Posts in June 2009

Sami music

Posted by Kari
Jun
30
2009

Traditional Sami music revolves around singing rather than instruments.  In fact, you probably will not find any purely instrumental pieces in true Sami music.  It is the voice that is the most important.  Although the joik (yoik) originally referred to several types of traditional Sami singing, today it refers to all types Sami singing.  The sound of a joik compares to traditional Native American chanting, with the emphasis on the voice, rather than instruments.  Joiks usually has either no lyrics or very few at all.  They are meant to represent a person or a place, but not literally.  Rather, the ”yoiker” attempts to transfer the essence of the chosen person to the song.  So the song is not about the person, but is supposed to reflect his-her essence, or the essence of a place.  This concept is difficult for me to understand, but is essential to understanding joiks. 

As I mentioned before, a joik is typically sung a cappella, but especially modern Sami joiks sometimes use a drum (en tromme) or other instrument, such as an accordion (et trekkspill) or fiddle (en fele) .  While the tonality of a joik is at the disgression of the yoiker, usually it is pentatonic, which means that it uses a musical scale with five pitches per octave, rather than seven, which is what the heptatonic, or major scale, uses.  Joiks do not rhyme and follow no sort of structure. The song is totally up to the yoiker. 

Today, with the influence of the radio, pop culture, and declining practice of Sami traditional religion, joiking has declined dramatically.  Nevertheless, there are still very famous yoikers that deserve to be mentioned.  The most famous Sami yoiker is Mari Boine (Norway) who sings a kind of folk-rock with Sami joik roots.  I heard her once in concert and she was absolutely fabulous.  I felt like I was almost in my own little dream world.  I must have been close to feeling the ”essence” of the person or place she was concentrating on. 

Other well-known Sami artists include Wimme Sari and Nils Aslak-Valkeapää (Finland-he performed at the opening ceremony of the 1994 olympics in Lillehammer, Norge).  The Finnish folk-metal group, Shaman, incorporated Sami joiking into their music, producing the first heavy metal music with Sami characteristics. 

It might sound a little weird at first, but Sami music is very interesting and extremely relaxing.  I guess you can kind of make of it what you want. 

 

 

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Sami

Posted by Kari
Jun
27
2009

This is a picture of a Sami couple in traditional costume in Oslo on Syttende Mai in 2006.

Upon first glance, this word looks like it could be Japanese, but it is not.  The Sami people are the indigenous people that inhabit parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.  They are among the largest group of indigenous ethnic people in Europe.  The Sami speak Sami languages, which are characterized as ‘Finno-Lappic’ languages, part of the ‘Uralic’ language group.  ‘Uralic’ languages include Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari, and Udmurt.  If you’ll notice back when I mentioned ‘Finno-Lappic’ languages, you might have thought the the word ‘Lapp‘ is more familiar than Sami.  Lapps or Laplanders are deragatory names for the Sami people and unfortunately they are more well-known terms to a lot of people than Sami is.  The word lapp means a patch of cloth for mending clothes, which is probably where the deragatory terms came from, describing traditional Sami garb called gatki.

The Sami people of northern Scandinavia and Russia have inhabited these regions for at least 2,500 years.  There are several anthropological theories that predict the geographic and cultural origins of the Sami people.  One of the theories states that the Sami people orginiated on the Iberian peninsula, their ancestors being the Catalonians and the Basque people.  Another theory claims that the Sami people come from the Volga-Ural region.  It’s nice when historians discover soemthing and agree on a theory, but I have always thought that’s it is more fun to entertain the theories and be unsure.  Historically the Sami were nomadic people that hunted, fished, farmed, and herded reindeer.  Today only the minority of Sami people are nomadic and maintain these forms of livlihood.  Roughly half of the estimated 50,000-100,000 Samis today live in Norway. 

The traditional Sami religion was based on the shaman, similar to native Americans in the United States.  The shaman, or noaidis would enter a trance with the aid of a drum and was able to prophesy and predict future success and welfare of the community.  The drum was the link between the people and the gods.  The Sami gods were centered around the sun.  Prayers and sacrifices were made to Leaibolmmai, the Alder tree man, the god of hunting and animals. 

