Krister Stoor

Krister Stoor, Associate professor at Dept. of Language Studies/Sámi dutkan and Várdduo - Centre for Sámi Research.  I was born in Jukkasjärvi parish, grew up in Kiruna and Orusjohka in the northern part of Sweden. I teach undergraduates, graduate as well doctoral students, in the section of Sámi dutkan/Sámi Studies at Umeå University where I earned my Ph.D, in 2007. My dissertation is based on yoik stories – Jojkberättelser. My academic research field is folklore, narratives and yoik, the Sámi way of singing. I am affiliated with the Arctic Research Centre and Várdduo Centre for Sámi Research at UmU. Collaborating with Nord University, Bodø, Norway in a project about Indigenous Home, see https://blogg.nord.no/ihas/
Some know me as a yoik performer, I've been playing with Stuoris & Bálddonas, Björkstakören and solo. Furthermore I have published three CD:s.

Traditional knowledge or intellectual Indigenous traditions are my research interests. It is a field that has drawn interest in recent decades and these discussions will certainly continue. Through the elders' experiences, their practical work and oral traditions we can gain a good picture of heritage and knowledge. In that way we tie past, present and future together – like a crocheted tablecloth. Traditional knowledge is built upon experience, a holistic view and empirical personal studies, developed together with the art of trying, failing, learning and trying again. One need not express explicitly what to do or how to do it: just see, understand, learn and try. By analyzing Sámi yoiks and songs we can get valuable information about times gone by. For instance, songs of animals, like the arctic fox appears in several old songs – this is a theme well worth studying. UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage do I serve as an expert in the Swedish nominations for lists and register ISOF, The Institute for Language and Folklore is a Swedish government authority that builds, collects and disseminates knowledge about Sweden’s language and culture. I am a member of the Swedish government truth commission for the Sami people.