Beaivvášgieddi’s Forest Lodge (no.9)
The old forest lodge and usage of its rooms
The room on the right, built in 1875, is the oldest part of the lodge. The house was probably built by the Forestry Authority, since it was called a forest lodge. The lodge was originally located in Beaivvášgieddi, approximately 70 kilometers south of Karasjok, up the river Kárášjohka.
Beaivvášgieddi in map: Beaivvášgieddi and Kárášjohka
The building was moved from Beaivvášgieddi to its current location in 1982, and was and reassembled and restored in 1985 by Jon Ole Andersen, Thorolf Bjørnback, Nils N. Utsi and Avvo Turunen.
Listen Jansa Máret – a joik by Per Tor Turi from Karasjok.
A traditional joik of a person named Jansa Máret from Beaivvášgieddi, by Per Tor Turi from Karasjok, 2019
Between 1909 and 1912, the Nordland Church and School Fund built a chapel in Beaivvášgieddi, intended especially for Sámi reindeer herders.
Around the year 1914 the Church and School Fund built a tenant lodge with a separate room for the parson, the so called vicar’s room.
In 1922 administration of the forest lodge was transferred to the Church and School Fund on the condition that it would be used as a public lodge for “the general public, transportation workers, Forestry Authority workers etc.” However, forest officials and other officials were allowed to be accommodated in the vicar’s room.
Beaivvášgieddi dwellings in the 20th century and a new forest lodge
All the houses in Beaivvášgieddi were sold to Amund Hansen, except for the forest lodge. Amund Hansen then moved the houses to his new farm nearby, named Lásisguoikkanjárga/Grønvold.
Map: Lásesguoika: Lásesguoika and Beaivvášgieddi
The forest lodge was returned to the mountain lodge system on 1 January 1937. The plan was to build a new forest lodge/guesthouse. The Church and School Fund donated 500 crowns to build a new forest lodge but the government did not allocate any money for a new lodge. Vicars s and other officials then had to stay at the lodge at Grønvold’s farm.
Between 1958 and 1959 a new forest lodge was finally built at Beaivvášgieddi. The room on the left was used as a stable for some time, because of its poor condition. Public budget records from 1936 showed that the public lodge was fragile and unsuited as housing.
The new forest lodge was moved to Sámiid Vuorká-Dávvirat in 1982. It was restored in 1985 and officially became part of the Open-air Museum the same year.
Forest lodge signboard
Buildings belonging to the Norwegian Forest Lodge Authority were marked with “Statens fjeldstue” signboards.
Beaivvášgieddi forest lodge signboard was stolen from the Open-air Museum in 2013.
In 2019 the forest lodge was given a new “Statens fjeldstue” signboard from Finnmark County collection. It is an original signboard belonging to another forest lodge.