Joik

Joik (luohti) is the traditional song form of the Sámi people of Sápmi, across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula. A joik does not describe its subject but is understood to embody it: singers joik a person, an animal or a place, presenting its character in melody. Performed most often unaccompanied, it uses a pentatonic-leaning melodic stock, flexible phrasing, vocables alongside occasional words, and a vocal production rooted in the chest register. Personal joiks are given to children and kept for life, while joiks of animals, landscapes and spirits map the singer's world.