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An Indigenous Song Celebrates Nature in Sweden
 "My Sámi roots are important to me; I'll never give up fighting for them". Anna Karstedt
As she beholds the snow-covered landscape of northern Sweden, with tall trees frosted in gleaming white snow and ice, Anna Karstedt sings a song in celebration of the magical scene before her. But instead of singing in Swedish, Anna chooses to 'yoik' in the ancient Sámi language.
"When I'm out in nature I sing what I see," Anna says as she slowly slips into her yoik. A kind of chant, the yoik is the instinctive musical expression of the Sámi people and is used to remember and express one's emotions about individuals, animals and landscapes.
"When I'm happy the yoik is happy," Anna adds. The yoik differs from a traditional song in an important aspect; it employs rhythm instead of words to convey the essence of its subject.
Anna lives with her parents in the northern Swedish town of Gallivare where she studies sociology and political science. She is a Sámi, a people stretched over northern areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. There are 17,000 Sami in Sweden, of whom around 7,000 have mastery of the Sami language.
Anna learnt to 'yoik' in school at the age of ten and has since toured all over Sweden performing for audiences. For Anna yoiking has been a way of learning and preserving her Sámi heritage. "Every time I yoik I feel that my link to the Sámi way of life becomes stronger" she says. The Sámi are the indigenous people of Sweden. Their rugged and harsh surroundings have produced a truly unique way of life. Anna's grandmother, who only speaks Sámi, has been a crucial link to Sámi culture and way of life. Her grandmother lives in a small Sámi village called 'Rensjon' (Reindeer Lake) which Anna says is her most favorite place on earth.
The lifestyle of the Sámi is in balance with their environment. They traditionally rely on fish and wildlife for their nourishment. Reindeer are an important part of the Sámi diet and reindeer herding is their time-honored occupation, which would sometimes entail a nomadic lifestyle.
Anna's grandmother has taught her "how to take care of all the parts of a reindeer's body", as well as some of the traditional handicrafts or duodji - a blanket term that covers all creative Sámi handicrafts using reindeer skins and horns.
Anna considers the Sámi language essential to preserving the Sámi traditions. The Sámi language is what binds its people across four countries. The language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family along with Hungarian, Finnish, Mordvin, Ziryen and Estonian.
Although once close to extinction, the situation has improved in the last ten to 20 years. This improvement is primarily due to the roll back of the strict assimilationist policy of the Scandinavian governments since the 1960s. Today Sámi is taught in primary schools in most Sámi areas of northern Scandinavia.
But, Anna feels that being Sámi is looked down upon in Sweden. Nobody in her area admits to being Sámi, even though many are related to Sámi people. There is still a querulous relationship between the Sámi and other Swedish people. Anna says that there is a stereotype of the Sámi people being backward, living in tepees (her grandmother used to live in one) without the modern conveniences. But Anna says she would have missed a lot if she didn't have her 'Sámi' life as well as her 'Swedish life'.
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