1

The church and copper smelting works at Sulitjelma. Photo:Sulitjelma Historical Society’s photo collection.

The shaman family and the legend of Sulitjelma By Wenche Spjelkavik

The legend of a Sami shaman’s prophecy of the creation and ruin of Sulitjelma is familiar not

only to those who grew up in the mining town, but also to many from far away. In particular,

many remember the prediction that if a spire were to be erected on the church tower, then

Sulitjelma would “go under”. A spire was never put on the church and the legend remained

alive. The name of the shaman, however, has been forgotten.

In the local narrative tradition, the legend of the future of Sulitjelma has been linked to a

person, most often described as “a Sami”. The name of this person has not been widely known.

The legend has been told as an event that really happened, and not a fictional story. It is unknown

whether there are other stories and legends that have survived in the folklore of this area.

The survival of the legend

It is not unusual for a mining town to have a legend about how a Sami randomly found the

ore, or about a reindeer bull that kicked away some moss and uncovered some precious metal. In

Sulitjelma, the Sami was Mons Andreas Pedersen, who found the ore in about 1858. Older memoir

material occasionally mentions the name “Jungen” for the Sami who gave Sulitjelma the legend of

the church spire and the downfall of the village.

That the legend has remained alive in folklore until the present day is not so strange. The

fate of mining communities who live by producing metals is inextricably linked to international

politics and stock exchange prices for currencies and metals, and thus to economic ups and downs.

Political events on the world stage have certainly influenced life in this northern-Norwegian

mining town. For example, the outbreak of the First World War brought with it an extraordinary

increase in the prices of copper and pyrite. In 1915, the enormous profits realised by the mining

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company became obvious to everyone when the railway was extended by 10 km from Hellarmo

and into the smelting works in Fagerli. A brand-new workers’ housing area with architect-designed

homes was also constructed in Glastunes. By November 1918, however, the war was over, and the

market for those products suddenly evaporated. The 1,545 workers faced massive lay-offs. By

October the following year, only 420 workers remained.1 After such dramatic changes, the legend

was surely recalled and refreshed by those who had been affected. People experienced similar

sudden upheavals in the mining and economic situation almost every decade, until the mine in

Sulitjelma was shut down in 1991. Consequently, there have been many situations where workers

have brought up the legend of the Sami who had a vision of the building and downfall of

Sulitjelma. The identity of the soothsayer was forgotten, along with when this “vision” was

supposed to have taken place. This article aims to attempt to shed new light on both the prediction

and the shaman.

The Church and the mining company’s relationship with the prediction.

Johannes Aanderaa came to Sulitjelma as a resident curate in 1915. After two years in the

mining town, he wrote an account of the place: They say that about 60–70 years ago, a clairvoyant

fjellfinn (Mountain Sami) stood on Sulitjelmatoppen and looked out over the Sulitjelma Valley, [...]

down to the hills with the lush, green grass and luxuriant forest, which had been his permanent

station for many years. There was an excellent pasture for reindeer, and there were plenty of fish

in the rivers and grouse up in the woods. And there he ruled, mostly alone. However, as he stands

there and looks out over his kingdom, a strange sensation runs through him; he becomes psychic

and sees into the future: Large boats with no oars or sails steaming up Lake Langvatnet. The forest

disappears, and great houses are erected along the lake. Places where there used to be reindeer

paths are teeming with people. They dig into the mountains and retrieve an expensive metal.

Everything is changed, and bustling prosperity prevails. A church is also built, but when the

church spire is raised, everything will have reached its peak. From then on, the village begins its

decline. With certain variations, this is how people retell the vision of the future supposedly seen

by a fjellfinn, long before copper deposits were discovered here.2

The Sulitjelma church was completed in 1899. The priest Aanderaa wrote that the church

had, remarkably, been built in such a exposed location that no one dared build the church tower as

high as was originally intended. The tower was shortened by four metres, and, among the people,

this has been interpreted as being due to the legend. Aanderaa does not mention that the church had

a cross on the tower and not a spire.3

The church was consecrated with great fanfare, but not without the prediction casting its

long shadow among the parishioners. Olaf Amundsen, the parish priest in Skjerstad, had written

the text for a cantata that was performed at the consecration. The director of the mining company,

Emil Knudsen, had composed the music and was himself the soloist. And, in one of the

verses, Knudsen sang:

An ancient legend runs along the mountainsides, and spreads across these villages,

That gone forever are the times of ore, when a house of God is built in this place.4

The legend and the shaman in folklore

In the memoirs of the mining engineer Fredrik Carlsson there is a story told by a miner in

