Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, (Sami language Áillohaš, also kown as "Ailu") (March 23 1943 - November 26 2001) was a Saami writer, musician and artist of Finnish citizenship born in Enontekiö in the Finnish part of Lapland. Significant portions of his life he lived in Käsivarsi, close to the border to Sweden, and also in Skibotn in Norway. It is sometimes said that Valkeapää is the Sami person who is most well known internationally. Valkeapää was born in a family of the traditional trade of herding reindeer