Lene Hansen:
Dear guests, dear artists, dear friends of Riddu Riddu!
Welcome to all of you. This year’s Riddu Riđđu promises to be the largest Riddu ever, both in terms of the number of participants and the number of nationalities. You who came as a guest or as a volunteer make it possible to arrange a festival that makes the hearts of thousands of people beat faster, and that in a village with a mere 800 inhabitants.
Each local community, each organisation, each group of people needs a cement to hold it together. That which cements Riddu Riđđu together can be summed up in three words: together we create.
That is the way we started out in 1991 …quot; there were few of us then. As time went by, our numbers grew. As time went by, we learned a great deal about our own identity. As time went by, we managed to move mountains and open new doors that had been locked and bolted before. As time went by, we widened our perspective, extending it from just the Sea Sami identity here in the Lyngen fiord to the world community of indigenous peoples.
But large things can only grow out of humble beginnings. The ground on which you pitched your tents has been cleared by a handful of intrepid locals. One lady who is here now heard about Riddu Riđđu while washing up dishes in London and meanwhile listening to the BBC. The BBC in turn found out about us because local voices had carried the news on and on and on.
Volunteers moved out of their own homes and summer cottages to provide housing for our guests, be they from Norway or from across the globe. It is part of the spirit of our community that we, although few in numbers, have enough room for many, many more!
It is a heartwarming thought that a small community in a small region in a part of the country that is not exactly densely populated can create a spirit of cooperation that means a great deal to many people.
This year’s theme at Riddu Riđđu is technology. If used in a wrong way and without human controle, technology can destroy both nature and human kind. If used in the right way, new technology can contribute to development and build bridges between peoples and cultures. Indigenous peoples are being brought together and through new technology, whether SMS, CD, Internet or the possibility of quick and cheap travel, Riddu Riđđu has made friends all over the world.
This is why there are so many guests here, from four continents and countless nations. We extend a special welcome to the representatives of the San people of Botswana, and to our guests from the North, from Nunavik in Canada. Together we create new bonds. On behalf of everybody at Riddu Riđđu, in Kåfjord municipality, in Northern Troms, in Northern Norway, in Norway, in Sapmi, in Scandinavia, in Europe, in the world - I would like to wish you a happy and wonderful time during the festival. Together we will create something that is larger than life.
I hereby declare Riddu Riđđu 2004 for opened.
That is the way we started out in 1991 …quot; there were few of us then. As time went by, our numbers grew. As time went by, we learned a great deal about our own identity. As time went by, we managed to move mountains and open new doors that had been locked and bolted before. As time went by, we widened our perspective, extending it from just the Sea Sami identity here in the Lyngen fiord to the world community of indigenous peoples.
But large things can only grow out of humble beginnings. The ground on which you pitched your tents has been cleared by a handful of intrepid locals. One lady who is here now heard about Riddu Riđđu while washing up dishes in London and meanwhile listening to the BBC. The BBC in turn found out about us because local voices had carried the news on and on and on.
Volunteers moved out of their own homes and summer cottages to provide housing for our guests, be they from Norway or from across the globe. It is part of the spirit of our community that we, although few in numbers, have enough room for many, many more!
It is a heartwarming thought that a small community in a small region in a part of the country that is not exactly densely populated can create a spirit of cooperation that means a great deal to many people.
This year’s theme at Riddu Riđđu is technology. If used in a wrong way and without human controle, technology can destroy both nature and human kind. If used in the right way, new technology can contribute to development and build bridges between peoples and cultures. Indigenous peoples are being brought together and through new technology, whether SMS, CD, Internet or the possibility of quick and cheap travel, Riddu Riđđu has made friends all over the world.
This is why there are so many guests here, from four continents and countless nations. We extend a special welcome to the representatives of the San people of Botswana, and to our guests from the North, from Nunavik in Canada. Together we create new bonds. On behalf of everybody at Riddu Riđđu, in Kåfjord municipality, in Northern Troms, in Northern Norway, in Norway, in Sapmi, in Scandinavia, in Europe, in the world - I would like to wish you a happy and wonderful time during the festival. Together we will create something that is larger than life.
I hereby declare Riddu Riđđu 2004 for opened.
Riddu Riđđu
Pb 237, NO-9144 Samuelsberg
Norway
Norway
Tlf: +47 77 71 64 04
Riddu Riđđu © 2012