežaset kulturárbbi. ˇ Coakkáldagaidja daidda gullevaš die – duid eai goittotge dábálaččat leat seailluhan ja dahkanrabasin dan dárkkuhusa várás. Dárk-ilis etnográfalaš jearahallamiid bohtosiidovttastahttin álkit logahahtti 3D hábmenteknihkkii, erenomážit fotogrammetriai-mii evttohit servoša geahččanguovllus vuolgi metodologiija, man ulbmilin leabuoriditčoakkáldagaid rabasvuo – da servoša lahtuide ja jos vejolaš, maiddáidutkiide. Seammás mii deattuhit, ahte dakkár lahkonanvugiin 3D-málliidjuohkimis galgá leat várrugas. Erenomážit dakkár eamiálbmogiid bokte, geaidkulturárbbi geavahit boastut dálá áiggis, goas 3D-hábmen ja prenten lea álki.
Cultural programs, such as revitalization forums, support community goals of resilience, whether ... more Cultural programs, such as revitalization forums, support community goals of resilience, whether by
conserving and recreating particular plant uses, or by fostering dynamic traditions marked by innovation and
adoption of new wild food uses and ideologies. This paper explores the significance of traditional plant
revitalization forums for the Sevettijärvi‐Näätämö community, located in northern Finland in close proximity
to Norwegian and Russian borders. Along with Finns and other Sami groups, this region comprises a
significant Skolt Sami population present in the area since relocation from Petsamo (in particular Suenjel sijd)
after World War II. The unique history of the region and past marginalization and assimilation pressures have
stimulated current revitalization initiatives, which seek to celebrate Skolt Sami culture and revitalize traditional
skills and knowledge, including food traditions. The study compares food tradition presentations during a
summer cultural festival with ethnographic data on wild food use in Sevettijärvi‐Näätämö. This comparison
explores selection of knowledge for revitalization forums, and the potential impact of this selection on wild food
use. Results show that the types of plant and fungi uses (in particular Inonotus obliquus and the inner bark of
Pinus sylvestris) presented in revitalization forums reflect a blend of historical and recent nutritional
influences. These plants and fungi may be well‐known and recorded anthropologically or commercialized and
commonly available. On the other hand, cultural programs focus on food traditions while excluding medicinal
plants. Data on local plant use demonstrates that the degree to which revitalization forums impact plant use
may depend on opportunities for acquiring skills through other avenues.
Teaching Documents by Natalia Magnani
Indigenous movements around the world are increasingly connected through political and social net... more Indigenous movements around the world are increasingly connected through political and social networks, existing in different contexts but sharing in common narratives of identity reclamation, social change, and strong relation to environment. This class explores how such narratives and experiences shape a sense of group identity, reviewing key historical trajectories related to indigenous movements, including shifting laws and interactions between indigenous peoples and nation-states informing current cultural and political initiatives. We focus on how narratives of the past shape experience in the present – guided by oral histories and collective memory, the archaeological record, and museum and ethnographic collections. We will explore tangible and intangible aspects of cultural revival programs, ranging from relearning of production techniques in craftsmanship to building a sense of community. In northern Finland, particular facets of engagement with the environment shape what it means to be Sami. We explore similar phenomena in diverse geographical case studies ranging from the Arctic to sub-Saharan Africa and the tropics, and engage with a variety of sources ranging from ethnographies to archaeological and legal documents.
Peer Reviewed Publications by Natalia Magnani
Museum Anthropology , 2023
Of the 158 million things housed by the Smithsonian Institution, about 56 objects originate from ... more Of the 158 million things housed by the Smithsonian Institution, about 56 objects originate from Sámi communities. By all accounts a small group of objects--even by the standards of the Arctic collections at the Institution—it may be easily overlooked or dismissed as insignificant, based on entrenched ideologies about idealized collections. Presenting a community-based methodology for the engagement of distant museum collections using three-dimensional technologies, this article establishes the latent potential of small collections for Indigenous communities. We demonstrate how a group of 56 objects not only chronicles complex histories of exchange and colonialism, but also provide a manageable conduit for learning and exchange to facilitate the continued restructuring of relationships between museums and descendent stakeholders, from the individual to community level. Small collections, far from incomplete, may not only contain materials significant to descendent groups on their own terms, but provide the grounds to generate new forms of Indigenous initiated, balanced reciprocity.
