Biegga, Čáhci, Duoddarat, and other ‘geo-phones’. Polyorganicity of Sápmi and environmental accompaniments to Sámi joik

Similarly to other circumpolar cultures, Sámi indigenous peoples from Arctic Europe have not developed specific interests in fostering a significant variety of musical instruments. Within ethnographic literature, this circumstance is read as a symptom of Sámi early semi-nomadic history and Arctic harsh conditions, which discouraged the carriage of burdensome instruments along reindeer trails, and rather catalyzed the development of a highly sophisticated vocal tradition. Joik is commonly defined as vocal music traditionally performed by individuals without any accompaniment and believed to originate from nature and “live” in open environments. Based on fieldwork and literature review, the paper discusses the nuanced boundaries around the idea of “accompaniment” within traditional and modern joik. From emic ontological and acoustemological perspectives, the Sámi interpret wind, rivers, boulders, and every feature of Sápmi environment as potential music actants capable of intervening polyphonically and polyorganically to the performance of joik. Additionally, contemporary Sámi musicians are increasingly introducing virtual reconstructions of Sápmi sonosphere to their productions by manipulating field-recordings as instrumental sounds. By presenting heterogeneous samples of Sámi land-based sound sources, practices and aesthetics, the notion of musical instrument is called into question, urging it past what is humanly manageable and opening it up to more-than-human ontologies.