Sulitjelma, Frants Holmstrøm. Holmstrøm came from Arjeplog and worked in Sulitjelma from

1891 to 1935. He said: Kristine Jungen in Fagerli was a cook and old maid. It was her paternal

grandfather who had visions in Bursi. He saw that Sulis would be populated as a big city with

lights and houses, and steam boats on the lake, dragging barges behind them, and he saw the

church being erected. But if the spire were also raised, it would mean that Sulis had reached its

peak and would begin to decline. He then foresaw the construction of three smelting works and

that the third would be at Sandnes and that it would explode and lay waste to the area, and many

lives would be lost – and then the fortunes of Sulis would enter a state of flux.5

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Steamers with pyrite barges on Lake Langvatnet, about 1913.

The unique thing about Frants Holmstrøm’s retelling of the prediction is the information

that three smelting works would be built. Three smelting works were indeed built in Sulitjelma,

and the last one was built in Sandnes and stopped production on 3 February 1987 after an

explosion!6 This marked the end of copper smelting in Sulitjelma. The prediction also said that the

place would be desolated and many lives lost. The halting of copper smelting did indeed lead to a

rapid decline in profitability of mining operations. This was because they would now have to sell

copper concentrate, which was significantly less valuable than “blister copper” from the smelting

works. In addition, by the time the smelting works closed down there was no longer any market for

pyrite. From the time when mining started in 1887 until it stopped in 1991, about 120 workers lost

their lives. As for whether the place will eventually be deserted, that remains to be seen.

Holmstrøm said that the shaman was Kristine Jungen’s paternal grandfather, without

providing any more detail about how he could know that. He probably didn’t know the name of

this grandfather. The first time I heard the name of the shaman was a summer evening in the mid

1970s, on the Swedish side of the Sulis Mountains. It was Lars Ranberg (b. 1903) in Stenudden by

Tjeggelvas, who spoke of “Jungen” and the prediction about Sulitjelma. Jungen belonged to the

Mavas sameby (corporation of Sami reindeer herders). The family was now extinct, and no

descendants were known of in Sweden. In his childhood, Lars had often heard about Jungen and

how he had seen a steaming serpent slithering both on water and on land through Langvassdalen.

This had been interpreted to be the steamboats on Lake Langvatnet and the railway.7

Lars Erik Ruong (1937–2007) was brought up in Mavas and had been a reindeer herder for

many years. He was known as a local historian with great knowledge of the areas bordering

Sulitjelma. In a conversation with Ruong in 1995, he said that for many years after “Jungen’s”

death, his walking staff stood as a monument in a rocky desert in the mountains east of Mavas,

where it had remained for many, many years, weathered by wind and rain, until strangers to the

area arrived around 1920 and used the staff as wood for their fire.

In 1940, the nomad Peder Nilsson Ruong (b. 1889) told of several known people one would

visit during one’s stay with reindeer on the Norwegian side of the border. He mentions Klihpa

Jåuna (Jonas Klippen).8 He was the son of Junga, who saw what other people could not see –

among other things, how the Sulitelma [Sulitjelma] mining community would spring up in a place

where there was still a small Lapp lavvu.9

Based on the story told by Nilsson Ruong and curate Aanderaa, the shaman’s

prediction/vision was supposed to have happened long before any ore was discovered, i.e. before

1858. This changes the general perception that the Sami’s “vision” had been provoked by the

encounter between reindeer herding and the commencement of mining operations in Sulitjelma.10

Recent literature on Sami religion and shamanism indicates that the Sami shamans were known to

be able to see into the future (precognition). Clairvoyance is described as the ability to predict

events or future conditions that are not due to likely prognoses. This quality among the indigenous

people of the north was well known from the time of the writing of the Norwegian sagas.11 A

vision was not considered a curse; indeed, by having such a vision, one could also prevent things

from happening. In the prediction about Sulitjelma, there was a warning against putting a spire on

the church. It may have meant that if they did not erect one, the village would not “go under”.

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The discovery of a Sami shaman

In the sources that have been examined, two different people have been suggested as the

shaman. It remained to investigate who these people were, and their lives before the ore was

discovered in 1858. The first was “the paternal grandfather of old maid Kristina Jungen”.12 His

name was Jon Andersson Ljung, b. 1782 in Mahasvuoma lappby (corporation of Sami reindeer

herders). The other was believed to be the father of Klihpa Jåuna (Jonas Klippen).13 The claim was

a confusion of kinship, but it turned out that Jon Andersson Ljung was Jonas Klippen’s maternal

grandfather. One explanation for the confusion may be that the Jungen name was linked to Jonas

Klippen, but that one was unaware of family relationships backwards in time.

