Gohppu/Guksi – Sami wooden cup

This is an example of the traditional Sami wooden cup and knife handicrafted by Jørn Are Keskitalo. The cups name is guksi or kuksa, kosa or gohppu. Or even other names in other Sami languages (read about Sápmi here).

The guksi / gohppu is always made of some kind of wood, and sometimes decorated with pieces of reindeerantler, bark or other woods. It can be nicely decorated with Sami patterns and symbols by burning, like on the picture.

When we were in elementary school we used to burn our names on, and otherwise decorate wooden- and antler objects by burning. I don´t know if kids still do that today, but we hope so.

The form of the guksi / gohppu is specially designed to be functional in a lávvu or the nature. It has a rounded shape because it is meant to be placed on a spot where there is no flat surface. In between the twigs inside de lávvu or in between heathers in nature for example.

The rounded shape of the guksi /gohppu is traditional because our ancestors have used this since the beginning of human time. They invented this by trying and failing the cup-design for thousands of years, and found what works best in nature. Plastic cups in the same shape are made nowadays.

The traditional Sami knife is made with a bend in the end, as you can see on the picture. Its like that so that it doesnt stab you when you are sitting down. It will naturally just angle away from the leg when sitting down.

Everyone has their own guksi / gohppu which they carry in their belt along with their knife and coffee pouch, so that wherever they come – to a river, lake or visiting another camp they will be ready to get a drink.

When you get a guksi / gohppu it is for your lifetime. When you have one, you won´t ever need another one, unless it breaks – which would be tragic because they are so beautiful.