Indigenous River People are the Northern People of the Year 2026
Riddu Riđđu is proud to honor Indigenous River peoples as the Northern People of the Year 2026. This year’s delegation will consist of diverse Indigenous peoples from Alaska, Turtle Island/Canada, Kalaallit Nunaat, Sápmi, and the Ainu territories in Japan – communities that all live in close relationship with rivers, where water carries stories and knowledge across generations.
The Northern People of the Year is one of the festival’s most central cultural and political initiatives. For more than 25 years, the project has built bridges between Sámi people and other Indigenous peoples in the northern regions, helping establish Riddu Riđđu as an international meeting place for cultural exchange, alliance-building, and solidarity.
In 2024, we chose to honor queer Indigenous peoples. For the first time, the project was based on a thematic and cross-cultural group spanning Indigenous peoples and national borders. This was a conscious decision to create space for voices and experiences that have long existed at the margins, including within our own communities. In 2026, we do this again. By inviting Indigenous River peoples, we bring together Indigenous communities from different northern regions who all live with and from the rivers.
Why Indigenous river people?
When Riddu Riđđu in 2026 honor Indigenous River peoples as the Northern People of the Year, it takes place at a time when rivers across Sápmi and other northern Indigenous territories are bearing the consequences of generations of industrial development, overfishing, and a rapidly changing climate. Struggles over waterways such as Deatnu in Sápmi remind us that rivers are not merely nature, but living relationships and the very foundation of Indigenous life and future.
In Kåfjord, too, rivers carry clear traces of these struggles. The waterways have been heavily affected by hydropower development, and for decades the local community has lived with the consequences of these interventions. At the same time, dedicated individuals within the communities have worked tirelessly to protect what remains and to reclaim some of what has been lost.
In Birtavarre, the village has been in conflict with energy companies for more than fifty years and continues to live with the long-term consequences of the hydropower development in Guolaš. The struggle continues to this day.
In Manndalen as well, local forces have taken responsibility. For a long time, the Manndalen Hunting and Fishing Association has worked purposefully to restore the Manndalselva River to a state closer to the life it held before development – for the benefit of the fish, the natural environment, and the local community.
These local struggles are not unique; they are part of a larger picture. What happens in one river affects other rivers, the ocean that receives the water, and the communities and ways of life that depend on them. This is not only an ecological loss, but also a potential break in the transmission of knowledge between generations. Highlighting Indigenous river people is therefore about making visible the deep connections Indigenous peoples have to their territories, and about creating space for our stories, our knowledge, and our own solutions in the face of rapid climatic and societal change.
Knowledge flowing across borders
The project is grounded in the understanding that Indigenous peoples themselves carry the knowledge and solutions needed to care for their territories, while also inviting a celebration of our diverse river cultures and communities.
The work builds on The International Indigenous Salmon Peoples Gathering held in Kárášjohka in 2024 and the Karasjok Declaration that followed, which clearly emphasizes the need for cooperation, respect, and Indigenous self-determination in the governance of water and salmon.
Read the Karasjok Declaration here.
In 2026, Riddu Riđđu will facilitate meeting places, knowledge exchange, and collaboration among Indigenous river people from different northern regions. As part of this, we are launching an Open Call inviting artists and tradition bearers with connections to Indigenous river communities to apply to take part in the Northern People of the Year delegation at Riddu Riđđu 2026.
Read more and apply here.