It turned out, therefore, that Jon Andersson Ljung was the common denominator for all who

thought they knew who the shaman was. In a genealogy record based on church registers and

interviews of the local residents of Arjeplog, I found Jon Andersen Ljung – and also his origin.14

This was a remarkable discovery. It turned out that his father, Anders Andersson Antack, was a

Sami shaman. According to the records of Eva Lundmark in Jäckvik, Antack’s shamanistic

abilities were known across much of Pite Lappmark.15

Antack was born in 1739 and moved to Mavas in 1772 to work as a reindeer hand.16 In

1776, he married Karin Jonsdotter, and the same year the couple was registered as residing at Lake

Langvatnet in Sulitjelma.17 I presume they herded reindeer, and since they did not have any

hereditary land in Mavas, they moved to Lake Langvatnet. Here they could engage in intensive

reindeer husbandry for their own household, without conflict with the established reindeer owners.

At this time, there was also a large emigration from the Mavas area, due to crop failure from heavy

snow and later a massive wolf incursion.18

Antack was thus referred to as a shaman. What does this entail? According to an article on

the shaman in Sami tradition, the “shaman’s primary task is to establish contact with the spirits

and either ally himself with them to achieve a desired outcome or fight them because of their

dangerous powers and influence. The shaman does not primarily get involved to satisfy his own

wishes, but rather because there is someone who needs his help and who asks him to use his

insight for the welfare of the individual or the community. The benefit of having a shaman

available could thus be great, and he was treated with both respect and dignity by those who made

use of his services.”19

Two stories have been preserved about Antack’s abilities that fit well with the description

of the shaman’s primary duties, and that he did not act on his own behalf but for the community.

The stories were recorded by Eva Lundmark in Jäckvik.20 The first story tells of the breakout of a

contagious foot disease in Antack’s reindeer herd. The herds belonging to other Sami in the same

community became infected and sick. There was great despair and the Sami asked Antack to use

his shamanistic abilities. Antack refused for a long time, but finally he took his shamanic drum and

went up on the mountain where the reindeer were gathered. This was on a pleasant summer day,

with the sun shining in a cloudless sky. Up there on the mountain, the others saw Antack beat his

drum. The next moment, they saw a small cloud come sailing across the sky and stop just over the

herd. Suddenly, they heard the rumblings of thunder, and lightning struck down in the middle of

the herd. The reindeer ran away in confusion and fear. When the people gathered their herds again,

there was no trace of the disease.

The second story tells of when Antack demonstrated his special abilities at a market in

Arjeplog. During the market in Arjeplog, a group of Sami had sought out Antack and asked him to

participate in a wrestling match against a big Swede who had been tormenting and harassing the

Sami. Antack reluctantly agreed, but only on the basis that the other Sami had to promise to help

him. If they saw that he could not win the match, they were to shout: Manne Stuor-Antack nau

stimpala? (“Why does the Great Antack falter?”)

The time for the match came, and soon the big Swede had an advantage over Antack. So

the Sami shouted their phrase in unison, just as Antack had taught them, and Antack became so

strong that he threw the Swede over the roof of a small house nearby. After this incident, the place

where the wrestling match took place was named “Antackbakken” (Antack Hill).21

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Four years after Antack and Karin moved to Sulitjelma, in 1780, they moved on again, this

time to the areas east of Vassbotn mountain.22 Antack and Karin’s first son, Jon, was probably born

here in 1782. Jon was the only one of Antack’s children who took the surname Ljung/Jung. Jon

was confirmed in Saltdal in 1800. In the church register, the priest has written: Lapp Jon Andersen,

servant at Pothus, 18 years old. Knows much about the Lord’s will. Believes he is a good

Christian.23

Two years after Jon was confirmed, his father Antack passed away at Saksenvikfjell. He

was buried in Saltdal on Good Friday of 1802.24 Antack and Karin had seven children, of whom

six survived to adulthood. Of these, two children married in Saltdal, and two in Skjerstad. Jon’s

youngest brother, Pål, married in Mavas in 1813; the following year, he was murdered “at the

Norwegian mountain Saulo”.25 Jon’s youngest sister, Anna, was married in Saltdal and moved to

Skjønstådal, near Sulitjelma. There she had many descendants, of which a number still live in

Sulitjelma and Fauske today. Among other things, she was the grandmother of Johan Fjeld, after

whom the Fjeld mine in Sulitjelma is named.26

The Jung family’s relationship with Sulitjelma

Whether it was the shaman Antack or his son Jon Andersson Ljung who foresaw the

emergence of the mining town of Sulitjelma, we will never know. It could be that it was Antack

who had the vision, but that his son Jon passed it on, and the prediction was consequently

attributed to him. Both father and son had lived at Lake Langvatnet in Sulitjelma and made their

living and had their families there. For the detailed story of what the shaman had seen to be

remembered, the family had to remain linked to the Sulitjelma area in some way. I have chosen to

follow Jon’s life and that of his descendants to seek an answer to how the prediction could be

remembered from “long before the copper deposit was found” until the present day.

