The Sami protest song that made Eurovision history

In 1980, Norway’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest included a traditional Sami joik song from the country’s indigenous community.

It was the first time joiking was heard by an international audience.

The song was originally created by Mattis Haetta as part of a protest against the building of a dam in Finnmark, in northern Norway – which would have flooded traditional Sami reindeer herding routes and villages.

Surya Elango speaks to Inga Haetta, the sister of Mattis.

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(Photo: Mattis Hætta on Eurovision 1980. Credit: Stein Dag Jensen/National Library of Norway)