Music & Rituals.
I’ve
chosen to write this blog on the Sami people. They are the indigenous people of
norther Noray, Sweden, Finland and the far north of Russia. I first learned
about them from a content creator on TikTok Ida Helene Benonisen, who is Sami. This website also goes over the information. I
will mostly be talking about the Sami of Norway as that is the group, I can
find the most information on.
The
article linked above does go into some information about the past between the Norwegian
government and the people of Sami. To sum up the rest of the article there was the
“School Law” that basically was the same for them as it was for the indigenous of
North America. Though I’m not sure if the Sami were taken out of their homes
and away from their families.
Very few rituals survived the forced conversion from their shamanistic ways to that of Christianity. One of the rituals that did survive is the marriage one. Also, the way that they go about the proposal of marriage has survived. It has even been adapted to modern times as well. This website goes into more detail on how the proposal goes down.
The only bit I could find on the music of the Sami people was the joik. But the joik is not just music, it’s a way of telling a story. It is the oldest vocal tradition. It is also called the language of the heart. It can be passed down from generation to generation. According to this website, the Sami got their joik from fairies and elves of the Artic lands.
I would embed a song I found on YouTube, but this link will have to work instead. I found this video and a few others by searching for Sami ritual music. From what I could find in my search for information, I think the joik could have a multitude of uses. That it can be about anything and anyone. They used to use it to pass down information. It could also be used to tell stories about someone or something. Was able to figure out how to get this video embedded.
According to one website that I looked through, you can even go to Norway and experience Sami culture for yourself. I also think it said that while you’re experiencing it you can learn more about it as well. That seems like an amazing way to learn more about the culture.
Hey Simone, I didn't know jolk music was a way of telling a story. It's so cool that it is called the language of the heart. I really like the song. It flows very nicely and sounds very smooth.
ReplyDeleteHey Simone, I love how jolt music has its own way of telling a story. I think most music like this always have a way of sounding smooth which is super cool.
ReplyDeleteHey Simone, I really liked this post, I had never before heard of the Sami people and their music and cultures. I think it is interesting that all different countries have their own style of ritualistic music, even through telling stories like the Sami people.
ReplyDeleteHi Simone, I found this post extremely interesting and informal about the Sami people. I thought it was very interesting the part about how few rituals survived the forced conversion from their shamanistic ways to that of Christianity.
ReplyDelete