Jon married for the first time at 25 years of age, in 1807, to Elin Nilsdotter from Lairo.

Shortly after, Elin died, just days after she gave birth to their son Nils Ljung. The child was placed

with Carl Wallström and his wife Sophie in Båtsjaur, near Arjeplog, where he, according to the

sources, had a good upbringing. Among other things, Nils was sent to Pitheå apologistskola

(accounting school).27 Jon remarried in 1808, and this marriage was childless. Jon was widowed

again in 1822, and married for the third time in 1823, this time to Maria, half-sister of his first

wife. Maria Nilsdotter was 16 years younger than Jon, having been born in 1798 in Lairo. Her

mother’s family were reindeer-herding nomads who had used the Sulitjelma mountains as summer

grazing lands for generations and were considered “rich”.28 Maria’s father, however, came from an

extremely poor background in Arjeplog city, but after only one year at Arjeplog’s lappskola, he

could both read and write. He also knew Luther’s catechism, the creed and rule of conduct by

heart.29 We do not know if Jon Ljung had received any schooling, but his wife Maria was certainly

taught by her father to read and write proficiently. Instruction in Christianity did not mean that the

Sami automatically set aside their old beliefs and traditions. In particular, the Sami of

Norrvästerbyn (Mavas) rarely went to church, even though they had strict orders to do so. In the

book about Arjeplog’s lappskola, the Christian knowledge among the Sami from this area is

described as “weak” and “poor”.30

Jon and Maria had four children: Karin born in 1823, Per in 1825, Andreas in 1834 and

Kristina in 1839.31 How the children in the family made themselves noticed is not known, but the

book about Arjeplog’s lappskola states that “in the Mahasvuoma lappby, there is said to have been

some brothers Ljung who were very talented, and eventually moved to Norway”.32 This must have

been Jon’s son from his first marriage, Nils Ljung, and Jon and Maria’s sons, Per and Andreas.

Otherwise, no information has been found about the family from before 1829. At that time, Jon and

Maria were summoned as witnesses to a murder that happened in Dieckagåhpe, in the mountains

just across from Bottenvann in Saltdal. During the interrogations for this case, Jon’s family was not

listed as members of the two lavvu (tent) groups that had reindeer in the area when the murder

happened.33 This suggests that they worked as reindeer herders and servants for other Sami. They

may also have been “smallholders” under others who had leased grazing areas.

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When their son Andreas was born in 1834, they listed Lake Langvatnet in today’s

Sulitjelma as their place of residence. Five years later, in 1839, their daughter Kristina was born.

Both children were baptised in Saltdal, and the priest noted that they still lived at Lake

Langvatnet.34 In the records of the “Schoolmaster in the Stranden district” (Fauske) for the year

1840–41, it says: Langvasdal. John Andersen and wife. NB. He is a Norwegian Lapp, born, raised,

and confirmed in Saltdal’s parish, but has however spent time in the mountains herding reindeer.

[...] He has now settled at the top of Langvasdalen, and makes his living on cattle.35

We must assume that they also had some reindeer when they settled down in Fagerli on the

eastern side of Lake Langvatnet.36 We do not know exactly where they lived, although perhaps it

was on the same site that Jon’s parents had lived in the 1770s. It was probably Jon and Maria who

gave Reinhagen (“milking pen”) in Fagerli its name. Reinhagen is a place name still in use in

Sulitjelma today. It is unknown how long they lived in Sulitjelma; the most recent sources that say

they lived here are in the schoolmaster’s records, where their eldest daughter, Karin, was registered

as a pupil in 1840–1841. At this time, Jon would have been almost 60 years old, but still had two

small children aged two and six. Probably they went back to being nomadic reindeer herders,

because in 1848 when farmers began establishing themselves and clearing the area around Fagerli

and Sandnes, it appears that Jon’s family is gone.

