author
Matti Aikio
1872–1929
One of the first Sámi writers in Norway, this journalist and novelist brought Sámi lives and landscapes into Norwegian literature at a time of strong cultural pressure. His work is often remembered for pairing social debate with vivid storytelling rooted in the far north.
2 Audiobooks
Eläinten nahoissa: Tarina Ruijasta
by Matti Aikio
Ruijan rannoilta: Kertomus Norjan Lapista
by Matti Aikio
About the author
Born in Karasjok on June 18, 1872, Matti Aikio was a Norwegian Sámi writer, journalist, and one of the earliest Sámi authors to gain a place in Norway’s literary world. He was born as Mathis Isaksen and later became known as Matti Aikio.
He wrote in Norwegian, but many of his books are set in Sámi communities and center Sámi characters and concerns. That made his work especially notable in an era when Sámi language and culture were under heavy pressure, and it helped introduce many readers to northern life from a Sámi perspective.
Aikio died in Oslo on July 25, 1929. He is still remembered as an important early voice in Sámi literature and as a writer who helped bring Indigenous experience into mainstream public conversation.