Nils-Aslak Valkeapää

Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, known as Áilu in the Northern Sámi language and with the stage name of Áillohaš (23 March 1943 – 26 November 2001), was a Finnish Sámi writer, musician and artist. He was one of the most internationally recognised contributors of Sámi culture. He was mostly known for his joiks and poems. He was the official provincial artist of Lapland from 1978 to 1983. He was given the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1991 for his work called Beaivi, áhčážan (engl. The Sun, My Father).

Early life

Valkeapää was born on March 24, 1943, in Enontekiö in Finnish Sápmi to a family of nomadic Sámi reindeer herders. His father, Johannes J. Valkeapää, was Finnish Sámi from the Kaaresuvanto area, while his mother, Ellen Susanna Aslaksdatter Bals, was Norwegian Sámi from Uløya in Troms. Valkeapää lived in Finnish Sápmi until his father's death, when his family moved to Skibotn in Norwegian Sápmi.

Career

Music Valkeapää first came into the public eye as a performer of traditional Sámi joik and was central to the revitalisation of the genre. His debut record, Joikuja, was released in 1968. In 1973, folk and jazz musicians Seppo Paakkunainen, Ilpo Saastamoinen and Esko Rosnell invited Valkeapää on a musicians' retreat. During the retreat, Valkeapää was inspired by Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 and its African-American spiritual influences to develop fusion joik. In collaboration with Paakkunainen, he developed Juoigansinfonija, a jazz-joik symphony. In 1978, Valkeapää released his jazz-joik record Sámiid eatnan duoddariid. Valkeapää continued to perform jazz-joik and resisted efforts to "preserve" the traditional form, stating in his book Terveisiä Lapista: "When I hear talk of conserving the culture, I see an investigator of folklore in my mind’s eye, and interpret their activities quite literally: cataloguing a dead culture." Valkeapää also composed the music for and acted in the Oscar-nominated 1987 film Ofelaš. A recording of Valkeapää performing the theme for the film Ofelaš was sampled by British musician Mike Oldfield in "Prayer for the Earth," a track on his 1994 album The Songs of Distant Earth.

Valkeapää received further international recognition as a musician when he performed at the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

Valkeapää's debut book of poetry, Giđa ijat čuovgadat (Spring Nights So Bright), was self-published in Oulu in 1974. A Finnish translation by Anneli Rosell, Kevään yöt niin valoisat, was published in 1980 with illustrations by Valkeapää.

In 1984, Valkeapää was one of the founders of the publishing house DAT. He established DAT to publish his books and music and to support and publish other Sámi artists and writers.

Valkeapää became the cultural coordinator of the WCIP in 1978. In this role, he organised Davvi Šuvva, the world's first Sámi cultural festival, in Karesuvanto in 1979.

Later life and death Valkeapää received honorary doctorates from the University of Oulu and the University of Lapland in recognition of his work and cultural impact. He became a Norwegian citizen in 2001.

Personal life Valkeapää was bisexual, but hid his sexuality throughout his life.

Discography Joikuja (1968) Juoigamat (1973) Vuoi Biret-Maaret, vuoi! (1974) De čábba niegut runiidit (1976) Duvva, Áilen Niga Elle ja Aillohaš (1976) Sámi eatnan duoddariid (1978) Sápmi, vuoi Sápmi! (1982) Davás ja geassái (1982) Beaivi, áhčážan (1988) Eanan, eallima eadni (1990) Sámi luondu, gollerisku (1992) Goase dušše (1994) Dálveleaikkat / Wintergames (1994)

Written works

Books

Terveisiä Lapista (1971)

Poetry

Giđa ijat čuovgadat (1974) Lávlo vizar biellocizáš (1976, Sabmelas-doaimahus) Ádjaga silbasuonat (1981, Vuovjjus) Ruoktu Váimmus (1985) Beaivi, áhčážan (1988) Nu guhkkin dat mii lahka = Så fjernt det nære (1994) Jus gazzebiehtár bohkosivččii (1996) Girddán, seivvodan (1999) Eanni, eannážan (2001)