Ph. D.

Marko Jouste

Saami musical cultures

The Saami are an indigenous people living in Scandinavia, Northern Fennoscandia and the Kola
Peninsula. The land of the Saami is located in the territories of Norway, Sweden, Finland and
Russia. During the Middle Ages the Saami inhabited large areas compared to the present situation,
covering considerably large areas of the modern Scandinavia and parts of the North-West Russia. In
historical sources, the Saami are often referred to with the names Phinnoi, Scrithifinoi or Lapp.
The current amount of the Saami is estimated to be about 85,000–100,000 people. However,
due to many centuries of forced assimilation in above-mentioned four countries, it is difficult to
estimate the exact number of the Saami. In the Nordic countries there are national Saami
Parliaments, which have a representative role in the administration of the Saami areas. In these
countries there is also a system of schooling and higher education for the Saami.
Historically, the Saami can be divided into several different groups according to language,
source of livelihood and the degree to which local environmental characteristics have influenced
their cultures. All the local, traditional Saami cultures have many features in common, the most
important one being the common origin of the Saami languages and the principle of ecological
relationship with their environment as their basic source of livelihood.
In a historical and cultural sense, there is a pronounced difference between the Eastern and
Western Saami. The Eastern group is strongly influenced by Russian and Karelian cultures as well
as with the Orthodox Church. The Western Saami have connections with Scandinavian and Finnish
cultures and with the Lutheran Church.
A first general view to the Saami culture was provided for European readers through
“Lapponia” by Johannes Schefferus. Published in 1674, it served as one of the basic books
providing knowledge of the Saamis outside the Saapmi area for centuries. However, Saami
languages have a long history as a written language: the first book in Saami language dates back to
1619. Until the beginning of 20th century, practically all literature in Saami publications is
associated with the Lutheran Church. For the past centuries, the Saami cultures have considerably
suffered from repressive administration by the states ruling them, but to some extent they have also
been able to achieve a cultural renaissance, which has, in some Saapmi areas, led to flourishing
literary and musical achievements.
The Northern Saami musical culture

