Laplandica

…incident, I continued hiking along the northern side of Miellätno River, passing the reindeer worker’s cabin, where the border of Sarek National Park begins, and making camp for a third night a few kilometres south of this landmark. The weather had now changed and rain showers were going to be with me that night as I laid in my tent with thoughts of the next coming day when I’d pass the Alkavare Chapel.

The chapel itself has its own story and is a well-known landmark of Sarek. The chapel is a ways up from Miellätno, sitting on a small shelf of a hill, and just a few hundred meters south from the Kainaij Stream, or according to the new Saamish spelling on the newer maps, Gáinájjågågsj. (With all respects for another culture’s language, I’m more used to the old maps than the new ones)

I poked around along Miellätno, looking for signs of Saami having stayed in or used the area on their migrations, and diagonally worked my way upwards along the slope of Lánjekbuollda and up until I came to the same level as the chapel. Now, as I approached Kainaij I was thinking of the best place to cross it. The stream was thick and there was plenty of water as it went through a deep ravine.

Photo: Remnants of silver mining in 1672 at Alkavare. Alkavare Chapel is in upper right-hand corner.

It was here I happened to look up and looked around me. With a little experience, one learns to tell when the ground area is natural or has been disturbed in some way. Small telltale signs of things that aren’t a natural phenomenon are often obvious to sharpened eyes.

For me, standing on the northern side of the stream and having the Alkavare Chapel a few hundred meters on the other side, I immediately noticed that someone long ago had apparently been digging holes in the ground. The holes were very evident and the age was determined by the lichen growth and wear of the rock. And, I stood there thoroughly amazed at what I was seeing and not knowing anything about these holes. Who dug holes in such an isolated place? Why did they do this? Was it the Saami and these were hunting pitfall holes? How did these happen? When did this happen? What happened afterwards?

The questions just flew in my head. With backpack off, I walked around and found more holes and more disturbed rocks and a huge ditch that was dug out of the side of the ravine and another hole and…and… Signs of something having happened were all over the ground and I was completely absorbed with these holes in the ground.

Although it was a little tricky, I managed to cross Kainaij Stream and climb up the steep bank only to find more holes and disturbed rock and even a foundation from a stone building. After looking at the map, I now saw that this area was designated as a mining area, but when and how this happened, I wanted to know the whole story.

Photo: Foundation of a building from 1672

Because of this first experience of a mining area in the mountains, I couldn’t let it rest. Once back in Jokkmokk, I went to the library and searched for as much information as possible about that mining area in Sarek. Finally, several years later, I met Kenneth Awerbro, who had written a detailed history book about the first silver mines in the mountains. We started our friendship with a common interest…old mines…and the last 15 years have allowed me to research these mines giving me more and more answers to the questions I first had at Alkavare in 1988. My interest in older mines has only increased since then.

So, after finally getting around to the subject, I plan on writing about these mines and a brief history of those which were important and influential for the early development of Jokkmokk. The very first mine in Jokkmokk is from 1638 and is Norrbotten’s oldest known iron ore mine. An interesting story concerning the small hill south of the town of Jokkmokk called…Ruotevare or “Iron Hill” in Saamish.