Book presentation: “Vuoiŋŋalašvuohta” by Harald Gaski
In 2025, Harald Gaski published the book Vuoiŋŋalašvuohta – Sámi Spirituality, intended as an introduction to the spiritual dimension of the Sámi relationship with land and water, viewed from a Sámi perspective and grounded in traditional Sámi knowledge. The book explores how this knowledge has existed and continues to exist through myths, beliefs, stories, worldviews, place names, and linguistic expressions.
What can Sámi place names tell us about the landscapes they describe? And what role does spirituality play in our protection of land and water? Come and learn from one of the foremost experts in the field.
Language: Norwegian.
Moderator: Marit Anne Hauan from Mun dajan.
This talk is in collaboration with Mun dajan - Foreninga Samiske Forfattere (Sámi Writer´s Association).
About Harald Gaski:
Harald Gaski is Professor Emeritus of Sámi Culture and Literature at the UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø and former Professor of Sámi Literature at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences (Sámi allaskuvla) in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, Norway. Gaski has authored numerous books on Sámi culture and literature, edited anthologies of Sámi literature in Sámi, Norwegian, and English, and contributed hundreds of articles on Sámi-related research and cultural topics.
He has also translated Sámi literature into Norwegian and English, including works by the award-winning multimedia artist Nils-Aslak Valkeapää. His research has focused on Sámi mythology, joik, traditions, and Indigenous aesthetics. Over the years, Gaski has served as editor of several Sámi cultural journals, including Sámis, which is still published twice a year. From 2020 to 2025, he was Editor-in-Chief of Sámi dieđalaš áigečála, a Sámi-language academic journal jointly published by the Sámi University of Applied Sciences and UiT.
Gaski has been a sought-after lecturer and speaker nationally, across the Nordic region, and internationally. He has received awards for both research and public dissemination and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Umeå University. Although now retired, he remains active and continues to participate in projects both in Norway and abroad.
His first book, Med ord skal tyvene fordrives. Samenes episk poetiske diktning (With Words the Thieves Shall Be Driven Away: The Sámi Epic-Poetic Tradition), was published in 1987. Originally from Deatnu (Tana), Gaski has lived since 2018 in his home village of Sieiddá along the Tana River.
