
The project Saaraahka - Kvinnokraft
In the fall of 2021, Marika was invited by Idre Stiftelse to create a dance piece for the opening of Tomas Colbengtsson's exhibition, which is part of the Swedish church's Västerås diocese's reconciliation process with the Sami and that they want to uplift the Sami people. The exhibition was to take place in Idre church June-September 2022.
"Inauguration of Tomas Colbengtsson's exhibition takes place on Sunday 5 June in Idre Kyrka, the Bishop will also be there. It would be very nice and significant if someone from Idre Sameby wanted to participate and we immediately thought of you Marika and that dancing in connection with the exhibition in the church would be a possibility. Dance is also a way to make the Sami story heard." - Idre Foundation
"I think it would be fantastic if you, Marika, wanted to dance to my artworks for the opening of the exhibition. I think the message will be much stronger then. What I want and hope to do is to install a large Sami cernini drum at the altar in Idre church. Also, the drum should reflect a work that represents Saraahka. I will build a new drum with a skåerrie that I got in Jokkmokk. The drum becomes primarily a symbol of the Sami religion, banned by the Christian church. On the drum head I thought of placing a white rio feather as a pointer. The purpose is a gesture of reconciliation but also to be able to lift the Sami culture/people without imposed feelings of shame." - Tomas Colbengtsson
After these nice words and thoughts about dance, the idea came to Marika to create a piece about Saraahka. Saraahka was the most important goddess for women in the Southern Sami area and she wanted to explore the Sami culture in connection with the Christian faith through the project.
Marika had recently worked on the Aerpie project and dug deep into her roots on her mother's side, what she inherited from her and she in turn from her father. What she wanted now was to discuss with and interview her aehtjh-aahka, grandmother, who is one of the few left from the older generation who lived on the mountains in gåtie, kåta, as nomadic people and at one with nature. What she as a woman has learned from previous traditions and how she has heard and seen Saraahka. Who was Saraahka really, what had she been like in human form? What is their relationship to the Christian faith and how can you intertwine Sami tradition with Christian faith.
This first part of the project Saaraahka – Kvinnokraft resulted in a dance piece that affirms the Sami female power and Sami divinity.
From this project thoughts and ideas emerged about a continuation project where Marika wanted to invite women from different cultures, different countries and who deal with different cultural expressions to jointly explore what women's power is for us indigenous people. How do we think when we create and how do we work to maintain our indigenous traditions when we create new thinking? This project continues in part two – a meeting between women from different indigenous peoples around the world.