ebook9781000832655d4325

Description

Why S√°mi Sing is an anthropological inquiry into a singing practice found among the Indigenous S√°mi people, living in the northernmost part of Europe. It inquires how the performance of melodies, with or without lyrics, may be a way of altering perception, relating to human and non-human presences, or engaging with the past. According to its practitioners, the S√°mi “yoik” is more than a musical repertoire made up by humans: it is a vocal power received from the environment, one that reveals its possibilities with parsimony through practice and experience. Following the propensity of S√°mi singers to take melodies seriously and experiment with them, this book establishes a conversation between Indigenous and Western epistemologies and introduces the “yoik” as a way of knowing in its own right, with both convergences and divergences vis-√†-vis academic ways of knowing. It will be of particular interest to scholars of anthropology, ethnomusicology, and Indigenous studies. *Honourable Mention – International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance Book Prize 2024*