Food can be about more than taste, it can be about the gathering and that when you ‘spend a lot of time in Nature you have another relationship with it’. In this episode we learn much, especially about the uses of Arctic plants, from a joyous conversation with Eva Gunnare, who has made her home in Jokkmokk, a place that is the heart of indigenous Sami culture in Sweden. 

Unlike may of us, the Sami have had a different connection to the land: they use it but do not own it and work together to make a living. Indigenous peoples can have deep-rooted traditions of using plants for medicine and food - a tradition where the difference between survival food and base food is knowledge, knowledge that can be lost but can also be kept alive.

Eva guides tours and gives ‘taste performances’ and you can find out more at her website. Eva's 'Rose' song: 

"My rose, my lily, I would like to share every day of my life with you. When I have become gray, I have spent every day of my life with you".   A love song that I usually dedicate my life in Jokkmokk with plants, people, forests and all.

INTRODUCTORY MUSIC BY EVA GUNNARE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY KIND PERMISSION OF THE ARTIST

All other music by Colin Williams

Some of the ideas and references we make in this podcast can be found here:

Sámi  Jokkmokk  Stockholm  Kvikkjokk  Mountain Sorrel  Padjelanta National Park  Goahti turf hut  Alpine Bistort  Wild Angelica   Rowan  Birch  Rosebay Willowherb  Reindeer  Scots Pine  Cloudberry  Arctic Bramble  Bilberry  Bog Bilberry  Joik   Noiadi / Shaman  Nettles   Dandelion  Meadowsweet  Glögg