Top 10 Famous Sami People

Aili Keskitalo photo By Johanne Sundby Wikimedia

Top 10 Famous Sami People

Sami people in order days relied on hunting, fishing and gathering for their survival. This meant they moved from one place to another with their reindeer herds in search of pastures throughout the year. The Sami people have faced discrimination from the government of the countries they live in due to their unique culture and way of life, however, they have stuck to their culture.

Today they are known as indigenous people with special rights and protections under international law. They have helped in the growth of music, literature, arts, and handicrafts in Nordic countries. Sami people are also known for their colourful nation dress and their distinctive language.

In this article, we have looked at the top 10 famous Sami people. They include the following:

1. Mari Boine

Mari Bonie photo By Mahlum Wikimedia

Mari Boine is a Norwegian Sami Singer. She became a professor of musicology at Nesna University College in 2008. Mari combined traditional Sami joik singing with rock even though singing in the traditional Sami joik style was prohibited and considered ‘the devil’s work’. The school he went to was a totally different world from her family’s.

 She was several awards such as the Áillohaš Music Award IN 1993, the Open class Spellemannprisen in 1989, Open class Gammleng-prisen in 1993, the Nordlysprisen in 1994, the Norsk kulturråds ærespris in 2009, and the Spellemannprisen honorary award in 2017 among others.

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2. Fred Buljo

Fred Buljo photo By Chmee2 Wikimedia

Fred Buljo is known as the Sami rapper and joiker. He is a member of the rap duo Duolva Duottar, which was established in 2007 together with Ole Mahtte Gaup and Buljo. The group participated in Norske Talenter in 2008 and reached the final which made them popular.

He is as well a member of the Norwegian supergroup KEiiNO together with Tom Hugo and Alexandra Rotan, the group was established in 2018 with aim of preparing for participation in the Melodi Grand Prix 2019.

Buljo has released several singles such as “Álggu Loahppa” in 2016, “Markanstallu” in 2018, “Offroad” in 2017, “Joavnna” in 2017, “Samegutt” in 20177, and “Samestaten” in 2017 among others.

3. Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen

Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen photo By Tore Sætre Wikimedia

Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen is one of the famous Sami people known as a musician from Tana, Norway. She was born on April 25, 1998. She has won several awards throughout her musical career such as the Sámi Grand Prix in 2016 with her original song, Luoddaearru, the Liet International in 2017 for the same song, and the NRK-show Stjernekamp in 2018.

From January 2015 to January 2016 she was the county leader of Natur og Ungdom, the Norwegian youth environment-protecting organization. In 2017, the same company employed her as the campaign secretary.

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4. Ann-Helén Laestadius

Ann-Helén_Laestadius photo By Vogler Wikimedia

Ann-Helén Laestadius was born on December 3, 1971, in Jukkasjärvi. She is a daughter to Ivar Jan-Erik Laestadius (father) and Ellen Sara Kristina née Marainen (mother).

She is a Sami journalist and has worked as a journalist since 1990 to date. Her first children’s novel was published in 2007, the Sms från Soppero. She won the August Prize for children’s literature in 2016 for her Tio óver ett novel.

5. Aili Keskitalo

Aili Keskitalo photo By Johanne Sundby Wikimedia

Aili Keskitalo was born on October 29, 1968. She was the president of the Sami Parliament for three terms, she ruled from 2005 to 2007, from 2013 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2021. She is a Norwegian Sami politician representing the largest Sami organization in Norway founded in 1968, the Norwegian Sámi Association.

In the history of the Sami people, Aili was the first ever president whose mother tongue was not Sami but Norwegian. However, she knows how to speak Northern Sami well.

6. Marja Bål Nango

 Marja Bål Nango is a Norwegian Sami filmmaker. She was born back in 1988, in Oslo and has been doing a great job in the film field. She attended a film school known as Northland Art and Film School in Kabelvåg where she was trained in filmmaking. Before she even completed her studies in filmmaking she directed a short film, ‘De abstrakte’ in 2011. The other film she directed is Halvt ditt in 2014.

She won the best debut award for Njuokčamat at the 2019 Tromsø International Film Festival. Nango was among the 12 selected filmmakers in 2018 to take part in UP.

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7. Inger Elin Utsi

Inger Elin Utsi photo By Norske Samers Riksforbund Wikimedia

Inger Elin Utsi is a Sami politician and actor. She grew up in Kautokeino, Norwegian but now lives in Alta, Norway. She previously worked in journalism and now she works at the University of Tromsø.

She has been featured in many films since she does a great job when it comes to acting. She featured in ‘Pathfinder’ film acted in 1987 and ‘The Kautokeino Rebellion’ acted in 2008. She not only got a role in films but also in television series such as Hjerterått which aired in 2013.

8. Ann-Mari Thomassen

Ann_Mari_Thomassen photo By Norske Samers Riksforbund Wikimedia

Ann-Mari Thomassen is one of the famous Sámi people. She is known as a Sami politician and school teacher. She was a  member of the Sámi Parliament of Norway for a long time, from 2001 to 2005, from 2005 to 2009 and from 2013 to 2017.

She is also a member of the Norwegian Sami Association, the largest Sami organization in Norway. She is also a school teacher and she graduated from the University of Tromsø in 1995 after attaining her degree in education.

9. Mariela Idivuoma

Mariela Idivuoma is one of the famous Sami people. She is a Swedish-Sami freelance journalist born on February 12, 1976. Mariela is known as the host of the SVT’s (the Swedish national public television broadcaster) Sami news program known as Ođđasat.

She co-hosted a song contest for musicians known as Liet- Lávlut with Sofia Jannok in 2006 and with Rolf Digervall in 2008. She is married to a Nordic combined skier, Håvard Klemetsen and they are blessed with one son.

10. Wimme Saari

Wimme Saari was born in 1959 and he is widely known for combining traditional Sami singing with his own ad-libbing. He as well features in several bands or musician’s albums such as Hedningarna, Nits and Hector Zazou among others.

Saari in 1996, was awarded a Sami music award, the Áillohaš Music Award by the Kautokeino Sámi Association and the municipality of KautokeinoTop