Sami Poetry Concert
"Of the Wild Tundra: Commemorating Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa in Sami Yoik,
Poetry and Art"
Alaska Native Heritage Center
Anchorage, Alaska
Concert Date: Thursday, 19 February 2004 at 7 p.m.
For further information, please contact:
The Saami Baiki Foundation
Phone: 510-547-8279
E-mail: saamibaiki [at] sinewave.com
CONCERT SPECIFICS
A poetry concert called "Of the Wild Tundra: Commemorating Nils-Aslak
Valkeapaa in Sami Yoik, Poetry and Art" will take place on Thursday, 19
February 2004 at 7 p.m. The concert will be held at the Alaska Native
Heritage Center near Anchorage.
BACKGROUND
The Sami are the Indigenous People of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the
Russian Kola Peninsula. Many people with Sami ("Lapp") ancestry also
live in Alaska.
Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa was known throughout the world as a great poet,
artist, writer, and spiritual leader. His powerful yoik opened the 1994
Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway and created a sensation. His work
includes the epic poem "My Home is in My Heart" and many other beautiful
expressions of nomadic reindeer life on the tundra.
His poetry will be read in the Sami language by Kristina Utsi and in
English by Harald Gaski, who has translated much of Valkeapaa's work. Utsi
will accompany the poetry with a multi-media backdrop of images from the
Sami world of Nature and from Valkeapaa's spiritual drawings. Examples of
Valkeapaa's work from the publishing house DAT will also be on display.
Yoik, the unique Sami form of singing that honors Nature and people, will
also be an integral part of this event. The yoiker will be Ole Henrik
Magga, the first president of the Norwegian Sami Parliament and now the
Chairman of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
For further information, please contact:
The Saami Baiki Foundation
Phone: 510-547-8279
E-mail: saamibaiki [at] sinewave.com