He was raised in the traditional Sámi village of Sirbmá, Norway, where his family sustained themselves through reindeer herding, hunter-gathering, and arctic farming, embedding in him a deep, lived understanding of the ancestral connection between his people and the land. As a native Sámi speaker and a traditional yoiker, Ánde carries the cultural essence of his people.

His yoiks are not mere songs, but spiritual expressions of life itself, echoing the voices of the ancestors and the spirit of the land.

This traditional upbringing is the foundation of his lifelong activism, which began with the historic Alta demonstrations and continues to this day as he advocates for indigenous rights. Bridging ancestral wisdom with modern leadership, Ánde holds a Ph.D. in Law from UIT The Arctic University of Norway (1999), where he now serves as an associate professor.

His distinguished legal career has seen him practice as both a judge and an attorney, using his expertise to protect and empower his community. Ánde Somby’s presence at the World Tribal Alliance is a call from the North.

He embodies the resilience and wisdom of the Sámi, sharing a message of balance learned from a life lived in harmony with the cycles of nature, and offering a path to reconnect with the sacred bonds that unite all of humanity.