Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg
The protagonist of the novel, Elle Hallala, or the artist Halla Helle, is one of the most renowned self-taught artists in Finland. However, she loses her will to live, gives up her artistic life, and returns to her hometown, Ohcejohka, in an attempt to recover. For various reasons, Elle distances herself from reindeer herding during her teenage years, refuses to care for her beloved father, and cuts off contact with her mother. Elle’s many unresolved sorrows must be confronted in order for her to heal. The author explores the suffering and life journey of a traumatised person, showing how she gradually manages to ease her burden and improve her well-being.
Elle barely makes it to her grandmother’s funeral and upsets her relatives by drawing a pipe in her grandmother’s mouth on the hymn booklet. “Mother never smoked,” her aunt points out. The situation does not improve when Elle, at the cemetery, exclaims that the grave is too small. After the funeral, she retreats with her dogs to her great-grandfather’s cabin by Gabbajávri. The novel’s peculiar title, Goatnelle (not translated into English), may suggest that Elle is a goadni, a weary person who hides away. Following the title page, the novel includes a quote from the author Kirste Paltto: “At the age of six, I started to grow an extra head” (from the short story Tvåhövdad kvinna), which also hints that Elle is struggling with mental illness.
Elle’s mental decolonisation is linked to nature and spirituality – the aspects of Sámi life that colonialism has most distanced the Sámi people from. However, revitalising traditional knowledge has a healing effect, both for individuals and for the Sámi people as a whole. Elle learns, for instance, to fish with a drift net, tar a boat, mend nets, and row for salmon fishing, guided by her uncle Sámmol. It’s not only Elle who must absorb these teachings – knowledge, myths, and spirituality must also be passed down to future generations. Even Elle, who is almost reclusive, gradually participates with her friends in a gathering where activists share stories, joik, and talk with children and young people about traditional knowledge, decolonisation, and how to interact with the land.
Conflicts arise in the local community, especially due to the differing values and methods of the Sámi people and the dominant society regarding how to utilise and respect nature. Soon, capitalist forces set their sights on Rástegáisa, the sacred mountain on the Norwegian side, seeking to satisfy their greed. And “trivialising the seriousness of the matter” isn’t characteristic of the younger generation. Elle dons her powerful ládjogahpir (a traditional Sámi women’s horned hat) for the consultation meeting. “When stylists in the past invented the horned hat, they didn’t consider that one would need to be able to sit in a car,” Elle notes. She often makes elegant statements and remarks that humorously reflect different situations.
The author also highlights interpersonal relationships in a rural community where the Sámi form the majority and Finns the minority, and where the Sámi manage their own ethnic identity in multiple ways. Part of this picture is Elle’s relationship with the Finnish Samu—a romance that continuously flares up and cools down. Regardless, Samu is Elle’s greatest support. The text includes their philosophical musings, often stemming from Elle’s dreams. Elle keeps a dream journal to better understand herself, but even that proves problematic: “Samu is left standing. Was it a mistake to let him read about my dreams after all? What am I rambling about? Now I feel almost surveilled. This kind of doubt and ambivalence – I really don’t need more of that, I’ve just got rid of all that.”
The text is of high literary quality. Elle is the narrator, telling the story from her own perspective. Information is filtered so that the story is not easily revealed to the reader. Additionally, each chapter begins with a poem that offers a glimpse into Elle’s dreams and subconscious. The narrative style is deeply rooted in the Sámi worldview and storytelling tradition, while also depicting both the challenges faced by the Sámi in modern society and universal human experiences – such as the need for belonging and recognition.
Although the story is realistic, it also reflects Sámi spirituality and mythical elements. Both poetry and myth challenge the Western world’s rational perception of reality, while slowing down the reading pace and encouraging the reader to fill in the gaps of the story.
Linguistically and culturally, the novel can be considered a treasure trove with healing power. The author’s precise and rich language in describing tasks within duodji (traditional Sámi handicrafts) and salmon fishing encourages readers to reclaim knowledge and skills that colonisation has partially or entirely erased. The novel’s most important message is faith in a Sámi future and the solution Elle’s story offers for strengthening and revitalising the Sámi language and culture.
Jalvvi Niillas, Niillas Holmberg (b. 1990), grew up in Ohcejohka, Finland. He is a musician, writer, and screenwriter. “I have no academic background and am not a linguist either,” writes Jalvvi Niillas about himself in the book Siiddaid Sápmi (DAT, 2023, not translated into English). In both 2015 and 2020, he was the nominee from the Sámi language area for the Nordic Council Literature Prize.