Although Christianity came to Norway in the 13th century, it wasn’t until the 18th century that the religion was pushed upon the Sami people.  The Sami began to paint Christian symbols on their drums below the paintings of the shaman gods.  Samis also began to attend Christian services on Sunday and practiced the Sami religion at home.  Norwegians placed a stronger influence of Christian religion on the Sami by confiscating the rune drums and either burned them or sent them abroad to musuems.  Samis who showed visible signs of shamanistic pre-Christian religion were actually criminalized.  Norwegian authorities were very clear about the desire to universalize Norwegian culture; they forced the Samis to assimilate into the greater Norwegian culture.  Between 1900 and 1940, Norwegian authorities spent a great deal of money on eradicating Sami culture, languages, and Sami education. 

After World War II the pressure on the Sami to become/remain assimilated into Norwegian culture was relaxed and there was somewhat of a cultural revival.  Today the Norwegian authorities and Norwegians in general actually support the Sami culture as a separate part of Norwegian culture as a whole.  Samis are Norwegians too.  There are government grants today to promote Sami language, culture, and religion.  In Norway, the Sami parliament was established in 1989 and since then, they have been able to democratically elect representatives who see to it that Sami culture, language, education, and industry are regulated and protected. 

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Midnattsol

Posted by Kari
Jun
24
2009

Norway-land of the midnight sun.  Midnattsol is one of those words that is really two words smushed together that is pretty easy to figure out if you know what sol means from another romance language and if you can figure that midnatt means midnight…  I have only experienced the midnattsol in one place-Norway.  Anywhere north of polarsirkelen (arctic circle) or nearby it and south of the antarctic circle experiences the midnattsol for a period of time during the year.  Since there really aren’t people who live south of the antarctic circle, the only people who actually experience this phenomenon are those who live in the far north-people in Canada, the United States (only Alaska) Norway, Sweden, Denmark (Greenland-an autonomous country within the kingdom of Denmark) Finland, and Russia.  And there aren’t many people who live in these far north regions, so there is a small portion of the world’s population that get to really enjoy this awesome midnattsol. 

The farther north you are above the arctic circle, the longer the sun will be out and the longer the duration of days the sun will remain out as long as it does.  So, in way northern Norway, in Tromsø for example, there are many days in the summer when the sun never truly sets.  This is great for parties and outdoor activities of course, but sleeping becomes difficult.  Many people break out their black shades or curtains to block the sunlight so they can catch some sleep.  Of course the midnattsol affects visitors and foreigners moreso than natives who have become used to it.  Jews, in particular, are affected for a reason other than bodily consequences (although of course may be affected bodily as well), and that is religion.  This is true because practicing Jews have religious rites based on the 24 hr day/night cycle.  This issue was cause for a Jewish body of law in the polar regions.  Climatic conditions have affects even on religion.

The first time I went to Norway I was with my dad visiting some relatives.  We were staying at one of their houses on a fjord north of Bergen.  They had a huge party down by the water and everyone was having a blast.  It wasn’t until about 3 am that my dad and I looked at our watches and our jaws dropped.  Did someone mess with our watches?  How could it possibly be that late?  Why aren’t we tired?  It was definitely the middle of the night and we weren’t tired because we were having so much fun and when it’s light out, even if it stays light for longer than your body is used to, you kind of just go with it until you reach a point (3 am that night) when you start to feel tired and wonder what’s going on.�

In Norway, the time to experience the midnattsol is between June 12 and July 1 (at the arctic circle).  This duration of time increases as you move north. 

It is quite a treat.  If you are in Norway during this time period, I highly suggest traveling northward to experience this phenomenon.  Just don’t plan to get a whole lot of sleep. 

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Sankthansaften

Posted by Kari
Jun
22
2009

  This is the stavkirke (stave church) in Røldal where people would make pilgrames to the crucifix for it’s healing powers.

Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, other northern European countries and even some eastern and southern countries celebrate midsummer, also known in Norway (and Denmark) as Sankthansaften or Jonsok.  Sankt Hans is another way of saying St. Johannes or St. John, referring to John the Baptist (Jonsok means John’s wake), who was thought to have been born 6 months before Jesus, on June 24th.  This holiday has roots both in pre-Christian/pagan and Catholic traditions.  It’s funny how that often is the case.  Traditions often start out meaning one thing and then evolve when other knowledge is gained. 

