As spring goes by, I am preparing an expedition to the Kola Sami, supported by the SKS, which expressed a keen interest in my project. This feels very symbolic, given the fact that over one hundred years ago Armas Launis, one of the first Finnish yoik collectors, set off on a trip to Lapland (1904) with a scholarship from the SKS. My current topic is the study of sacred sound in the Sami cultural tradition approached through their sacred singing (yoiking), soundscapes and acoustics of ritual sites. This in an attempt to explore the Sami yoik in the context of landscape acoustics, and the preliminary research has shown thrilling results. The upcoming expedition is planned for next fall to launch a series of studies in collaboration with the archaeoacoustic project of the University of Helsinki led by the Academy of Finland Research Fellow Riitta Rainio.
