Niko-Mihkal Valkeapää (born 30 December 1968) is a Finnish

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

musician,

joik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sápmi in Northern E ...

er (Sami folk singer), teacher, actor and politician.

Biography

Born in

Enontekiö Enontekiö (; ; ; ; ) is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approximately inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the Swedis ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, he has been described as "one of Sami music's foremost performers." Valkeapää has been living in

Kautokeino Municipality Kautokeino (; ; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Kautokeino (village), village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villag ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

since 1990.mic.no,
A Search for Identity
', 6 February 2005, retrieved 11 January 2009 He is godson of Sami artist and joiker

Nils-Aslak Valkeapää Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, known as Áilu in the Northern Sami language, Northern Sámi language and with the stage name of Áillohaš (23 March 1943 – 26 November 2001), was a Finnish-born Norwegian Sámi people, Sámi writer, musician and artis ...

. He won the

Sámi Grand Prix The Sámi Grand Prix, often abbreviated as SGP, is a Sámi yoik and song music competition, competition organized annually by the Sámi Music Festival organization (, ), featuring participants from all corners of Sápmi. While the majority o ...

(1994, 1995), received the

Spellemann Spellemann is a folk music album by Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreassen. It was released in Norway on 9 February 2009. On the album charts, it peaked at #6 in Norway and #45 in Sweden. Track listing #" Klinga mina klockor" #"Här är gudagott a ...

award in 2003 (open class) with his debut album, and the Liet Ynternasjonaal award, the international music prize for minority music. He has toured across Norway, including the

Nattjazz Bergen International Jazz Festival or Nattjazz, is one of the largest jazz festivals of Norway. The festival has a musical profile with an emphasis on ethnic and jazz, contemporary jazz. It is held annually in late May, coinciding with Festspil ...

festival in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, and the Northern Norway music festival

Riddu Riđđu Riddu Riđđu () is an annual Sami people, Sámi music and culture festival held in Olmmáivággi (Manndalen) in the Gáivuotna Municipality (also known as Kåfjord Municipality) in Norway. The goal of the festival is to bring forward both Sámi ...

in , Norway. His work has been considered part of the "third wave" of modern Sami music culture, which he has done much work on, among others .

Awards

In 2005, Valkeapää received the

Áillohaš Music Award The Áillohaš Music Award is an annual Sámi music award created to commemorate Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Nils-Aslak ''Áillohaš'' Valkeapää's 50th birthday in 1993. The winner of the award is announced on Holy Saturday in conjunction with ...

, a Sámi music award conferred by

and the Kautokeino Sámi Association to honor the significant contributions the recipient or recipients has made to the diverse world of Sámi music.

Discography

*''Niko Valkeapää'', Duippidit, 2003 *''Sierra'', Duippidit, 2004 *''Birrat birra'', Duippidit, 2008 *''Gusto'', Duippidit, 2012 *''ÄÄ'', Duippidit, 2012 *''Ráfi - Tranquility'', Duippidit, 2015 *''Gáldu - Source'', Duippidit, 2019

Also appears on

*''Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia'', 3CD-set, Nascente 2011

References

External links

A study of Riddu Riddu Festivála and its role as a cultural tool for ethnic revitalization Riddu Riddu, Joik or rock-n-roll?

Music Information Centre Norway; Niko Valkeapää: Niko Valkeapää, ''Listen to Norway continues with Niko Valkeapää: Niko Valkeapää''

Niko Valkeapää Folkelarm 2008
1968 births Living people People from Enontekiö People from Kautokeino Sámi schoolteachers Finnish Sámi politicians Finnish Sámi musicians Áillohaš Music Award winners Spellemannprisen winners 20th-century Finnish folk musicians 21st-century Finnish folk musicians Male folk singers 20th-century Finnish male singers 21st-century Finnish male singers Finnish emigrants to Norway {{Finland-musician-stub