Ukssarájgiesne / In the doorway

The storytelling performance *Ukssarájgiesne*, written and performed by Karin Bonta, is about a Sámi heritage that has been suppressed for decades.

The performance takes as its starting point a hidden and forgotten Sámi family history from the inland region of Västerbotten in the early 1900s, which has been kept secret for decades. The title refers to a door that has been closed but is now ajar. Old and new joiks are interwoven with improvisations, poetry, and storytelling. Special attention is given to some of the women in the family, the 1913 nomadic school reform, and Herman Lundborg’s racial biological studies.

The purpose of the performance is to highlight this issue and the consequences it has had for families who gave up their language and culture and eventually came to deny their origins.

Screenplay:KarinGunilla Bonta
Music:KarinGunilla Bonta and Jonas Simonson

(Karin Gunilla Bonta grew up in Boviken and is better known to some as Karin Nelson.)