Uksáhkká

Uksáhkká is presented in Sámi tradition as one of the daughters of Máttaráhkká, placing her within a family of female protective beings responsible for reproduction, childbirth and care of young children. Her place in the domestic-sacral landscape is the threshold: she is said to live in the ground under the goahti, specifically beneath the door, and to exercise guardianship over entrances, exits, and the liminal moment of birth.

Sources do not record specific iconography or anthropomorphic descriptions beyond identifying Uksáhkká as a female household deity. Comparisons in ethnographic literature align her conceptually with other Scandinavian threshold female figures (e.g., the Swedish dörrkäring), but no concrete visual description is provided in the cited material.

Uksáhkká protects people as they step in or out of the goahti and in childbirth she is said to receive the child into the world. She protects children as they learn to walk so they will not hurt themselves and prevents children from getting lost from the goahti. Some historical authors (notably Christfried Ganander) attributed additional roles to Uksáhkká — such as turning daughters into sons in the womb and assisting women during menstruation — but these attributions overlap with functions elsewhere ascribed to the related figure Juoksáhkká and represent author-specific reassignments in the ethnographic record. Later Christian influence led to Uksáhkká being equated with the Virgin Mary in some contexts.