Inghilda Tapio Explained

Inger Gunhild Maria "Inghilda" Tapio (née Valkeapää, born February 1946 in Gárasavvon, Sweden) is a Saami author, poet, translator, and actress. She writes in both Northern Saami and Swedish.

Biography

Inghilda Tapio grew up in a Saami reindeer herding family within the Könkämä Sámi reindeer herding village.^[1] When she was 7, she was forced to go live in a residential school since the Swedish Government had decided to do away with the mobile versions shortly before she had to go to school. After graduation, she studied Swedish, Northern Saami, English, and pedagogy at Umeå University. Later on, she studied art at Sunderby Folk High School and dramaturgy in Inari, Finland.^[2]

Afterwards, she has worked as an actress with the Sámi theaters Dálvadis and Giron Sámi Teáhter in Kiruna, Sweden and as a teacher. At the same time, she also dedicated herself to writing, drawing, and painting. In 1979, she made her literary debut with the book Mu luondu sámi luondu. In 1995, she won the Saami Council Literature Prize for the Northern Sámi anthology Ii fal dan dihte.^[3]

Tapio lives and works in the border town of Karesuando, where she was born. She and her family share a studio in Čuovžavuohppi where they create literature and artwork together.

In 2016, Australian film director Janet Merewether released a film called Reindeer In My Saami Heart, a portrait of Tapio.^[4]

Awards and recognitions

• 1997 – Saami Council Literature Prize^[5]
• 2013 – Klockrikestipendiet (the Harry Martinson memorial grant) together with her daughter Ulrika Tapio Blind

Bibliography (selected works)

• Book: Beaivvit guhkkot otnot . Davvi girji . 9788232900787 . Kárášjohka . se.
• Book: Sámi muitalusat: bálggis davvisámi máinnasteapmái = Samiska sagor: en resa i nordsamiska historieberättande . Varda . 9789197957465 . Harads . se, sv.
• Book: Davvelis guovssonástti . Davvi girji . 9788273747990 . Kárášjohka . se.
• Book: Viiđat : divttat Sámis = Vidd : dikter från Sápmi . 2006 . Podium . 9789189196391 . Stockholm . se, sv.
• Book: Ii fal dan dihte . DAT . 9788290625271 . Guovdageaidnu . se.
• Book: Mu luondu – sámi luondu . Jårgalæđđji . Tana . se.

In translation

Tapio's children's books have been translated into multiple Saami languages and her poetry into English, Spanish, German, and Icelandic.

• Book: Worte verschwinden / fliegen / zum blauen Licht : Samische Lyrik von Joik bis Rap . Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg . 9783981683530 . Domokos . Johanna . Samica . 2019 . 4 . Freiburg . se, smn, sjd, sms, de . Rießler . Michael . Michael Rießler . Schlosser . Christine.
• Book: Beyond the wolf line : an anthology of Sámi poetry . Making waves . 1996 . 1873918100 . Guildford . en . Sammallahti . Pekka . Selbourne . Anthony.

Literature about Inghilda Tapio

• Book: Skriftbilder : Samisk litteraturhistorie . Davvi girji . 9788273743534 . Gielas Gillii, Mielas Millii . 1998 . 2 . Kárášjohka . no.
• Book: Nordisk kvinnolitteraturhistoria . Wiken . 9171192638 . 5 . Höganäs . sv.

References

1. Web site: Inghilda Tapio. https://web.archive.org/web/20191023092156/http://www.balticsealibrary.info/authors/sami/item/tapio-inghilda.html. 2019-10-23. 2019-10-23. (Baltic Sea Library)
2. Web site: Inghilda Tapio - Arctic Indigenous Design Archives (AIDA) . 2022-06-29 . kansallisarkisto.fi.
3. Web site: Samerådets litteraturpris. https://web.archive.org/web/20191029083341/http://www.saamicouncil.net/no/organisation/avdelningar/kulturavdelningen/litteraturpris. 2019-10-29. 2019-10-29. sv.
4. Web site: Reindeer in my Saami Heart, released in 2016, directed by Janet Merewether, produced by Screen Culture Pty Ltd and featuring Saami writer Inghilda Tapio.
5. December 1997 . Sámiráđi girjebálkkašupmi 1997 . The Saami Council Literature Prize 1997 . Ođđa Sápmelaš . 11–13 (513–515) . 17.