What can you tell me about the Lapp/Sami shaman Per Utsi?

May 16, 2018 6:27 PM

I came across a brief mention of the man and his name and promises of amazing things he did, but no details or time periods, though possibly 20th century. Plenty of Per Utsis in the world, but this one doesn't seem to leap out on google. Not to me, at least. Anyone?
posted by BWA to Society & Culture (2 answers total)

Best answer: I thought I would do some searching in Swedish to see what I could find, but came up pretty much empty too. Tried search words like nåjd and noaidi (the sami word for shaman) and trollkarl (the Swedish word) and came up with nothing. The only place I found any mention of him was a 1973 article in Ironwood, Michigan about spiritualism.
The Ironwood Daily Globe

Per Utsi, a Lapplander and sorcerer who wandered earlier in this century with his clan between northern Sweden and Finmark, practiced telekinesis (the apparent production of motion in objects without contact or other physical means). He is said to have "brought" an engagement ring from Uppsala to laftaluokta.

I tried finding him in the Finnmark (an area of Norway north of Lofoten, as well as Finnish and Swedish Lapland), with no luck. Laftaluokta isn't a place on a map as far as I can tell. I think Lafta means a type of corner in a log house, wile luokta is a bay. There is a Sami settlement called Luokta, though, that might be it. Neat to know about this Per Utsi; I hope someone else has more luck.

Found another cool Per Utsi too, who was a prominent reindeer header in the mid 1950s. Some cool photos.
posted by gemmy at 11:11 PM on May 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: That's going to be the guy, which is more than I could find. Many thanks, particularly as I do not have Swedish.
posted by BWA at 6:12 AM on May 17, 2018 [1 favorite]