Maria died in the summer of 1858, and five years later Jon became a boarder with Olina

Olsdotter and Aanen Olofsson, at Lake Bottenvann. At that time, Jon was 81 years old, and almost

completely blind. The farm and family history of Saltdal says that: Jon Anderssen’s sons, who both

worked as reindeer herders, had arranged for their father to board with Aanen in 1863. However,

in 1865, because of poor business, they said they could no longer pay. Therefore, Aanen had

applied to the municipal poor law union for financial support to take care of Jon. After an

investigation in Arjeplog, the conclusion was that the sons should be able to pay for themselves.

They considered sending him home, but it was an unfavourable season, and Jon was in poor

health. The municipality applied for reimbursement from the Stiftsdireksjon [the bishop and the

prefect of the diocese], but was refused because Jon had the right of residence in Saltdal after a

two-year stay.37

Eventually, Per and Andreas brought their old father with them across the border after all.

The church register for Arjeplog says that he died in Mahasvuome on 10 October 1867 at age 85.

Jon was buried in Arjeplog on 4 December of the same year. He was listed as a widower, “poor”,

and the cause of death as “old age”.38

The last time sources mention Jon Andersson Ljung in connection with Sulitjelma, almost

40 years had passed since his death. This must mean that he was a person who had made his mark,

and was remembered. When negotiations were conducted on the municipal boundary between

Saltdal and Fauske in 1903–1909, a witness apparently identified where Jon and his family had

lived in Sulitjelma before the new farmers came, and long before mining started.39

Children of reindeer herding and grandchildren of mining

Two of Jon’s sons had links to reindeer husbandry. Per Jonsson Ljung probably married for

a herd of reindeer: he was 20 years younger than his wife, and the marriage was childless. Per

“Jungen” is mentioned in the Sulitjelma Historical Society’s interview collection as one of the

Sami reindeer herders who used the milking pen at Risevasshøgda in Sulitjelma.40 Per drowned in

Lake Langvatnet on 5 December 1870 at the age of just 45. Another Sami, Per Spigdi (Spegle),

drowned at the same time. The two went through the ice on Lake Langvatnet near the Villumselva

River and were taken to shore at a place since named Daumannvika (Dead Man’s Cove). Per

Jonsson Ljung and Per Larsson Spigdi were buried in the cemetery at Saltdal on 29 January 1871.41

Andreas Jonsson Ljung was Jon’s youngest son, and was born in Sulitjelma. He was

married to Margreta Ruong from Mavas. They were the parents of Kristina (Kristine Jungen), born

at Mavas on 23 April 1865 and baptised the same year in the Kvikkjokk chapel. Andreas was a

reindeer herder in the Sulitjelma area and belonged to the Arvas Sami and the Luokta sameby.42

From 1870, the family took up permanent residence on Vassbotten mountain, although Andreas

continued with reindeer husbandry. In the church register for Arjeplog, where he was listed as

7

having emigrated to Norway, “Jungen” is noted beside his name. Andreas died in 1904, and he

was the only one of the Ljung brothers who lived long enough to see his birthplace become

populated by thousands of people, hundreds of houses, boats and a railway. Not least, he saw two

(of the three) smelting works built, as well as the destructive effects of the sulphur smoke on the

vegetation where the reindeer had grazed before. Maybe it was Andreas who had left his walking

staff in the mountains of Mavas.

All of Jon Andersson Ljung’s grandchildren ended up living in Norway. None of them

continued with reindeer herding, however; several of them ended up working at the mine in

Sulitjelma. It is also noteworthy that the grandchildren are so strongly associated with the

prediction. It was probably Kristine Jungen, Jonas Klippen and his sisters Margrete Nilsdatter and

Maria Nilsdatter (later Renton)43 who told of the vision of one of their ancestors, and thus the

legend gained the momentum to be remembered in our time.

Jonas Klippen, Margrete and Maria were siblings; their mother was Jon Andersson Ljung’s

eldest daughter, Karin.44 In Sulitjelma, the three siblings were associated with their mother’s

family name “Jung”. Jonas was a miner at Jakobsbakken, but his family lived at Rognan. In an

interview with another miner, we are told there was a saying that Jonas constantly repeated: the

day will come that the woman will protest.45 Today, we can conclude that Jonas was also

clairvoyant.

