Bonkholmen is named after Sam Bonki, who, according to legend, lived on the island in the 1800s and was the last pagan in Lyngen.
The small islet of Bonkholmen lies just off the coast of Lyngenfjord's only island, Årøya. In 1961, Danish archaeologist Povl Simonsen excavated a bear grave on Bonkholmen. According to the report, the grave contained the skeleton of a bear and the skeleton of a human.
The discovery led Simonsen to link the grave to the legend of Bonki – the last pagan in Lyngen. According to the legend, Bonki furnished his own grave on the islet when he felt death approaching. Simonsen believed Bonki could have rowed over to the mainland and shot a bear, which he then transported back to the cave that was to become his burial site.
Later investigations showed, however, that the bone fragments found were from three different bear individuals. On Bonkholmen, there are remains of bear graves, dated from 650 to 780 AD.
The bear had a special status in Sami pre-Christian religion. There are several descriptions of the rituals surrounding bear hunting, but all state that after the bear had been eaten, the bear's bones were to be gathered and buried.
The story of Bonki
How Povl Simonsen was handed it by a local labourer:
Bonki was a Sami and lived as an old man alone on his island. This was at the time when the church was at Karnes (the 1730s), and in front of the church door stood the pillory. At that time, it was mandatory to attend church on Sundays. Bonki was a pagan and naturally did not go to church. The priest sent for him several times without success. Then the priest sent the sheriff, and he took Bonki to church on a Sunday and made him stand in the pillory. This was repeated for three Sundays in a row. Then Bonki said, «Now I have been to church enough for my time,» and he went home to his island, and people left him in peace there. Some time later, Bonki felt that he would soon die. There was no one in Lyngen who could or would bury him according to his religious rites. Bonki then prepared his own grave, and when he felt death approaching, he lay down in the grave, and there he died and remained.
Sources and current links
Bear diggers and rituals surrounding the bear hunt, saivu.com
Povl Simonsen, Store norske leksikon
