Background: Yoik is an old vocal music tradition of Sami, the indigenous people inhabiting Northern Fennoscandia and Kola peninsula in Russia. Studies of music therapy (MT) and especially singing have documented improvements in social and overall functioning in people with severe mental disorders and positive effect on depressive symptoms and sleep quality. Possible connections between yoik and health are so far underexplored. Objectives: The overall aim of this study was to explore whether yoik may have the potential to positively influence people’s health and well-being. The research questions were: 1. What are different persons’ experiences with yoik? 2. Can yoik experiences be related to health outcomes? Methods: Explorative, qualitative interviews with 13 participants were conducted in the Norwegian counties Finnmark, Troms, Nordland, and Trøndelag. Findings: The findings suggest qualities in yoik that are comparable to positive effects of Music Therapy (MT) in general. Yoik may contribute to emotion management, i.e. processing negative emotions and inducing positive ones in people acknowledging yoik as something positive. Conclusion: Yoik may be considered an important marker of social and cultural belonging for many Sami people. Yoik seems to have an underresearched potential as an intervention in culture sensitive healthcare and health promotion work that deserves to be further investigated.

Music as a possible health-promoting agent has attained increasing academic and scientific interest over the last decades. Nonetheless, possible connections between indigenous singing traditions and health beyond traditional ceremonial healing practices are still under-researched worldwide.The Sami, the indigenous people living in Northern Fennoscandia, have a distinct ancient vocal music tradition called “yoik” practiced from immemorial times. The Sami share a history of assimilation with many indigenous people. During this period of nearly 400 years, yoik alongside other cultural markers was under hard pressure and even banned at times.Compared to other indigenous people in the Arctic, Sami public health shows few significant unfavourable differences to the majority population. The potential role of yoik as a protective health and resilience factor within the Sami culture is the topic of this review. We suggest a two stage model for the health promoting effects of yoik through i) emotion regulation and stress relief on the level of the individual, and ii) as a socio-cultural resilience factors within the Sami population. This review is to be understood as theory-building review article striving for a scholarly review of the literature.

Purpose: Yoik is the traditional vocal art of the Sami, the indigenous people of Fennoscandia. The Sami people, their land and their culture have been subject to colonisation and assimilation for centuries, hence the practice of yoik was lost in many regions. Despite an increasing awareness of the benefits of health musicking, yoik is only sporadically included in musicking practices in dementia care contexts. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore Sami caregivers' yoik experiences in formal and informal care contexts. Design: Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 Sami relatives of care receivers, and healthcare professionals. Qualitative content analysis from subthemes to main themes was used to identify themes. Findings: The research revealed two key findings: 1) yoik enlivens, empowers, induces "good feelings" and enables reminiscence functions in elderly persons with dementia or impaired overall functioning, 2) yoik is not systematically applied in in-care contexts due to the history and consequences of assimilation and colonisation. Originality/value: This study explores some of the consequences of colonisation and assimilation on healthcare services and provides insights into an under-researched topic, the function of yoik as a music-based practice for the well-being of older adults. The study reveals that yoik can act as an attunement tool. Yoik may manifest and enhance connectedness to oneself, to the natural environment and to the community. This type of attunement lies at the heart of person-centered care.

Introduction:The positive impact of familiar, individualized and patient-preferred music in dementia care is acknowledged in the literature. However, traditional indigenous music practices in care contexts are less studied. This study focuses on yoik, a traditional vocal music of the indigenous Sami people of Fennoscandia. The aims of this exploratory study were to investigate key participants' experiences with yoik in care settings, as well as their thoughts with regard to a future study of yoik as a non-pharmacological intervention in Sami elderly and dementia care. Method: Qualitative in-person in-depth interviews with close relatives of persons in need of care, as well as healthcare professionals were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The participants shared that they had observed positive effects whenever yoik was applied in Sami elderly and dementia care, even in persons without a known yoik familiarity. No unwanted effects were reported. The participants supported the idea of a possible clinical investigation of yoik as culturally sensitive music therapy in the future. They recommended that yoik should be implemented on a regular basis in Sami elderly and dementia care. Conclusion:The participants agreed that yoik has potential as a nonpharmacological intervention in Sami elderly and dementia care, and that further investigation is warranted.

In this article I will analyse the variants of the melody used for the song Petter Dass wrote around 1690 about the 5th commandment. There exist about 100 variants of this melody in different archives in Norway, but not in Sweden or Denmark. It is possible to follow the melody in oral tradition through the 19th and 18th centuries. We don’t know if the melody dates back to Petter Dass himself, but it is possible. In that case there are reasons to assume that the melody was well known already then, which means it must be even older. So the melody seems to be an old Norwegian melody used in oral tradition for hundreds of years.