Here's a beautifully haunting and thought-provoking video from Mari Boine. It's an original song from the movie "Kautokeino-opprøret (The Kautokeino Rebellion)", a tale about the Norwegian Så¡mi set in 1852.
The director of the film, Nils Gaup, was also the director of "Veiviseren (The Pathfinder)", nominated in 1987 for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film. That film was based on a 12th-century Sami legend.
The lyrics to the song are in a Sami language.
Elle
De rahpasii giđđaeatnu fas
De dulvvi miel luoittašeimmet
Jiekŋaidja gárttai viimat vuollánit
BieggabártnažanDe girdilin biellocizažiin
De joradin guovssahasain
vuoibmás vuoiŋŋ‹ahagas šogádeimme ovttas
Mu bieggabártnažanDe rahtase jienaheamit fas
De golggiihii sátnerávdnji
gálbmon gáttiin go mii viimat gávnnadeimmet
BieggabártnažanGo váccašat ealloravddas de…
Go guođuhat suhkesoivviid…
Almmiravda ealaska ja sugada
Bieggabártnažan
And the English translation would be:
And so the spring river opened up again
And so we let ourselves drift with the flood
The night of ice had to give in
My dearest son of the windSurely I flew with the bluethroat
Surely I danced with the northern light
In the strongest of breath we exhaled as one
My dearest son of the windThe lips of the silenced people bursted out in speech
The stream of words once again were flowing
Over the frozen riverbanks when we finally came together
My dearest son of the windWhen you´re walking alongside the reindeer-herd…
When you guard the reindeer-oxen with the great antlers…
All of the horizon comes alive and starts to move
My dearest son of the wind
There is also a live HD version on YouTube where Mari Boine sings at the opening of the Svalbard (Norway) Global Seed Vault.