American Antiquity, 2022
This manuscript presents a novel approach to the study of contemporary material culture using dig... more This manuscript presents a novel approach to the study of contemporary material culture using digital data. Scholars interested in the materiality of past and contemporary societies have been limited to information derived from assemblages of excavated, collected, or physically observed materials; they have yet to take full advantage of large or complex digital datasets afforded by the internet. To demonstrate the power of this approach and its potential to disrupt our understanding of the material world, we present a study of an ongoing global health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we focus on face-mask production during the pandemic across the United States in 2020 and 2021. Scraping information on homemade face-mask characteristics at multimonth intervals-including location and materials-we analyze the production of masks and their change over time. We demonstrate that this new methodology, coupled with a sociopolitical examination of mask use according to state policies and politicization, provides an unprecedented avenue to understand the changing distributions and social significances of material culture. Our study of mask making elucidates a clear linkage between partisan politics and decreasing disease mitigation effectiveness. We further reveal how time-averaged asssemblages drown out the political meanings of artifacts otherwise visible with finer temporal resolution.
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2021
Global crises drastically alter human behavior, rapidly impacting patterns of movement and consum... more Global crises drastically alter human behavior, rapidly impacting patterns of movement and consumption. A rapid-response analysis of material culture brings new perspective to disasters as they unfold. We present a case study of the coronavirus pandemic in Tromsø, Norway, based on fieldwork from March 2020 to April 2021. Using a methodology rooted in social distancing and through systematic, diachronic, and spatial analysis of trash (e.g., discarded gloves, sanitization products), signage, and barriers, we show how material perspectives improve understanding of relationships between public action and government policy (in this case examined in relation to the Norwegian concept of collective labor, dugnad). We demonstrate that the materiality of individual, small-scale innovations and behaviors that typified the pandemic will have the lowest long-term visibility, as they are increasingly replaced or outnumbered by more durable representations generated by centralized state and corporate bodies that suggest close affinity between state directive and local action. We reflect on how the differential durability of material responses to COVID-19 will shape future memories of the crisis.
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Papers by Natalia Magnani
Davvisámegiella: Etnográfalaš museaidčoakkáldagaid leat dábálaččatčoaggán, bajásdoallán ja geavahan antropologiijadahje museasuorggi dutkit. Eamiálbmotservošat galledit muse-aidčoakkáldagaidain eanet ja eanet vai besset ealáskahttit iežaset kulturárbbi. ˇ Coakkáldagaidja daidda gullevaš die – duid eai goittotge dábálaččat leat seailluhan ja dahkanrabasin dan dárkkuhusa várás. Dárk-ilis etnográfalaš jearahallamiid bohtosiidovttastahttin álkit logahahtti 3D hábmenteknihkkii, erenomážit fotogrammetriai-mii evttohit servoša geahččanguovllus vuolgi metodologiija, man ulbmilin leabuoriditčoakkáldagaid rabasvuo – da servoša lahtuide ja jos vejolaš, maiddáidutkiide. Seammás mii deattuhit, ahte dakkár lahkonanvugiin 3D-málliidjuohkimis galgá leat várrugas. Erenomážit dakkár eamiálbmogiid bokte, geaidkulturárbbi geavahit boastut dálá áiggis, goas 3D-hábmen ja prenten lea álki.
