Áillohaš and His Image Drum: The Native Poet as Shaman

Kathleen Osgood Dana

doi:10.7557/13.1905

Áillohaš and His Image Drum

The Native Poet as Shaman

Authors

Kathleen Osgood Dana

Keywords:

Áillohaš, Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Beaivi, Áhčážan, The Sun, My Father, Shamanism

Abstract

In this article, I will look particularly at the work of Áillohaš (the Sámi name for poet Nils-Aslak Valkeapää) and his pivotal work Beaivi, Áhčážan (The Sun, My Father). A deep reading of a number of poems from Beaivi, Áhčážan will provide the substance of this discussion.

Author Biography

Kathleen Osgood Dana

Professor of Northern Studies, Center for Northern Studies at Sterling College, 2003 – present; Fellow, Center for Northern Studies (Wolcott, Vermont) 2001-3. Humanities Faculty, Norwich University, 1987 – present. Director, Russian School of Norwich University (Northfield, Vermont), September 1998 – May 2001. Ph D in Literature University of Oulu, Finland, 2003. Dissertation: Áillohaš the Shaman-Poet and his Gouadas-Image Drum: A Literary Ecology of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää’s
Beaivi, Áhčažan (The Sun, My Father).