The Northern Saami form the largest Saami group. The Northern Saami culture is dispersed into
Norway, Sweden and Finland. The musical culture of the Northern Saami is perhaps internationally
the best known of all Saami cultures because of its visibility in the world music business since the
1980s. In the traditional culture, yoiking is an exclusively national musical expression of the
Northern Saami. Although there are some general features in common with the musical styles of
other circumpolar peoples, the northern Saami yoik, in its traditional and modern forms, is a unique
form of vocal art. In Northern Saami the verb juoigat means 'to yoik'.
A yoik (the Northern Saami concept for a particular yoik is luohti) is an unaccompanied song
with special kinds of social functions in the Saami society. With a yoik, Saami performer refers to a
large, traditionally orally transmitted historical knowledge of the Saami society, concerning people,
nature, animals, places, social events, etc. The Swedish Saami writer, Johan Turi, describes yoiking
as “the art of remembering” in his famous book Muittalus samid birra (The story of the Saami)
from 1910.
The traditional Northern Saami yoik differs also conceptually from the Western song tradition.
While a Western singer sings about someone or something, a yoik symbolically describes someone
or something as a whole. Furthermore, if the yoik is a so-called individual yoik, the individual, the
object of a yoik literally owns his/her yoik. This can be understood from the perspective that a
person has a copyright to his/her own life. Usually a performer yoiks someone else, it is considered
inappropriate for someone to yoik his/her own yoik in public.
During the performance of an individual yoik, the performer recalls the characteristics of a
person and often his/her story. The yoiker leads the telling of the story by alluding to the character
of the person yoiked or to some important events in his/her life. It is not often necessary to reveal
much about the character of the person yoiked, because it is expected that the participants of
yoiking or other listeners in the Saami society be acquainted with the corresponding person.
Especially in the earlier times it was common that people knew the melodies of each other's yoiks.
In addition to people as objects of individual yoiks, there are many traditional yoiks of animals and
places or yoiks referring more generally to various elements of the Saami society.
Along with the mentioned referentiality of the yoik, another elementary part of yoiking is
voice production. The Northern Saami make a clear distinction between yoiking and singing. The
traditional yoik has preserved its place in the Saami society, although the past few decades have
seen a slight change, as the international cultural and economical systems have become integrated
into the Saami region. Every Saami may not be able to yoik anymore, but the yoik tradition has
nevertheless had an effective impact on modern Saami music.
Besides yoik, the Northern Saami have a song tradition in common with the Norwegians,
Swedes and Finns. This includes secular songs, Lutheran psalms and lullabies. The modern era of
the Northern Saami music began in the 1960s. Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (1943–2001) or Áillohaš, as
he was often called, is considered the pioneer of contemporary Saami music. He was the first
internationally known musician who began to publish traditional yoiks and his own compositions
through audio recordings. He started to accompany yoiks with guitar and later he worked with other
musicians. As many others in his generation, Áillohaš was interested in many fields of artistic work.
Besides the musical work, Áillohaš was a poet, writer, painter and photographer. The 1970s and
1980s witnessed many music groups following the road that Áillohaš had opened. Deadnugátte
nuorat (The Teno Walley Youths), The Máze nieiddad (The Girls from Máze) and Ivnniiguin
(Colours) all began to mix Saami and Western music.
During the past three decades there has been a boom of modern Saami music and dozens of
new records are published every year. The two internationally most famous Northern Saami artists
are Mari Boine (Norway) and Wimme Saari (Finland). Both started their performing and recording
careers during the 1980s. Mari Boine’s music is strongly influenced by not only the yoik tradition
but by Saami psalm-singing and world music as well. Wimme Saari often combines yoik tradition
and modern dance music in his work. Other active Saami artists and groups from Finland are e.g.
Ulla Pirttijärvi both solo and with her group Ulda, Angelit, Niko Valkeapää, Vilddas, Niillas
Holmberg, Somby and Áilu Valle.
There are many Northern Saami artists and groups in Norway. Some are traditional yoikers
like Inga Juuso, Mattis Heatta, Dagny Biti Green, Ivvár Niillas (Nils Porsanger), Iŋgor Ántte Ailu
Gaub and Ánte Mihkkal (Ánte Mikkel) Gaup. Tradition and fusion can be heard in many groups like
Johan Sara Jr. & Group, Sancuari, Sverre Porsanger and Orbina. The Beaivvaš Sámi Theatre has
also had an important role presenting Saami culture as well as Saami music. Besides the modern
recordings, an enormous amount of the Northern Saami musical tradition have been recorded and
preserved in Scandinavian sound archives. Nowadays Saami music can be heard on various music
festivals. Some examples of particularly Saami cultural events include, for example, Riddu Riđđu
(Olmmavaiggi, Norway), the Eastern Festival (Guovdageaidnu and Karašjok, Norway), the Winter
Market of Jokkmokk (Sweden) and Ijahis Idja (Anár, Finland).
The Southern Saami musical cultures in Sweden and Norway

The present cultural situation of the South Saami in Sweden and Norway reveals a much stronger
history of acculturation and assimilation with the Scandinavian culture than in the case of the
Northern Saamis, and this is reflected in the musical culture as well.
The most widely known of the Norwegian South-Saami artists is Frode Fjellheim. He has
recorded solo albums as well as worked with a band called Transjoik. Fjellheim has a notable
amount of recordings, e.g. Saajve Dans 1994, Mahkalahke 1997, Meavraa 2000, Uja Nami 2004,
Bewafá 2005. Besides Fjellheim there are only few other South-Saami yoikers and musicians. In the
field of traditional music Krister Stoor and Jörgen Stenberg are well-known. Charlotta Kappfjell
was a founding member of the first South-Saami group called Almetjh tjøøngkeme.
The genre of individual songs among the South Saamis is called vuelie. The echoes of the old
Swedish Saami vuelie tradition can be heard through the recordings made by Carl Tirén in the first
decades of the 20th century and in the later recordings by the Swedish Radio. Tirén published also
Die Lappische Volksmusik, which is a collection of melodies from his own fieldwork. There is as
well a notable collection of archive material in the Swedish sound archives.

