His parents, Nilsson and Lisa Torkelsdotter, were reindeer herders and part of the Vilhelmina Southern Sámi community.

Before he was 13, Torkel Tomasson had two years of education at a Swedish Mission Society school in Gafsele after which he started working in reindeer husbandry.

In 1904, at the age of 25, returned to education attending a folk high school in Övertorneå and a gymnasium in Stockholm, finally graduating in 1912.

[2] Tomasson served as editor-in-chief of the paper until his death in 1940, publishing many articles on Sámi culture and identity.

Tomasson's material is unique in that he and the interview subjects conversed in their native Southern Sámi language.