"Sámiid ædnan" (; ; describing the motherland of

Sápmi is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia, stretching over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Most of Sápmi lies north of the Arctic Circle, boun ...

) was the entry in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1980 The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NOS), which agreed to stage the eve ...

, performed by

Sverre Kjelsberg Sverre Kjelsberg (18 October 1946 – 18 June 2016) was a Norwegian singer, guitarist, bassist, composer, and lyricist. He was a member of the band The Pussycats from 1964. He and Mattis Hætta represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1 ...

and

Mattis Hætta Mattis Hætta (15 March 1959 – 9 November 2022) was a Sami singer and recording artist from Norway. In 1980, he and Sverre Kjelsberg won the 1980 Melodi Grand Prix with the entry "Sámiid ædnan" and went on to represent Norway in the Eurovi ...

. The words of the song were performed in Norwegian by Sverre Kjelsberg, while Mattis Hætta contributed with the

yoik 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 Europe ...

chorus – a Sami form of vocal music without words; the title of the song is however in the

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

language, translating as "Sami Land" or "Sami Soil". There are no actual Sami words in the yoik chorus – instead, the syllables "lo" and "la" are simply repeated, giving rise to another popular title for the song, "Låla". The song is about

environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

and indigenous rights.

Conception

The song was inspired by the autonomy movement among the

Sami people 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 ...

of northern Norway, with the duo singing that the demand for autonomy was made in a very subdued manner. Mention is also made of the traditional music of the region, the yoik, which is described as being "stronger than gunpowder" in the lyrics. The line ("in front of the parliament where they sat, the yoik was heard day and night"), refers to a hunger strike by Sami activists in front of the Norwegian parliament building in October 1979 in connection with the

Alta controversy The Alta conflict or Alta controversy was a series of protests in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s against the construction of a hydroelectric power plant on the Alta River in Finnmark, Northern Norway. Timeline *Inhabitants of the vil ...

, where Mattis Hætta first performed the yoik that constituted the song's chorus. The song was thus performed the year before the contest. It describes the Sami world as coming like a "puff of wind from the north", before it turned into a "storm". The final lyrics of the song claim that "the yoik is more powerful than

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

...because the yoik never ends."

Performance in the Eurovision Song Contest

The song was performed eleventh on the night, following 's

Vesa-Matti Loiri Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022) was a Finnish actor, musician and comedian, best known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro, whom he portrayed in a total of 20 movies between the years 1973 and 2004. Loiri made a strong i ...

with " Huilumies" and preceding 's

Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein (born Karin Witkiewicz; 9 March 1945) is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf (now Gniewków, Poland). She achieved success with songs such as "Theater (song), Theater" and "Es war einmal ein Jäger". She was married to , w ...

with "

Theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

". At the close of voting, it had received 15 points, placing 16th in a field of 19.

Influence

This song was among the first instance of Sami influence on the wider culture of Europe. An excerpt from the song is sung by the Norwegian characters in the movie

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

'' The Thing''.

Charts

References

Ekospecial
,

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

, 19 April 2019. Eurovision songs of Norway Eurovision songs of 1980 1980 songs Sámi in Norway Songs about indigenous peoples Political songs Environmental songs Songs in Norwegian {{norway-stub

Conception

Performance in the Eurovision Song Contest

Influence

Charts

See also

References