conserving and recreating particular plant uses, or by fostering dynamic traditions marked by innovation and
adoption of new wild food uses and ideologies. This paper explores the significance of traditional plant
revitalization forums for the Sevettijärvi‐Näätämö community, located in northern Finland in close proximity
to Norwegian and Russian borders. Along with Finns and other Sami groups, this region comprises a
significant Skolt Sami population present in the area since relocation from Petsamo (in particular Suenjel sijd)
after World War II. The unique history of the region and past marginalization and assimilation pressures have
stimulated current revitalization initiatives, which seek to celebrate Skolt Sami culture and revitalize traditional
skills and knowledge, including food traditions. The study compares food tradition presentations during a
summer cultural festival with ethnographic data on wild food use in Sevettijärvi‐Näätämö. This comparison
explores selection of knowledge for revitalization forums, and the potential impact of this selection on wild food
use. Results show that the types of plant and fungi uses (in particular Inonotus obliquus and the inner bark of
Pinus sylvestris) presented in revitalization forums reflect a blend of historical and recent nutritional
influences. These plants and fungi may be well‐known and recorded anthropologically or commercialized and
commonly available. On the other hand, cultural programs focus on food traditions while excluding medicinal
plants. Data on local plant use demonstrates that the degree to which revitalization forums impact plant use
may depend on opportunities for acquiring skills through other avenues.
Teaching Documents by Natalia Magnani
Peer Reviewed Publications by Natalia Magnani
Davvisámegiella: Etnográfalaš museaidčoakkáldagaid leat dábálaččatčoaggán, bajásdoallán ja geavahan antropologiijadahje museasuorggi dutkit. Eamiálbmotservošat galledit muse-aidčoakkáldagaidain eanet ja eanet vai besset ealáskahttit iežaset kulturárbbi. ˇ Coakkáldagaidja daidda gullevaš die – duid eai goittotge dábálaččat leat seailluhan ja dahkanrabasin dan dárkkuhusa várás. Dárk-ilis etnográfalaš jearahallamiid bohtosiidovttastahttin álkit logahahtti 3D hábmenteknihkkii, erenomážit fotogrammetriai-mii evttohit servoša geahččanguovllus vuolgi metodologiija, man ulbmilin leabuoriditčoakkáldagaid rabasvuo – da servoša lahtuide ja jos vejolaš, maiddáidutkiide. Seammás mii deattuhit, ahte dakkár lahkonanvugiin 3D-málliidjuohkimis galgá leat várrugas. Erenomážit dakkár eamiálbmogiid bokte, geaidkulturárbbi geavahit boastut dálá áiggis, goas 3D-hábmen ja prenten lea álki.
conserving and recreating particular plant uses, or by fostering dynamic traditions marked by innovation and
adoption of new wild food uses and ideologies. This paper explores the significance of traditional plant
revitalization forums for the Sevettijärvi‐Näätämö community, located in northern Finland in close proximity
to Norwegian and Russian borders. Along with Finns and other Sami groups, this region comprises a
significant Skolt Sami population present in the area since relocation from Petsamo (in particular Suenjel sijd)
after World War II. The unique history of the region and past marginalization and assimilation pressures have
stimulated current revitalization initiatives, which seek to celebrate Skolt Sami culture and revitalize traditional
skills and knowledge, including food traditions. The study compares food tradition presentations during a
summer cultural festival with ethnographic data on wild food use in Sevettijärvi‐Näätämö. This comparison
explores selection of knowledge for revitalization forums, and the potential impact of this selection on wild food
use. Results show that the types of plant and fungi uses (in particular Inonotus obliquus and the inner bark of
Pinus sylvestris) presented in revitalization forums reflect a blend of historical and recent nutritional
influences. These plants and fungi may be well‐known and recorded anthropologically or commercialized and
commonly available. On the other hand, cultural programs focus on food traditions while excluding medicinal
plants. Data on local plant use demonstrates that the degree to which revitalization forums impact plant use
may depend on opportunities for acquiring skills through other avenues.