The Eastern Saami musical cultures in Russia and Finland

The Eastern Saami cultures in Russia can be divided to three main groups. The traditional Ter
Saami areas are located in most Eastern part of the Kola Peninsula. Kildin Saamis inhabit the
central part and Skolt Saamis the most Western part in the border area of Russian, Finland and
Norway. In Finland there are also Aanaar Saami people, belonging to the Eastern Saami group.
During the 20th Century, the Eastern Saami cultures faced a remarkable assimilation process
especially in the era of the Soviet Union. The Skolt Saami territories were divided in the beginning
of the 20th century by the border of Finland and Russia. For this reason, contacts between the Saami
living in the Kola Peninsula and in Scandinavia have been rather faint. Furthermore, during the
Soviet time, most of the Saami were forced to move out from their original living areas and they
were relocated to the few central cities like Lovozero, Murmansk and Yona. This had a crucial
impact on the local traditional musical cultures. Thus young generations have been effectively
assimilated with the Russian culture. There is archive material of Kola Saami music in the Russian,
Estonian, Finnish and Norwegian sound archives.
Lately there has been a local cultural revitalisation eminently among the Aanaar Saami and
Skolt Saami but also in some extent by the Kildin Saami, and traditional musical heritage is still
alive in many Eastern Saami regions and there are singers who perform the traditional luvvjt.
However, there are only a few publications of Eastern Saami music. Kildin and Skolt Saami music
can be found from Soome-Ugri Rahvaste Laule - Saami Rahvalaule 'Finno-Ugrian Folksongs -
Saami Folksongs' (1977), Samodejatenoje iskusstvo narodnostei Severa 'The Amateur Art of the
Northern People' (1983), Narodnaja Musika Saamov SSSR 'Music from the Saami people in the
Soviet Union' (1987), Mââddar ååjji lee’ud 'The leu´dd of the Ancestors – Historical Skolt Sámi
leu´dds' (2007) and (2008). Son vuäinn 'She sees – Skolt Sámi leu´dds from Kola'. More recent
Saami artists from Kola region are Elvira Elja Galgina and Ivan Mamrehun.
In Finland, the traditional culture of the Skolt Saamis (Skolt Saami Sä’mmlaž) has also
suffered from forced migration during and after the Second World War. However, the Skolt Saamis
have been able to keep the traditional musical culture alive at least to some extent. There are several
tradition bearers who have been active from the 1990s. Due to relatively large archived collections
of Skolt Saami materials, revitalisation of the song culture has begun.
The musical tradition of the Skolt Saamis consists of several genres. In the centre of the Skolt
Saami musical tradition is the genre of vocally performed individual song called leu´dd. Other
important forms of musical expression include both secular and religious songs, laments and
instrumental music performed with accordions and harmonicas. Many Skolt Saami songs have their
stylistic origin in the neighbouring Russian or Karelian song traditions.
The leu´dd tradition has many principal similarities with the Northern Saami yoik tradition,
although the musical style of the leu´dd also has a relationship with Karelian runic songs and
Russian ballads and bylinas. According to Vä’ss Semenoja – a famous Skolt Saami tradition bearer
and performer “leu´dd is a description of the way how someone has lived”. Generally, leu´dd is a
form of narrative art, which expresses the oral history of the Skolt Saamis. Like the yoik, leu´dd is
owned by its object. However, hearing one’s own leu´dd has been a cultural taboo in the traditional
Skolt Saami society, whereas in the Northern Saami yoik tradition the individual yoiks are often
performed in the presence of their object.
Leu´dds usually consist of lengthy, narrative texts. Although there are often very detailed
descriptions of personal life stories and of commonly known social events in leu´dd texts, there are
also many enigmatic elements (for the outsider) in the way the events are presented. Similar to the
yoiks, the meanings of leu´dd texts is fully revealed only for a person informed of the local culture
and people in question. During the recent years, the modern music has influenced the Skolt Saami
music as well, like the first Skolt Saami rock group, Tiina Sanila band.
Aanaar Saami people are living in the district of Inari, Finland. The Aanaar Saami individual
song is called livđe. A written form of their language was developed during the 19th century and
there are also livđe-texts from this period. There is also a vast collection of sound recordings of
Aanaar Saami music from the first half of the 20th century. Due to the influence of neighbouring
Finnish and Northern Saami cultures, the process of cultural change has been very strong among the
Aanaar Saami and they have adopted some parts of Finnish song tradition and the Northern Saami
yoik tradition. Nevertheless, a few artists, like Aune Kuuva and Ilmari Mattus, have continued to
perform music of Aanaar Saami. At the present Aanaar Saami language has stretched itself to a
form of rap-music, performed and recorded by Amoc ‘Aanaar Master of Ceremony’.

