Eva Maria Fjellheim is a southern Saami researcher, activist, and radio documentary producer working on decolonial struggles and solidarity across Indigenous geographies. A PhD research fellow at the Centre for Saami Studies at UiT, the Arctic University of Norway, she researches the dispossession of Saami reindeer herding lands by the wind energy industry in Norway as a form of green colonialism. Through courtroom ethnography, Eva has studied the Fosen case, where the Saami reindeer herding community Fovsen Njaarke won a historical ruling in the Supreme Court. In the Arctic Review on Law and Politics journal, she explores the epistemic controversies that emerged between Fovsen Njaarke and Fosen Vind. Considering the negative impacts from wind energy on Saami reindeer herding culture and rights, she concludes that beyond the onto-epistemological difference between the ‘Indigenous’ and the ‘Western,’ Fosen Vind and the Norwegian state strategically ignored all knowledges that threaten capitalist and colonial interests. In the Human Rights Review, she provides critical perspectives on ‘dialogues’ as a mechanism for conflict resolution and good governance in the Øyfjellet wind energy project, concluding that state- and corporate-led ‘dialogues’ displaced the root cause of the conflict, revealed epistemic miscommunication, and perpetuated relations of domination which limited emancipatory effects for Jillen Njaarke, the impacted reindeer herding community.

Eva also teaches, writes chronicles and essays, engages in public debates, and does journalistic work to build knowledge on Saami and Indigenous issues. Together with her collective Søstrene Suse and the feminist radio station Radiorakel, Eva produced the documentary I Elsa Laulas fotspor (In Elsa Laula’s footsteps) about Saami women and their struggle against racism, assimilation policies, extractive industries, and state regulation of Saami reindeer herding and fishing. Through the concept of ‘radio cinema’, Eva and her collective organized live listening sessions to stimulate further reflection on the issues raised in the documentary. Eva also works to strengthen networks, collaborations, and mutual solidarity between Saami and Indigenous struggles abroad, especially in Latin America.

Fjellheim, E. M. (2020). Through our stories we resist: decolonial perspectives on south Saami history, indigeneity and rights.