Strange encounters in place stories

Abstract

This paper will explore place stories as a site of encounter between different constructions of place, indigeneity and strangers. The paper shows how place stories used by local actors debating a would-be Olympic bid from the Northern Norwegian town Tromsø/Romsa were premised on different versions of ‘us’, ‘they’ and ‘the strangers’. While indigenous Sami pasts and presents of the town were drawn upon in the branding of the bid, there is an inherent ambiguity in many actors’ stories about Tromsø/Romsa, which contributes to an ambivalent sense as to what it means to be Sami, and to whether Tromsø is a Sami town. The paper examines four different stories about Tromsø/Romsa from which different versions of ‘strangers’ emerge, and discusses the use of place stories and stranger stories as discursive resources for actors arguing both for and against a particular political outcome.