Silent Knowledge - by Natalia Magnani (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Silent Knowledge explores a contemporary example of Indigenous cultural revival in Sápmi, the Sámi homeland, to investigate issues of embodied cultural memory.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, Natalia Magnani follows a collaboration between Finnish builders and Sää'm (Skolt Sámi) reindeer herders and fishers of northeastern Finland to build a traditional Petsamo root-sewn boat. As these makers adjust their environmental perceptions and relearn barely remembered root-sewing and woodworking techniques, their restoration of material production suggests a "loud" silent, or tacit, knowledge: uncodified skills and wisdom gained through experience that are socially meaningful and politically empowering.

Silent Knowledge unpacks the social and political dynamics of crafting cultural memory for future generations. Magnani demonstrates embodiment as transformation, showing that embodied practice can mediate tensions over who has the right to shape culture by positioning non-Indigenous participants in supporting roles, while keeping Indigenous people firmly at the center of their own distinct history.

Review Quotes

"Engaging to read, beautifully written, and theoretically grounded in community praxis, Silent Knowledge is an important discussion of embodied craft practices and how cultural production is often intercultural in nature."

About the Author

Natalia Magnani is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine. With Matthew Magnani, she is the co-author of The Craft of Belonging: Material Culture and Social Boundaries in Sápmi and the co-editor of Arctic Silk Roads: An Anthropology of the Unbuilt.