(This paper will be published in the Barents Encyclopedia: http://barentshistory.eu/)

References and Suggestions for Further Reading

Graff, Ola (2004). «Om kjæresten min vil jeg joike» Undersøkelser over en utdødd sjøsamisk
joiketradisjon [I will sing about my loved one. A research of a vanished Sea Saami yoik
tradition]. Karasjok: Davvi Girji.
Jouste, Marko (2011). Tullâcalmaaš kirdâccij ’tulisilmillä lenteli’ – Inarinsaamelainen 1900-luvun
alun musiikkikulttuuri paikallisen perinteen ja ympäröivien kulttuurien vuorovaikutuksessa
[Tullâčalmaaš kirdâččij ’The one who flew with the fire-eyes’ – Aanaar Sámi music culture as
interaction of the local tradition and neighbouring cultures in the beginning of the 20th
century]. Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 1650. Tampere: Tampere University Press.
Jouste, Marko, Elias Mosnikoff and Seija Sivertsen (2007). Mââddar ååjji lee’ud – Historiallisia
kolttasaamelaisia leu’ddeja [The leu´dd of the Ancestors – Historical Skolt Sámi leu´dds].
Inari: Saamelaismuseosäätiö & Kansanmusiikki-Instituutti & Kolttien kyläkokous.
Launis, Armas (1908). Lappische Juoigos-Melodien [Lappish yoik-melodies]. Suomalais-
Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia XXVI. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura.
Lehtola, Jorma (2007) Laulujen Lappi. Tarinoita haavemaasta [The Lappland of Songs. Stories of a
dreamland]. Inari: Kustannus Puntsi.
Saastamoinen, Ilpo (2008). Son vuäinn – Hän näkee – Kolttasaamelaisten leuddeja Kuolasta [She
sees – Skolt Sámi leu´dds from Kola]. Helsinki: Maailman musiikin keskus.
Schefferus, Johannes (1963) [1674]. Lapponia. Transl. Tuomo Itkonen. Kariston Klassillinen
Kirjasto N:o 70. Lapin tutkimusseuran Acta Lapponica No. 2. Hämeenlinna: Arvi A. Karisto
Oy.
Tirén, Karl (1942). Die Lappische Volksmusik. Aufzeichnungen von juoikos-melodien bei den
Schwedishen Lappen. Ed. E. Maker. Nordiska Museet: Acta Lapponica III. Stockholm: Hugo
Gebers Förlag.
Travina, Irina Konstantinovna (1987). Saamskije narodnyje pesni [Traditional Saami songs].
Moskva.
Turi, Johan (1910). Muitalus sámiid birra [A Story of the Saami]. Copenhagen.