Orörda Vatten/Untouched Waters

http://www.orordavatten.com/

Between June and September, I will spend 100 days in a territory where very few people go. The area is sometimes called Europe's last wilderness though it's a cultured landscape as well, influenced by human presence for thousands of years. In this region, there are seven national parks where fifteen mountain Sami villages have their reindeer pastures. During the days, I will take pictures, go on hikes and fly fish. I will cover all shorter distances on foot and longer ones with the help of Arctic Heli that will pick me up and drop me off at different locations during the 100 days.

The objective of the trip is partly to direct attention to Sweden's untouched land and waters. Hopefully, I can contribute to a discussion about development of watercourses in the north of Sweden. But more than anything, I wish to shoot beautiful pictures to show the world.

The Black Angels - Winter '68 

The Black Angels - Better Off Alone 

The Sami People

"The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, (also known as Lapps, although this term is considered derogatory)^[7][8] are one of the indigenous people of northern Europe inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia but also in the border area between south and middle Sweden. Their ancestral lands span an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. The Sami people are among the largest indigenous ethnic groups in Europe. Their traditional languages are the Sami languages, which are classified as members of the Finno-Lappic group of the Uralic language family."

Gene Clark - Lady of the North 

Joe Cocker - Girl From the North Country

I recently read 'A YEAR IN LAPLAND: Guest of the Reindeer Herders', which if you're interested can be read below on Google Books, and have spent the weeks since I read it looking at pictures and reading more about the Sami people. My fiancee's mormor (Ida's mother's mother) comes from a Sami family and we spent a week up in the Arctic Circle last year in the house (the one at the top of the page!) she grew up in and although there was nothing particularly Sami about it, there's something special about living that far north that I just can't describe.

If you want to read more about them, check out this website.

Bob Weir - Wild Northland