DESCRIPTION:
LYRICS:
Intro (Excerpts from the State Attorney’s intervention during the hearing in the court case between the Sámi reindeer herding community Girjas - from whence Sofia Jannok’s grandmother came - and the Swedish State. Gällivare Lapland District Court, June, 2015.):

“From the onset on, it is of importance to state that:
The Sámi have not been subjected to discrimination by the State.”
”The question then is what is meant by the concept of ethnicity, if it is to be claimed that the Sámi is an ethnic group.
And then it becomes clear that ethnicity as a concept is a highly debated one.”
”The ethnic aspect has been of no relevance from a historic point of view, when a distinction was made between nomads, in other words Lapps, and settlers.”
“[...] The entire archaeological evidence put forward by the Sámi reindeer herding community is of no relevance to the case in question.”
”The State consistently disputes the claim that the Sámi have been present in the area on a large scale basis [...] before the 17th century.”

Kill the bison, dig out the reindeer’s land Gold and iron, blood on greedy hands Drown the lávvu, burn the tipi down
We raise new ones, survivors we are now
We are still here, we are still here We are still here, we are still here
100 years back in the USA
Killed my sisters, cut their breasts away
In Peru my brothers always stayed
Shot down at home, but this was yesterday
We are still here, we are still here We are still here, we are still here
Steal our mother, thieves are not to blame That’s when laws are written by the same
We are still here, we are still here We are still here, we are still here

Directed by/Regi: Sofia Jannok och Anders Sunna
Photo/Filmad i Kieksiäisvaara, Pajala: Anders Sunna.
Edit/Klipp: Mattias Andersson
Music/Musik: We are Still Here (long version), skriven av Sofia Jannok, producerad av Henrik Oja och Sofia Jannok.


WE ARE STILL HERE! Collab with singer Sofia Jannok and artist Anders Sunna, both residing in Sápmi, resisting the ongoing colonization, persisting to remain.
"Swedish State calls us "Lapps", questions us as a people, claiming: You have not been here historically, you have no rights.
We say: We are still here. We have every right to be. We ARE Sápmi!"
# WeAreStillHere #girjasmotstaten