Margrete came to Sulitjelma around 1900, after losing both her husband Olof Ärsja and a

one-year-old son in 1897. Her two daughters, aged four and six, were placed in the care of others

for their upbringing.46 Margrete took work as a cook at the mountain mine of Hanken to support

her daughters. At Hanken she met the Swedish miner Johan Lindblad, and they married in 1903

and moved to Jakobsbakken. In an interview with another cook at Jakobsbakken she is called

“Margrete Jungen”47. Margrete died in 1925 at Rønvik asylum and is buried in the cemetery at

Sulitjelma.48

Kristine Jungen used the surname

Andreassen after her father, Andreas. She was

born in 1865 in Mavas, and baptised in

Kvikkjokk. It is not known what year she came to

Sulitjelma, but she had worked both as an ore

separator and as a cook, and in addition she spent

several years as a janitor at the boarding school at

Jakobsbakken.49 In her old age, Kristine lived in a

room at Storbrakka in Fagerli. In light of the

mining company’s strict housing policy, it is

strange that Kristine was allowed to stay there

until she died. The mining company owned all

the houses in Sulitjelma, and no single elderly

person was allowed to occupy a room after their

working life was over. This suggests that the

Jungen name had so much respect that they did not dare to throw her out. Kristine died on 21

March 1941, aged 76. Karl Kjeldsen of Fagerli then went to Mavas, to Kristine’s cousin Inga

Steggo, with all her worldly goods. It all fitted into a shoebox.50 Kristine is buried in the new

cemetery in Sulitjelma, and the tombstone still stands. She was the last Ljung in Sulitjelma.

But the legend of Sulitjelma lives on.

8

Endnotes

1 Sulitjelma Aktiebolaget, Annual Report for 1920–21, page 2. 2 Kaldskap. Johannes Aanderaa. “Fra Sulitjelma”. Printed in the Tromsø Diocese Yearbook 1917.

http://www.sulisavisa.no/historielag/Bibliotk/fra_Sul.htm 3 Ibid. 4 Spjelkavik, Wenche. 1999.

5 Minnesantekningar (memoirs) of mining engineer Carl Fredrik Carlsson. In this material was a two-page typewritten

manuscript, with the title Some history, legends and notes from the Sulitjelma area, signed “Arne Carlsson, mining

engineer”. Arne was the son of C.F. Carlsson. He died in the United States in 1942. Copies of these “memoirs” have

been given to several private individuals, in addition to the Sulitjelma Mining Museum. One copy was given to

Wenche Spjelkavik by Elin Trøften, the granddaughter of C. F. Carlsson.

6 Olsen, Kjell Lund: Kobbersmelting i Sulitjelma. Kulturvern ved bergverk 2004. Publication No. 29.

Copy of the article: http://www.sulisavisa.no/historielag/Bibliotk/koppersmelt.htm

9

The smelting works stopped after a water-cooled electrode cracked and water got into the smelting pool. The furnace

was so damaged by the “explosion” that continued operation was impossible, considering the impending expiration of

their discharge permit. In an oral communication, Kjell Lund Olsen stated that he was due to begin his shift

immediately after the explosion, and was one of the first people to know that the smelting works had been stopped and

that he had lost his job.

7 The Sulitjelma Aktiebolag mining company was established in January 1891, and with it the place received a new

name: Sulitjelma. The mining company’s first steamboat was put into operation at Lake Langvatnet on 26 July 1892,

and in August 1893 the first steam locomotive reached the terminus at Hellarmo, at the end of Lake Langvatnet.

8 Klihpa Jåuna’s real name was Jonas Nilsson Stomack. He called himself Jonas Klippen. Jungen was his maternal

grandfather.

9 Ruong, I. 1943–44. Page 168. Israel Ruong did not identify the person interviewed, but says: “The person who

provided this information is the only nomad of the old Barturte Sami nomad tribe still living at Barturte.” Esther

Ranberg has identified him as the nomad Peder Nilsson Ruong, based on information provided by Israel Ruong about

his grazing areas and place of residence. Nilsson Ruong was also a servant to the professor’s family, when Israel

Ruong was a child.

10 Ihlen, Christian: Forbandelsen. Oslo, 1926. This book has been important locally for people’s memory of the legend.

The book is a fictional tale about Sulitjelma in the start-up phase of the mine. Ihlen was employed as forest manager

for Sulitjelma Aktiebolag, from 1913–1920.

11 The University Library of Tromsø, 2001.

http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/nor/myths09.htm

and Store norske leksikon (Norwegian Encyclopedia) from http://snl.no/ESP.

