Johan Turi, born Johannes Olsen Thuri also spelt Johan Tuuri or Johan Thuri or Johan Thuuri (March 12, 1854 – November 30, 1936) was the first

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

author to publish a secular work in a

Sami language Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

. His first book was called ''Muitalus sámiid birra'' ("An Account of the Sami") and tells about the life of people herding

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subsp ...

in the Jukkasjärvi region of northern Sweden at the beginning of the 20th century. An eclectic and nuanced text, ''Muitalus'' includes details on Sami traditions of child rearing, hunting, healing,

yoik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sapmi in Northern Europ ...

, and folklore. At its heart the text aims to draw outsiders' attention to the intrinsic value of Sami culture. Turi was born in

Kautokeino Kautokeino ( no, Kautokeino; se, Guovdageaidnu ; fkv, Koutokeino; fi, Koutokeino) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other villages ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, but moved with his family to the Talma Sámi community near Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, in the 1880s. In 1904, he met the art student

Emilie Demant Hatt Emilie Demant Hatt (sometimes Emilie Demant-Hatt, or Emilie Demant; née Emilie Demant Hansen) (21 January 1873 – 4 December 1958) was a Danish artist, writer, ethnographer, and folklorist. Her area of interest and expertise was the culture a ...

on a train in northern

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. Through an interpreter, he told her he wanted to write a book about Lapps, while she told him she wanted to be a nomad. Three years later, having learned the Sami language, Demant-Hatt returned to northern Scandinavia and lived with Turi's family. In 1908, Turi and Demant-Hatt lived in a mountain cabin where she assisted him with his manuscript. Turi died in Jukkasjärvi. The book has been translated into some ten languages, including

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, Danish, Finnish, English, Norwegian,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Italian, Hungarian and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. In 2011
Nordic Studies Press
published an English edition of Turi's "An Account of the Sami," translated by

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

and professor of Scandinavian Studies

Thomas A. DuBois Thomas A. DuBois is a folklorist, scholar of Sámi culture, professor, and the former chair of the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+ at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Personal life DuBois is married to Wendy Vardaman, a former Poet ...

Works

*1910: ''Muitalus sámiid birra'' *1920: ''Sámi deavsttat'' (Texts in Sami) *1931: ''Duoddaris'' (From the mountain)

References

Norwegian Sámi-language writers Norwegian Sámi people Norwegian writers 1854 births 1936 deaths People from Kautokeino {{Norway-writer-stub