Salmon Grief in Sámi Digital Games

This analysis examines how Indigenous digital game creation in Northern Fennoscandia addresses the profound environmental and cultural impacts of declining salmon stocks on the Sámi people. The central thesis posits that these games function as vital "makeshift playgrounds" for expressing "luossamoraš" (salmon grief) and fostering "survivance" in the face of significant ecological and colonial pressures. The study focuses on two specific titles, "The Story of the Rainbow Salmon" and "The Rainbow Salmon Talks With Fish," highlighting the game design process itself as a critical mechanism for collective grief processing and the affirmation of reciprocal human-more-than-human relationships.

A key finding is the direct link between the "New Deatnu Agreement" of 2017, which banned Atlantic salmon fishing in the Deatnu River, and the exacerbation of "luossamoraš." This agreement drastically reduced Sámi constitutional and traditional fishing rights by 80%, leading to a deep sense of loss concerning human-river relations and cultural identity, framed as a consequence of settler colonialism. The games utilize interactive narratives and "Read-Only Sacred Spaces" to allow players to explore themes of loss, reproduction, and self-determination, thereby challenging external pressures and promoting cultural continuity within a culturally controlled environment.

Furthermore, the analysis reveals that game mechanics, such as dark humor and "dad jokes" in "The Rainbow Salmon Talks with the Fish," are employed to help players process grief and stress. Both games connect "luossamoraš" to broader sustainability grief, emphasizing the Sámi's traditional knowledge, language, and historical ties to the Deatnu River. Indigenous digital game creation, therefore, emerges as a powerful tool for self-determination, enabling designers to articulate grief and construct meaning through storywork, while simultaneously providing Sámi players with a means to strengthen sustainability survivance and validate complex emotions. The scope of this analysis is focused on the Sámi people in Northern Fennoscandia, specifically addressing the impact of environmental policies and cultural loss related to salmon fishing in the Deatnu River.