At Sámi Village in Nellim, a yoik singer performs in a kota hut on Lake Inari for groups and couples on request. From November 2026, also in Saariselkä.
Kessijärven Helmin Teija with a drum on the terrace at Sámi Village in Nellim.
Kessijärven Helmin Teija, whose Finnish name is Teija Tamminen, sums up her work in one sentence: “I talk about Sámi culture, and I yoik.” Her place, Sámi Village, is in Nellim on the eastern shore of Lake Inari, 42 kilometres from Ivalo. We visited in October at Teija's invitation, while she was performing for a group.
The farm's story goes back to the beginnings of Nellim village. Sámi Village says it stands on an ancient Sámi dwelling site, where Nuoran Pekka founded the village of Nellim in the late 1800s. His first homestead was given the Inari Sámi name Njellim. Today the place is one of the oldest traditional Sámi farmsteads in Nellim. Teija tells guests the village's story herself, because Nuoran Pekka was her grandmother's grandfather. In Inari Sámi, Teija's name is Kessjäävri Kässeekiäđgáá Teija.
The farm also has a home museum that is still being developed. There you can see traditionally dried fish and meat, fishing nets and other fishing gear, sleds, old tools, the sauna and the farm's other buildings.
Old log buildings and a fence on the farm, looking towards the shore of Lake Inari.
The performance takes place by the fire in a large kota (a traditional Sámi hut), and the hostess wears traditional Sámi dress. The programme includes Sámi songs, stories and drumming. According to Sámi Village, the melodies and poems are original, some of them ancient and some modern. Along the way, guests also learn some Inari Sámi.
On the walls of the kota hang old photographs, with dried hay in the corner and reindeer-patterned cloths on the tables. When we were there, Teija yoiked and played the traditional drum for a group, and she had invited us to join them.
In Nellim, the performance and catering are arranged for groups on request. Sessions vary in length, and you can add coffee and pastries, soup or a full meal. Teija has also performed for couples, and that can be arranged on request as well. Prices and options are on Sámi Village's website.
Teija yoiks and plays the traditional drum in the kota.
From November 2026, Teija will also perform in Saariselkä. The new venue, Ságe, is at Lutontie 2 A 8 in central Saariselkä. The name is made from the words Sámi Village, and according to Teija it means ‘sage’. She does not claim to be a shaman, but as an Inari Sámi, a teacher of the Sámi language and an author, she does see herself as a sage of sorts.
In Saariselkä, the Sámi performance runs on a few evenings a week, and a visit lasts just under an hour. You can book it on Sámi Village's website.
Teija studied at the University of Oulu, and in 2013 she became the first Master of Arts with the Inari Sámi language as her major subject. Before that, she worked for some twenty years as a forestry engineer. Besides performing, she has collected and written the stories for the Hitruu! book series. The four books in the series are written in Inari Sámi and tell stories based on real life about Nellim, the Inari Sámi and their culture. They follow Ánná and Saammâl from their third year at school to their sixth. The first book is designed for learning Inari Sámi as a foreign language. The books include Inari Sámi–Finnish glossaries, and audio recordings of them have also been made for language learning. The illustrations are by Riitta Ahonen.
Sámi Village says it will use the income from sales to keep recording Inari Sámi stories for future generations. A fifth book is already in the works, and there is more about the books on Sámi Village's books page.
For groups, the kota café serves traditional local food such as reindeer, fish and berries. The café is licensed to serve alcohol, and local handicrafts are for sale at the farm. The menu also has two mocktails, Piäkká (Pekka) and Kässeekiäđgáš (Helmi). The first is made with cloudberries, the second with lingonberries.
You can also reach the café from the lake, by boat in summer and by snowmobile in winter. There is a sturdy jetty on the shore with room for a larger boat too.