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The Saami - A Cultural Encyclopaedia - edited by Ulla Maija Kulonen, Irja Seurujarvi-Kari and Risto Pulkkinen

'les-Pieti' is the familiar name of Per Andersinpoika (Anderson) Vasara (1815-96), a Saami Laestadian preacher born in Karesuando.

He was most active in the Enontekio region, but he also travelled to Lyngen, the Torne (Tornio) River Valley, Kittila, Oulu, and so on. He spoke Saami, Norwegian and Finnish.

Ies-Pieti was one of the most important lay preachers in the Saami phase of the Laestadian movement. He was orphaned as a child, whence his sobriquet 'Ies', which means without a mother or a father. As a young man he had a powerful spiritual visionary experience, and when Laestadian revivalism got under way, he was one of the first to join the supporters of Lars Levi Laestadius.

Ies-Pieti was a prosperous and highly respected man - a juror and member of the parish council whose social standing promoted the progress of the revivalist movement, and who also provided financial support for its missionary activities.