Rap, Frozen 2 help revive endangered languages
INARI, Finland — Sporting a gray hoodie, goatee beard and oversize headphones, rapper Amoc spits a stream of aggressive, staccato rhymes into the microphone of his home studio as he works on new material.
The punchy rhythm of the 35-year-old’s vocals would sound familiar to rap lovers all over the world.
But Amoc’s lyrics are only understandable to the 300 speakers of the seriously endangered language of Inari Sami, from Finland’s far north.
Until the middle of the last century, the 10 languages of the indigenous Sami people — who are spread across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia — were decimated by brutal assimilation policies by their governments.
Now, a new generation of young speakers has spawned music, TV programs and even a Disney blockbuster, in a “golden age” for Sami languages.
Not flowers but violence
When Amoc — real name Mikkal Morottaja — started rapping two decades ago, only “10 or fewer” young people could speak his language.
Morottaja’s latest project is a collaboration with fellow Sami rapper Ailu Valle.
Valle speaks a different language, Northern Sami, with 25,000 speakers and classed as “endangered” by UNESCO.
The pair have played gigs far beyond Sami-speaking areas: in the United States, Canada and around Europe.
Initially inspired by Eminem and the Wu-Tang Clan, Valle first rapped in English and Finnish, avoiding Northern Sami.
“I thought I’d need urban vocabulary,” he says in his remote wooden home on the shore of the frozen Ivalo river.
Until at least the 1960s, Sami children were routinely forbidden to use their mother tongue at school, under an education system that saw Sami people as second-class citizens to be assimilated into mainstream society.
But a gradual shift in attitudes across the Nordic countries resulted in a milestone in 1992, when Finland passed a Sami language law giving speakers the right to use their mother tongue with authorities.
Finland’s center-left government has promised to address the issue, such as by expanding distance and online teaching in Sami.
Elsa and Anna in Sami
In a sign that mainstream culture is becoming more widely available in the Sami languages, in December the blockbuster hit Frozen 2 became the first Disney film to be dubbed into Northern Sami.
Continuing the adventures of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna,
Jiknon 2 — as it is called in Northern Sami — draws heavily on Sami folklore and ways of life.
The sisters embark on a trek through an enchanted forest to meet the tent-dwelling Northuldra tribe, whose clothes and reindeer-herding way of life are distinctly Sami.
The soundtrack, meanwhile, features traditional Sami “yoik” singing.
Ailu Valle, tasked with translating the film’s song lyrics, describes the release as an “exceptional” moment for Northern Sami children.
Disney’s producers collaborated with Sami leaders to ensure a respectful representation of their culture, and the film has been praised for rejecting the stereotypical depiction of Sami traditions as primitive.
“We have had so many bad examples of our culture being misused,” says Sanila-Aikio, Finland’s Sami parliament president. “It’s a win-win for all of us and we’re very happy with this collaboration,” she says.