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The indigenous Scandinavians who sing to their reindeer

December 2018

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Ingá-Máret Gaup-Juuso lives in a Finnish village near the Norwegian border, among the reindeer herding communities of Sweden and Norway.

She’s a Sami – the largest indigenous group of people in Europe – and one of a few who herd reindeer using yoik, a traditional style of singing passed down through the generations.

Yoik was traditionally important to reindeer herders, especially in the days before snowmobiles and other modern luxuries.

The familiar sound helps the reindeer identify their herder and feel safe in their company.

Ingá-Máret shared her story with 大象传媒 ALBA’s The Power of Yoik.

A herder would yoik when arriving at the herd. The reindeer would then be able to associate the singing with a herder with whom they had previously been in contact.

Ingá-Máret explained that familiarity is important when herding reindeer; they feel safe when they hear a voice they know.

The Sami people follow the reindeer rather than gather them, since reindeer instinctively want to be out foraging for food in the snow, which means that Sami herders can travel great distances for up to eight hours a day to follow their herd.

That’s a lot of singing!