Expedition Route
Kautokeino 
Guovdageaidnu
Location: 69.0° N 23.0° E
Country: Norway
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Kautokeino is Norwegianized form of the Sámi name Guovdageaidnu. The first element in Guovdageaidnu is guovda 'middle; half', the last element is geaidnu 'road'. Combined it means 'half way', as the location is half way between two traditional migrating points. This was the first municipality that equally recognized the Sámi name of the community and area, and the community is often called Guovdageaidnu-Kautokeino.
The community of Guovdageaidnu-Kautokeino is in Norway's largest borough which covers 9,687 km2. About 2000 people live in the community with a total of about 3000 in the entire district while there is more than 100,000 reindeer! About a third of the Sámi population work with reindeer herding which is the districts largest industry. 85% of the population have Sámi as their first language and the borough is bi-lingual recognizing both Sámi and Norwegian as official languages, so that they are both used on all official documents and in all meetings.
Guovdageaidnu-Kautokeino is a centre for research and education with establishments such as the Sámi College, the Nordic Sámi Institute, the Food Control Authority, the centre for indigenous populations. Perhaps the cultural center of Northern Sápmi today, and hosts several of the best known Sámi cultural events. The biggest event is the Sámi Easter Festival. Easter has traditionally been the time when the Sámi gather to celebrate weddings and confirmations. Today, the Sámi culture is celebrated with many yoik concerts, Sámi theater shows, reindeer races, snowmobile races, ice fishing competitions, and the Sámi Melody Grand Prix. In addition, the Sámi Film Festival is usually held during the Easter, which is notable for having an outdoor cinema made of snow! In August, there is the White Fish festival, as well as the Autumn Festival. The latter is a weekend-long party full of concerts, but also includes Snowmobile races on the (unfrozen) river. If you go too slow or make too sharp a turn, the snowmobile will sink.
The area has different demographics than most of Norway in that more than 50% of the population is younger than 30 years. Also, the number of people older than 66 years is half of the national average.
Guovdageaidnu-Kautokeino is located in the Arctic highlands of Northern Norway. During five weeks of summer, the sun doesn't set, and during six weeks of winter, the sun doesn't rise. Average precipitation is 360 mm/year, which is one of the lowest precipitation in Norway and it is said this is comparable to parts of the Sahara desert!
The river known as the Kautokeino/Alta-vassdraget runs through the area and it was the site of a major political controversy in the late 1970s and early 80s. Known as the Atla-conflict the Norwegian government set out to construct a hydroelectric power plant in the Alta river in Finnmark, Northern Norway. This would create an artificial lake and inundate the Sámi village of Máze. The plans were strongly opposed by the Sámi even with hunger strikes and an attempt to blow up a bridge by some. A less ambitious project was proposed that would cause less displacement of Sámi residents and less disruption for reindeer migration and wild salmon fishing. Though still at a cost to the Sámi, this was a huge victory to the Native people and their connection to their land.
While winter usually lasts from mid-October till mid-May, the hard winter is only for December-February. During hard winter, temperatures can drop as far as -49°F (-45°C) and beyond. The yearly average temperature over the last 30 years is 27°F (-2.7°C). During summer, temperatures typically range between 53°F and 77°F (12°C-25°C). While this is nice for humans, the temperature, combined with 10000 lakes, makes it a haven for mosquitoes. Consequently, both humans and reindeer tend to flee to the coast for the summer. The warmest temperature recorded was 93.7°F (34.3°C) on June 23 1920.
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Source courtesy of: Pikefossen cascades on the Kautokeino River.
