In the Northern tundra region of Norway, Finland, and Sweden live the nomadic reindeer herding Lapps. Other than the human voice the only instrument utilized by the Lapps, on or off this recording, is a tambourine-like drum. Furthermore, the Lapps only know one type of song, the Joik song. This 1956 Folkways release and its accompanying liner notes chronicle the various forms of the Joik song. Though Joik singing is primarily comprised of nonsense words set to fixed melodies, short descriptive sentences and names are occasionally interspersed. To this day, Joik singing remains prevalent throughout Lappish culture.

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