Who was John Savio beyond the artist that history has handed down to us? Beginning with a handwritten copy of Rabindranath Tagore’s What is Art?, this essay follows an unexpected thread through Savio’s archive. Through the Sámi concept hásttuheaddjin , one who resists, encourages, and brings about change through action, it explores how Savio’s work asserted Sámi presence while simultaneously connecting Sápmi to wider Indigenous and anti-colonial currents of the early twentieth century.