Joik

What a joik is

In English the word joik now covers every kind of traditional Sámi singing, though it first named only one style among several. A joik may have a few words, or none at all. Some are short and personal; others carry longer, more epic texts. Traditionally it is sung without accompaniment, though today a drum or other instruments may join in, and a Sámi ceremonial drum is not used for this. The tones are usually pentatonic, yet a singer is free to use whatever tones they wish. Nothing in the form is fixed: a singer may improvise, and each joik points at one particular person, animal or place.

Origins and suppression

Because Sámi culture was carried by speech, not writing, the beginnings of joik are undated. Just Qvigstad, who wrote down Sámi oral tradition, recorded a legend that traces joik to a gift from the fairies and elves of the far north. Researchers of music count joik among Europe's longest unbroken singing traditions. When the Sámi were Christianised, joiking was judged sinful. It was tied to the noaidi, the Sámi shamans, and to ritual from before Christianity, and a joik could sound like a spell. Assimilation policies and the disapproval of churches pushed it down, and in the 1950s some Sámi schools banned it. In 2014 a parish council debated banning all music but hymns from churches in Kautokeino and Maze; the idea was dropped.

Styles and forms

Several kinds of Sámi singing sit under the word joik. Vuelie belongs to the South Sámi and has an older feel, because its growth stopped when Christianity arrived and many South Sámi gave up joiking to avoid being thought heathen. Luohti is the North Sámi form and is the most developed today. Leuʹdd, from the Skolt Sámi, is a different kind of singing and not a joik at all. Two styles are heard now: a quieter traditional manner often called mumbling, and a newer one taken up by younger singers and folded into contemporary Sámi music.

Today and change

A revival began in the 1970s, which academics have called the joik renaissance. Sámi musicians in Norway set up their own record company, Jårgalæddji, with backing from Norwegian and Swedish culture boards, and more than forty albums and cassettes of Sámi and joik music appeared before the company failed in the mid-1980s. Joik also travelled into popular culture: the Norwegian Eurovision entry of 1980, Sámiid ædnan, wove joik into its chorus, and the 2019 entry included a joik solo. Frode Fjellheim's Vuelie opens Disney's Frozen. The Sámi Grand Prix, a yearly contest with entrants from Norway, Sweden and Finland, has a joik category performed without instruments.

How Joik is kept

A joik is performed by one voice, usually without instruments, though a drum or other accompaniment is possible now. At a gathering the singer may stand among others; in competition, joikers wear traditional Sámi clothing and sing a joik prepared for the occasion, with no accompaniment. Listeners take part by hearing a person, an animal or a place being called to mind. Joiks are also made for new babies, kept for a lifetime, and passed on. In church settings joiking has often been avoided or argued over, and outside them it moves between family occasions, concerts and festivals.

When and where

Joik has no fixed day or season. A joik may be made when a child is born, and then sung at family gatherings for years afterwards. Competitions such as the Sámi Grand Prix put joik on stage once a year, and concert performances happen throughout the year.

It belongs to Sápmi, the Sámi homeland that stretches across northern Norway, Sweden and Finland. Joiking is strongest in the northern Sámi areas, where personal joiks are common, and South Sámi vuelie continues further south. Contestants at the Sámi Grand Prix come from all three countries, and Sámi musicians now perform joik internationally.

What Joik means

To those who joik, the song is a way of holding a person or a place in the world rather than describing it. The old verb for performing a joik works like the verb for painting: one joiks one's friend, one does not joik about the friend. Joiks given at birth stay with a person for life. Because joiking was once tied to shamanic ritual and called sinful, singing it can also be an act of keeping Sámi language and culture alive.

Questions people ask about Joik

See also

PolonaiseA traditional Polish partner dance in triple metre, kept as a national custom and UNESCO heritage.Rapper swordA fast-paced five-person sword dance from the coalfields of North East England, kept alive by teams worldwide.Friday the 13thA Western folk superstition regarding the unluckiness of a Friday falling on the 13th.VasaloppetA 90 km cross-country ski race from Sälen to Mora, run every March since 1922

Good reading and sources

• Joik on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.