Opening of the Public Programs of documenta 14 at Parko Eleftherias, Niillas Somby, photo: Stathis Mamalakis
Niillas Somby is a Sámi political-rights activist, journalist, videographer, and photographer. He was one of the seven hunger strikers during the Alta controversy (1982) and lost an arm during a sabotage action. The 1999 documentary film Give Us Our Skeletons, directed by Paul-Anders Simma, describes Somby’s quest to retrieve the heads of his ancestors Mons Somby and Aslak Hætta from the University of Oslo in Norway. Somby’s autobiography, Gumppe Diimmus, was published by ABC-Company in 2016, and is only available in the Sámi language. His videos, which are available on YouTube, document Sámi traditional and contemporary land and fishing practices, and the ongoing fight for Sámi sovereignty.