March 26, 2006

Hello from Sweden!

Right now I’m on a train traveling from Åre, Sweden back to Stockholm.  
I’ve been up in Åre speaking at a conference organized by Green Cross 
International (another GCI!).  The conference was held there because 
Åre endorsed the Earth Charter back in 2002.  I’ve developed a workbook 
for cities and towns to use if they want to incorporate the Earth 
Charter into their planning and policy, so I talked about how they 
could use the workbook in their town.

In Stockholm, I had a chance to visit the House of Tibet, an education 
and friendship center for Tibet.  Two of the other speakers at the 
conference – Chief Oren Lyons from the Iroquois Nation and Oscar 
Motomura from Brazil – and I had dinner with the people who live there 
the first night we arrived.  For me, getting there was a bit like being 
in the Amazing Race – the taxi driver didn’t know how to find it, so I 
asked him to drop me off at a restaurant nearby and then I walked up a 
hill and through the woods to find the place.  The evening we had there 
was enchanting - the Tibetan hosts couldnt have been more gracious.

The next morning, we were invited to a seminar in an office called 
United Spaces, a cooperative office center where several small 
businesses share space and conference facilities, etc.  Chief Lyons 
spoke eloquently to the group about the traditional ethics and laws of 
the Onondaga Nation, and how the principles of equity, respect, unity, 
and peace are critically important for the current global crisis.

Åre is a ski town, north of Stockholm, about midway up the country if 
you’re looking on a map.  Driving up there from the airport was a lot 
like being in Vermont – rolling hills, mountains, pine forests, rural 
scenery.  We were welcomed there at a lovely small hotel, and went to 
dinner the first night at a Tyrolean restaurant way up a mountain.  The 
driveway was so steep that we had to hike up the hill to get dinner – 
and hike down afterward.  Down was harder.  Some people managed to find 
a small sled to ride, but I was in a skirt, so that probably would have 
been more embarrassing.  I only slipped and fell once.

The conference was well-attended, over 100 people came.  It was held in 
a place called the Holiday Club, which also served as a lodge for the 
local ski area.  The first part of the day, the international guests 
spoke, and then the second part of the day we heard presentations from 
local representatives about eco-tourism, the efforts that are being 
made in Norway and Denmark for Green Cross International, and how 
business and environmental interests are working together in the local 
government.

We had a nice dinner last night back at the hotel, and Chief Lyons 
received a special gift from Ewa Eriksson, who lives locally, works for 
Green Cross, and is quite a huntress, apparently.  She traveled to 
Alaska to hunt bear, in fact, and succeeded.  She makes a lot of her 
own clothes from the animals she kills, and the outfit she was wearing 
during the conference had sleeves made from the bear she shot in 
Alaska.  She gave Oren an eagle feather for his native dress – he 
promised to wear it the next time he came to Sweden - scheduled in May.

By far the best part of the trip was today, though, when we went up to 
visit a local Samí village – the Samí are Sweden’s aboriginal people.  
They have lived herding reindeer for centuries, and are increasingly 
being forced off their lands by the state and other more powerful land 
interests.  The current conflict centers around snowmobiles – nearby 
Norway has prohibited them, so a lot of Norwegians and Swedes come to 
this region to ride snowmobiles.  The machines make it impossible for 
the reindeer to live during the winter, and so this group of Samí has 
recently had to slaughter hundreds of them, making their herd too small 
for them to continue their livelihood. We met with Maud Mattson, a 
local Samí woman, who showed us traditional crafts and the reindeer 
they have in this village, called Njarka.

Several of us left the village with a promise to Maud to help her find 
a way to reclaim the land from the snowmobiles for the reindeer.  If 
you are interested in helping us do this, let me know.

All the best, Gwen.