by Rory Cassie
PhD student, University of St Andrews, currently visiting Nord University
Ring! I slowly opened my tired eyes, fighting against my heavy eyelids as my body tried desperately to resume its once-deep slumber. I winced instinctively as they opened, expecting a few intrusive rays of sunlight to be poking their way around my curtains. Instead, my eyes were met only with darkness. I checked my phone. My screen read 6:00 am. Yep… that seemed about right. I quickly shovelled down some breakfast before showering and getting dressed, making sure to wear thermals as it would be minus 20 degrees Celsius today. Finally, I put on my warmest socks and biggest boots before leaving the warmth of my apartment to brave the snow enroute to the nearby bus stop.
I would be travelling around 70 km north of Bodø to conduct my first interview as part of my PhD research fieldwork. My ongoing project seeks to gather Sámi perspectives on the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission, asking whether reconciliation can be engendered alongside continued state infringements upon indigenous rights. For this interview, I would meet with a contact at a Sámi institution located in a somewhat remote hamlet, four hours away by bus. With only one coach running there and back per day, I had to ensure I made that 7 am departure and, more importantly, that I was on the returning bus at 7 pm that evening.
Thankfully, I made it to the bus stop at 6:50. My punctuality was fuelled purely by coffee and my growing nerves. New to fieldwork, and to Norway, I worried about how this interview might go wrong. What would I do if my participant didn’t like my questions? Or if I forgot to cover topics? Even worse, what if my shaky Norwegian betrayed me, turning a mispronunciation into a swear or an insult?
As I gazed upon the Arctic landscape passing by the bus’s window, these questions lingered in my mind. Striking mountains, covered in thick snow, began to give way to an icy fjord, as we neared our destination. Entranced by the scenery, I almost missed my stop and ended up on a ferry. Fortunately, I snapped out of my daze and slammed the stop button. Stepping off the bus and into a foot of snow, I found a strange sense of ease in the fact that there was just one bus home. With the temperature sitting at around minus 20 degrees, chickening out of the interview would mean surrendering my only access to shelter… and nothing cuts through an anxious mind like the potential of freezing to death.
I arrived at the Sámi centre, shivering cold, and met with my contact for a pre-interview chat along with some waffles. While I was still tense, my participant was kind and welcoming, considerably easing my nerves. Soon, we ventured to their office, where we began the interview. My fears would prove unfounded, as the interview went well. We spoke for over an hour, discussing my participant’s thoughts on the commission and its findings. I thanked them and got up as if to leave… but where was there to go?? The centre was closing in an hour, and I still had five hours until my bus arrived. After briefly freaking out, my participant kindly advised me that I could take the local school bus to another village, where there was at least a small bar that I could sit in. And so, after trudging through a foot of snow and explaining to the rightfully concerned bus driver why I, a grown adult, wanted to get on a school bus, I made it to the bar. Finally, after dinner, I went home on the 7 pm coach.
I hope this story might ease some common concerns that researchers have surrounding fieldwork while also (slightly paradoxically) outlining what I have found to be the unpredictability of doing research in the Arctic. While I was fixated on worrying about the interview, I forgot to consider the volatile conditions and the rurality of the area I was visiting. These were the factors that would ultimately spring surprises rather than the interview itself. And yet, despite a few hiccups, I would be back tucked up in bed by 11 pm.
Rory Cassie is a PhD student in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews, as well as an associate with the University’s Centre for Minorities Research. He is currently a visiting scholar at Nord University while conducting fieldwork for his research. He seeks to gather Sami’s perspectives on the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission to question whether and how reconciliation can occur alongside ongoing conflicts between the state and Sámi communities.