Midsummer is usually celebrated between June 21st and June 24th.  The date that midsummer is celebrated varies between cultures, but since John the Baptist was thought to have been born on the 24th, this day has special meaning.  So before John the Baptist, the 24th held no real significance.  In Norway, in particular, Sankthansaften is celebrated on June 23.  Historically, the idea was to celebrate the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, by gathering with friends and family to eat, drink, make a bonfire, and pick flowers.  No, really.  The bonfire was lit to protect the people from evil spirits that were thought to be lurking around when the sun turned southwards.  Flowers were picked, marigolds to be specific, for their alleged healing powers.  It was not uncommon to get married on this celebration, which would symbolize new life.

Once Catholicism made it’s way into the tradition, it became popular to make pilgrimages to churches and holy springs.  In Norway, up until 1840, there was a pilgrimage to the stave church in Røldal (southwestern Norway), which had a crucifix that was thought to have special healing powers.  I’m not quite sure why at this particular time of the year people were concerned with healing.  But there are some traditions that I am afraid we are not necessarily meant to understand completely. 

The best part about this night, this celebration, is that no matter where you are in Norway, the sun is up in the sky until at least midnight, even in southern Norway.  Up north, it shines all night long.  Easy to party, hard to sleep.  If I didn’t understand why some days were lighter longer than others, I would probably adopt unscietific ways to explain the phenomenon, and then celebrate that in strange ways as well, wouldn’t you?

 
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Bergen-the meadow among the mountains

Posted by Kari
Jun
18
2009

Situated in probably my favorite part of Norway, Bergen got it’s name from the old Norse words “berg” or ”bjørg” (both meaning hill or mountain) and ”vin” (a word which now is the word for wine, but in old Norse meant meadow or pasture).  Bergen is situated among what are known as ”de syv fjell,” which means the seven mountains.  Most of you learn the number 7 is ”sju,” but in Bergen, where many people still speak a conservative ”riksmål” or ”byspråk,” an urban or city langugage kept alive in Bergen in order to avoid the influence of urban Danish.  So syv is 7.  I will dedicate another post to clarifying the Norwegian language and it’s many influences and forms. 

 Which 7 mountains the city is known for is contested, but the following are definitely included:  Ulriken, Fløyen, Løvstakken, and Damgårdsfjellet.  The other 3 are among the following: Lyderhorn, Sandviksfjellet, Blåmanen, Rundemanen, and Askøyfjellet.  These mountains are only just a few of the mountains around Bergen.�

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway (with about 252,000 inhabitants, although if you count the greater Bergen area there are roughly 385,000 people) and is the administrative center of Hordaland fylke (county).  There are nitten (19) fylker in Norway altogether.  Of all the citites in Europe, Bergen is one of 9 cities that proudly bore the title of ”European Capital of Culture” in 2000 (cities designated by the European Union for one calendar year to show off the culture).  Hurrah for Bergen!

A brief synoposis of the history of this fine city…it is thought to have been founded by Olav Kyrre in 1070 AD.  It actually was the capital of Norway for a stint in time (in between the first capital, Trondheim, and the current capital, Oslo.  During the late 13th century, Bergen became one of the most important cities in the Hanseatic League (an alliance of trading cities and their guilds all along the coast from the Baltic to the North Sea).  Bergen traded mostly cod brought down from northern Norway.  During this high time for Bergen as a hub for the Hanseatic Leauge, a certain part of the city housed men who spoke a form of German.�

Another pretty important blip in Bergen’s history is the arrival of the Svartedauden (Black Death or bubonic plague) by an English ship in 1349.  This plague killed 30-60 % of the population of Europe.  Between 1350 and 1550 in Norway, research shows that the population declined as much as 65%. 

As long as we are on the subject of devastation, there have been many serious fires in Bergen because most houses were made of wood, one of which occured in 1955 and destroyed part of one of the most well-known parts of the city-Bryggen or Tyskebryggen (the German wharf) - a series of buildings that the Hanseatic League occupied during it’s existence. 

There is much more I could write about Bergen, but that will have to wait til a later post.  If you go to Norway, you absolutely cannot skip this city.  It’s not even that there is that much to DO in Bergen, but to be there and experience the fjords and the mountains is spectacular.  Take a ride up Fløybanen, a funicular that takes you to the top of mount Fløyen, where you can hike around, take beautiful pictures of the city and sea below, and enjoy a meal!

 
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