The Saami are indigenous people who live in the region spanning northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northe-eastern Russia, known more commonly in America as “Laplanders”. Last year on Sweden’s Got Talent a young Saami man, Jon Henrik Fjällgren wowed the judges (and eventually won the competition) with a traditional song style known as “joik”. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the Joik:
The joik is a unique form of cultural expression for the Sami people in Sápmi.[3] This type of song can be deeply personal or spiritual in nature, often dedicated to a human being, an animal, or a landscape as a personal signature.[1]Improvisation is not unusual. Each joik is meant to reflect a person or place. The Sami verb for presenting a joik (e.g. Northern Samijuoigat) is a transitive verb, which is often interpreted as indicating that a joik is not a song about the person or place, but that the joiker is attempting to evoke or depict that person or place through song – one joiks one’s friend, not about one’s friend (similarly to how one doesn’t paint or depict about a flower, but depicts the flower itself).
The song below is about his friend, Daniel, who died (preceded by a little backstory):
https://youtu.be/bRfMIbBAJ1A
Of course that is a somewhat modernized style. Here’s some more traditional yoik:
And then back to modernized forms, from the same singer as the Yoik of the Wind, Sofia Jannok:
That guy on Sweden’s Got Talent, was amazing. When I saw everyone crying, I couldn’t help but wipe away a few tears too. I was really fascinated by the fact that he was born in Columbia and adopted.
Yes, I’m sure he has an interesting story.