In roadless land beside Lake Riebnesjaure and in the middle of the historic Sami mountain landscape: this is where Elin and Tage Johansson live. A meeting with them quickly becomes a journey through memory. From the livingroom window it is ten metres to the Kungsleden trail and a few more steps to the restaurant of the cabin village. They are proud that they are now the fifth generation living and working in the place that was chosen in 1892 by Anna-Brita Persdotter Gunnar and Abraham Johansson. “Abraham was born in Tollådalen in Norway, at Beiarn, and he found the little ‘fjord’, in Sami it’s called vuordna, right here,” says Tage. “He had brought 120 reindeer from Norway and through time he became known as a skilled wolf hunter.” At this time Sweden and Norway were united, and the Sami lands spread from coast to coast, including a wide area in what are now the municipalities of Arjeplog and Sorsele. Why was he called Abraham Johansson? Anyone who has done genealogy knows that
names were usually “reversed” in the next generation. In this case Abraham’s father was Johan Anton Abrahamsson, born in Sorsele in 1817. After a time in service with the priest in Sorsele, he married and moved to Norway. His wife Sara Magdalena Andersdotter was supposed to be “the richest Lapp girl in the parish,” Erik Norberg writes in his book about the Sami school in Arjeplog. The parents of the Vuonatjviken founder Abraham Johansson had close contact with the Swedish side, however. They had their son Abraham confirmed in Arjeplog and later he was catechism teacher (kateket) in the parish. Abraham Johansson was therefore called “Katjes-Abram”. Today Vuonatjviken may feel like a very remote place. There are no motor roads here. But in the 19th century and a few years into the 20th century the central place was not so important. It was especially reindeerherding Sami and their families that stopped, missionaries and emissaries of the state. Tage Johansson tells how his grandfather Abraham was Sami inspector in Arjeplog
Parish. For a time he was also a lay assessor and interpreter in court. “Just think that Anna-Brita and he had thirteen children. And three foster-children too. They were forward-looking!” he declares. “He urged them to see the world. They had to study and develop their interests.” Wolf hunters were important in the past. Tage and Elin have preserved an old wolf spear from that time. The large number of wolves in the 19th century were a nuisance to the Sami and the settled livestock farmers. Statistics from 1839 show that 555 wolves were killed in all Sweden, most of them in the north. In Arjeplog Parish alone, wolves killed an average of 1,150 reindeer each year between 1889 and 1893. “The wolf hunters were highly skilled at tracking wolves and getting them out on to loose snow.” Today a long time can pass between wolf sightings in Vuonatjviken. But it happens, a very special experience. The antler-decorated wolf spear, however, hangs where it is. l
Oskar Johansson, Tage’s father, takes over the herd at Vuoggatjålmeluspen.
Anna-Brita Persdotter Gunnar and Abraham Johansson moved to Vuonatjviken in 1892.
Oskar Johansson with reindeer at winter grazing in Myrheden.
Vuonatjviken – the 1920s.
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