The disappearance of the sea sámi as a cultural display category: Assimilation policies and the role of industrial expositions

Abstract

While the Sea Sámi had a prominent position in an industrial exposition held in Tromsø in northern Norway in 1870, this category of display was no longer present in an industrial exposition held in the same city in 1894. In this article I explore this change and how the display of Sámi culture at the Tromsø expositions fit into a larger societal picture. Moreover, I argue that the creation of material regimes emphasizing reindeer herding culture as the only genuine Sámi culture, contributed to the marginalization of the Sea Sámi early on in an exhibition context.