12 Frans Holmstrøm’s statements. See Note 5.

13 See Note 9.

14 Lundström, Kjell-Åke, 2004.

15 Lundmark, Eva: Anteckningar av 80-åriga Eva Lundmark, Jäckvik. Arjeplog 1978.

16 Djupedal, Wolf-Michael. 1987.

17 Saltdal gård og slekt vol. I, page 221. See also corrections to the books, page 16.

18 Djupedal, Wolf-Michael. 1987.

19 Kristiansen, Roald E., Noaiden i samisk tradisjon. Undated article. Read 3 May 2014:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:SF69rDIZds4J:www.religion.no/wp-

content/uploads/tidsskrift/206.doc+&cd=3&hl=no&ct=clnk

20 Lundmark, Eva: Anteckningar av 80-åriga Eva Lundmark, Jäckvik. Arjeplog, 1978. 21 Ibid. 22 Hutchinson, Alan. Clark, Guri S. 2006. Saltdal gård og slekt, vol. IV.

23 Church register for Saltdal: 847A04, Period: 1770–1818. Digital Archives.

24 Church register for Saltdal, died 1802.

25 Pål was killed by Anders Skalok. See Læstadius, P. Fortsettelsen, 1833. Page 197.

Lundström, Carl-Oskar. 2001.

Lundström, Kjell Åke, 2004.

26 Solbakk, H. Berg, G. Slektsbok for Fauske og Skjerstad, vol. III. Bodø 1985. Page 403.

27 Nordberg, E. 1955. Page 210.

28 Læstadius, P. Journalen, 1831. Page 380.

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29 Nordberg, E. 1955. (About Maria Nilsdotter’s father, Nils Andersson Kålnar. Page 59.)

30 Ibid. Pages 24 and 31.

31 Lundström, Kjell Åke, 2004.

Church register for Saltdal, 1818–1841. Born and baptised, 1834 and 1839, Andreas and Kristina’s baptism.

http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_id=16619

32 Nordberg, E. 1955. Page 210.

33 Arjeplogs Tinglags Häradsrätt, AIA: 10, 1830 11/2 §22. Transcript by Carl-Oskar Lundström.

34 Church register for Saltdal, archive reference: 847A05 Period: 1818–1841.

35 See Note 9, Ibid.

36 Hutchinson/Clark: Saltdal gård og slekt vol. III p. 236.

When Andreas died in 1904, his place of birth was listed as Fagerli, in Sulitjelma.

37 Hutchinson/Clark. 2002. Saltdal gård og slekt. Volume I, page 340.

38 Arjeplogs kyrkoarkiv, Lysnings- och vigselböcker, SE/HLA/1010006/E I/1 (1867-1889), bildid: A0017437_00003

som også inneholder Død- och begravning 1867-1894. Died 10 Oct. 1867, buried 4 Dec. 1867. Poor.... Jonas Ljungi

Mahasvuome, 85 years of age. Widower, cause of death: old age.

39 The National Archives of Norway. Copy of negotiations on border provisions between Fauske municipality and

parish and Saltdal municipality. Reference No. 85-10 K, Jno 795 – 1909 K, Statsraad Scheel. Page 29. Quote from

witness Jonas Klippen: My grandfather Jon Anderssen lived at Lake Langvatnet for a long time. He lived exactly on

the spot that was later called Fagerli. His house stood where the laboratory now stands. The place still called

Renhagen [Reinhagen] is the place where John Anderssen would keep his reindeer closed in when it was foggy.

40 The Sulitjelma Historical Society’s local archives, Ivar Kristiansen’s interview collection. Interview with Kristen

Storli, 1947.

41 Church register for Saltdal, archive reference: 847A07 Period: 1842–1871. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?urnread_imagesize=full&info=ingen&hode=nei&show=94&uid=447178&js=j 42 Von Düben, G. Om Lappland och lapparna. Stockholm 1873. Page 441: Some of the Arvas Lapps go to Lake

Balvatnet and some to Lake Langvatnet, both in Norway.

43 Maria and Nils Renton lived near several mines, but they lived the longest at Jakobsbakken. In 1904, the family

lived in the basement of a house called “Trea”, which stood midway between the Jakobsbakken and Sagmo mines. On

8 February 1904 there was a tragic accident: 23-year-old Isak Jakobsen from Fauske was thawing dynamite on the

stove inside the hut. There was a powerful explosion, and reportedly he was shot right through the floor and down to

Maria and Nils. The young man later died in hospital in Sulitjelma. Maria and Nils Renton bought a small farm at

Engan, between Sulitjelma and Finneid. The farm had belonged to Sulitjelma’s first school administrator, Severin

Haanes. Maria and her daughter were listed as living here in the census of 1910.

44 Jon’s eldest daughter, Karin, b. 1823, was married in 1849 to Nils Andersson Snile Stomack, b. 1830 in

Mavas/Mattme. They had six children together. Three of their children lived much of their lives at Jakobsbakken, one

of the mountain mines in Sulitjelma.

