Ánde Somby
Ánde Somby, born in Buolbmat, Norway, is a well known traditional Sami joik artist and an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tromsø, specializing in Indigenous Rights Law. Somby is only one of few Sami with Ph.D in law (dr. juris). Sombys phD is titled "Juss som retorikk". In that thesis he reconnected the Nordic jurisprudence to the classical rhetorical tradition which dates back to Plato and Aristotle. Currently Somby is working on a project titled "Is the legal medium the legal message?" In that project Somby attempts to apply Marshall McLuhan and his mantra on the medium being the message in jurisprudence.He has been performing with yoiks since he was 16 years old. A 'yoiker' is a person who yoiks (a type of singing) people, animals and landscapes within Sami culture and context.He has been performing both overseas and in many countries in Europe. He has also been producing records with other yoikers. In 1985 he produced the LP record and MC cassette "Ean Máššan" with his father Aslak Somby (1913–2008) and mother Karen Kristine Porsanger Somby born 1920. in 1991 he produced the record Ravddas Ravdii with Inga Juuso In 2000 he produced the record "Deh" and in 2003 Deh2 with his uncle Ivvár Niillas. Somby is also one of the cofounders of the sámi publishing house and recordlabel Dat. Somby has also worked within band contexts as well as been a soloist for a symphoni orchestra. Together with the band Boknakaran from Tromsø and the accapella group Rosynka from Petrozavodsk in Russia Somby participated in the project "moya på Tvoja" (1998–2002). From 2003 to 2007 Somby was a member of the group Vajas (in English it means echo) and was the vocals and joiker for the band.
