Somby – a rocking Sámi band

Somby – a rocking Sámi band

The Sámi people of Lapland, like the American Indians, are strongly associated with myths and legends, and the mention of their name conjures up stereotypical images of a simple indigenous folk, living in a rudimentary lean-to and always dressed in traditional Sámi costume.

The Lappish rock band Somby are aiming to smash that image. They’re on a mission to bring modern Sámi culture to the wider world. About 6,000 Sámi people live in Finland, and, outside of reindeer husbandry, their everyday lives are much the same as those of the majority population around them. Regardless of what may have happened a century ago, you will only see traditional Sámi dress on special occasions nowadays. – Even in Finland people are surprisingly ill informed about the modern Sámi. They ask us whether we have electricity in our homes and how we get to school without a car, chortles Unna, the Somby drummer.