Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen uses music to fight for her Sámi language and culture
Tove Andersson
Oslo
Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, 21, is a Sámi artist from Tana in Finnmark who has captured the hearts of Norwegians with the joik Máze. She has developed her own sound by combining joik and Sámi lyrics with modern pop and electronica. As a young Sámi she follows in the footsteps of famous world music artist Mari Boine.
At 6, Isaksen performed on stage in her native language; at 16, she was the leader of Nature and Youth, the largest environmentalist youth organization in Norway. And last year she won Stjernekamp, a popular so
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Tove Andersson
Tove Andersson is a freelance journalist who writes about travel and culture. She conducts interviews for the street magazine Oslo while writing poetry and fiction. Jeg heter Navnløs (My name is nameless) was published in 2020. Her website is www.frilanskatalogen.no/frilanstove, and she can be reached at tove.andersson@skrift.no.
