The art of yoik in care: Sami caregivers’ experiences in dementia care in Northern Norway

Abstract

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.

Yoik in Sami elderly and dementia care – a potential for culturally sensitive music therapy?

“…development by transforming Sami people into Norwegians. Sami culture was considered as lower developed, not viable, and thus doomed to extinction (Eriksen & Niemi, 1981c;Hämäläinen et al, 2017Hämäläinen et al, , 2020Hämäläinen et al, , 2018Hansen, 2011;Jones-Bamman, 1993;Minde, 2003;Pedersen & Høgmo, 2012). As part of the processes of Christianisation and Norwegianization, conflicting attitudes among the Sami towards yoik and other cultural markers developed, and yoik as a living tradition suffered substantially (Graff, 2016;Hilder, 2015;Jones-Bamman, 1993).…”

“…Yoik and other indigenous singing traditions are often associated with different modes of chanting connected to pre-Christian rituals and ceremonial practices linked with altered levels of consciousness (Jones-Bamman, 1993). However, the participants in recently published studies of yoik and health describe contemporary yoik practices primarily as a culturally significant daily musicking practice, connected to daily life activities and interpersonal relationships (Hämäläinen et al, 2017(Hämäläinen et al, , 2020(Hämäläinen et al, , 2018. Ritual and ceremonial practice of yoik may still exist (Graff, 2004;Hämäläinen et al, 2017;Jones-Bamman, 1993), but currently the musicological focus is on yoik's meaning as a cultural marker rather than on altered levels of consciousness (Graff, 2004;Hilder, 2015;Jones-Bamman, 1993;Stoor, 2015).…”

“…tones, timbre, rhythms, melodic and rhythmic motives, tonality, and tonal ambitus), usually symbolizes or refers to a subject (Graff, 2004). Precision in the musical description of a yoik's subject is highly valued (Graff, 2004;Hämäläinen et al, 2017Hämäläinen et al, , 2020Hämäläinen et al, , 2018.…”

“…This represents an approach towards delivering culturally safe care, as described in Camphina-Bacote (2002). Based on the findings of both Hanssen and Hämäläinen, it would be timely to investigate the potential benefits of yoik as a culturally specific music therapeutic intervention in elderly and dementia care (Hämäläinen et al, 2017(Hämäläinen et al, , 2020(Hämäläinen et al, , 2018Hanssen, 2011).…”

“…The aim of this early phase study was thus to explore the existing experiences of the use of yoik in Sami elderly and dementia care, and the Sami healthcare users' feelings and opinions with regard to future research on possible health effects of yoik implemented as music therapy in Sami care contexts. This study is based on the same set of interviews as our recently published article (Hämäläinen et al, 2020). As it was not possible to report on the rich materials from the interviews to a satisfactory extent in one article, the two articles report on different research questions, different parts of the interviews and different theoretical perspectives.…”