45 Sulitjelma Historical Society’s local archives. Ivar Kristiansen’s interview collection. Interview with Karl Andersen,

Furnes Sørfold. (Undated).

46 Margrete Stomack and Olof Ärsja had three children: Petra, b. 1891, died 1911 in Evenesdal (the 1910 census has

her living with her mother’s cousin, Johan Nilson Lasko, and his wife Elsa Brita in Evenesdal). Petra was “not fit for

work” and was provided for by mining work. The second daughter, Nella Amalie, b. 1893, died in 1989, raised in Hals.

Olaf Martin, b. 1896, died in 1897.

47 Johanna Nygård from Saltdal, Ivar Kristiansen’s interview collection, Sulitjelma Historical Society.

48 Solbakk/Berg. 1985. Slektsbok for Skjerstad og Fauske. Volume IV.

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49 Personal communication from Sverre Hansen, b. 25 September 1909, d. 30 July 1985. In his childhood, Sverre lived

in Sagmo, and the schoolchildren from this area had to stay at a boarding school at Jakobsbakken through the winter.

50 Esther Spjelkavik, b. 16 July 1917. Memories of growing up in Fagerli, dated 1989. Received in letter, 1989.

Literature

Djupedal, Wolf-Michael. Aspekter ved en undersøkelse av befolkningsutviklingen i Mavas i tiden

1739–1826. Hovedfagsoppgave (thesis at second degree level). Department of History, University

of Trondheim. 1987.

Evjen, Bjørg. Fra kobbereventyr til marmorby. Fauske kommune 100 år, 1905–2005. 2004.

Nordberg, Erik. Arjeplogs lappskola: anteckningar. Stockholm: Fören. för svensk

undervisningshistoria, 1955.

Hutchinson, A. and Clark, G. S. Saltdal gård og slekt, vols. I and IV. Oslo, 2002–2006.

Ihlen, Chr. Forbandelsen. Oslo 1926.

Kristiansen, Roald E., Noaiden i samisk tradisjon. University of Tromsø. Undated.

www.religion.no/wp-content/uploads/tidsskrift/206.doc

Lundmark, Eva: Anteckningar av 80-åriga Eva Lundmark, Jäckvik. Arjeplog, 1978.

Lundström, Carl-Oskar. Odygd i obygd – en studie av den tingsbehandlade våldsbrottsligheten i

Arjeplog 1800 – 1899 i dess sociala context. D-uppsats, University of Umeå, 2001.

Læstadius, P. Journal af Petrus Læstadius för första året af hans tjenstgöring såsom missionaire i

Lappmarken. Stockholm: Hæggström 1831.

Læstadius, P. Fortsättning af Journalen öfver missions-resor i Lappmarken innefattande åren

1828–1832. Stockholm: Nordström 1833.

Olsen, Kjell Lund: Kobbersmelting i Sulitjelma. Kulturvern ved bergverk 2004. Publication No. 29.

Copy of the article: http://www.sulisavisa.no/historielag/Bibliotk/koppersmelt.htm

Israel Ruong, Studier i lapsk kultur i Pite lappmark och angränsande områden. In Svenska

landsmål och svenskt folkliv. 1943–44, p. [123]–194 : ill.

Solbakk, H. and Berg, G. Slektsbok for Skjerstad og Fauske. Volumes III and IV. Bodø 1985.

Spjelkavik, Wenche. 1999. Sulitjelma Kirke 100 år, 1899–1999. The National Library of Norway,

bokhylla.no: booklet is digitised and can be read there.

Aanderaa, Johannes. Fra Sulitjelma. Fra Nordland og Finnmarken. Tromsø stifts Årbok. 1917.

http://www.sulisavisa.no/historielag/Bibliotk/fra_Sul.htm

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Unpublished sources

Sulitjelma Historical Society’s archives. Ivar Kristiansen’s interview collection.

Sulitjelma mining museum archives. Sulitjelma Aktiebolaget annual reports from 1920–1921.

The National Archives of Norway. Copy of negotiations on border provisions between Fauske

municipality and parish and Saltdal municipality. Archive s-1045 Ministry of Justice, municipal

offices K and the municipal department series Aa – Meeting minutes and records, book 8 –

Meeting minutes K 1910. Reference no. 85-10 K, Jno 795 – 1909 K, Statsraad Scheel.

Arjeplogs kyrkoarkiv, Lysnings- och vigselböcker, SE/HLA/1010006/E I/1 (1867-1889), bildid:

A0017437_00003 som også inneholder Død- och begravning 1867-1894.

Archives: Digital Archives. Scanned church registers. Church register for Saltdal.