Finns in Minnesota

A Finnish Presence in Minnesota

4  people oF minnesota state’s foreign-born populace during the first decades of the twentieth century. Two percent (99,400) of all Minnesotans claimed some Finnish ancestry by 2000, while Michigan’s 101,350 people of Finnish descent represented one percent of its population. A recent survey estimates that the 2010 figure for Minnesota’s Finns stood at 97,850. A Finnish Presence in Minnesota Despite their relatively small overall numbers, Finns have been concentrated within a few sections of Minnesota, earning a higher profile in these areas.People residing outside of these concentrations may still have some knowledge of Minnesota’s “Finnishness”—very likely the sauna, the Finns’most visible cultural marker. Some may know of sisu, which refers to the Finns’ tenacity when dealing with extremely difficult circumstances. Others may recognize the road signs that display Finnish names in Minnesota’s northern half,or the ninety or so terms that officially identify places and geographic sites. Another form of identity occurs on St. Urho’s Day, a March event that celebrates a mythical saint who was invented in Minnesota during the 1950sandwhichisnowcelebratedinmanyNorthAmerican Finnish communities. Sports fans have watched numerous Finns play for Minnesota’s professional hockey teams, and, since 2003, Finnish native Osmo Vänskä, director of the Minnesota Orchestra, has provided the state’s citizens with an awareness of his country’s vibrant musical culture. Finns have made meaningful contributions to Minnesota ’s cultural,labor,political,religious,commercial,and intellectuallife ,butrelativelylimitedphysicalevidenceof these achievements is visible on the contemporary landscape. While few other groups were stronger proponents of cooperation as a way to achieve the“common good”(yhteishyvä), only a limited number of the Finns’ original cooperative ventures—stores and gas stations,for example—exist today. the Finns  5 Minnesota’s Finns also sponsored more than 150 congregations and churches,most of themLutheran;becauseof doctrinaldifferences ,the congregations typicallyaffiliated with one of three major Lutheran associations organized by America’s Finns. Only one—the Laestadians or Apostolic Lutherans—still maintains a strong connection to its ethnic origins; the other two associations have been absorbed into large Lutheran synods. Nothing, however, more clearly speaks to the diverse views of Minnesota ’s Finnish community than politics. Awaterfrontsite,such as this Duluth example, is consideredtheideal locationforasauna.Designedby Duluth architectDavid Salmela,thesaunais both whimsical and poetic and displays a steeplypitched roofsuggestive ofFinnish farmhouses. Thesaunareceivedseveral state and national design awards following its completionin 2004. Menahga’s fiberglassSt. Urho, portrayedhere in 2010, is one oftwo statues thatcommemorate thefictitious Finnish saint inMinnesota;theother St. Urhostatue,a woodenchain-sawedversion, is locatedin northeastern MinnesotaatFinland. 6  people oF minnesota In fact,few ethnic groups of similar size have displayed such diversity—and turmoil—within their ranks. What other small Minnesota group has produced a Republican congressmanandgovernor ,thenation’sfirstCommunistmayor, and a four-time Communist Party of America candidate for U.S. president? Perhaps Finns do represent “America’s largest dysfunctional family.”2 This book begins with a brief summary of Finnish migration to North America before 1864 and follows with a discussion of factors that led several hundred thousand Finns to leave over the next half century. Most of the volume features the 1864–1945 period in Minnesota,although an overview of the post–World War II years is also provided . Since Minnesota has included numerous Finland Swedes—people born in Finland who speak Swedish—the book concludes with a portrait of this unique group. Because Finnish migration began in the far northern reaches of the Nordic world, a Finnish Sámi (Lapp) presence has also been evident in Minnesota.While it is estimated that thirty thousand Sámi immigrated to America, most from Norway and Sweden, an accurate count cannot be determined since they often hid their identity to avoid discrimination .Therefore,the number of Finnish Sámi who settled in Minnesota is unknown.3 Early Emigration from Finland Significant emigration from Finland occurred during the 1500s and 1600s when more than ten thousand Finns,most from the eastern region of Savo-Karelia, departed for the uninhabited uplands of Värmland and west-central Sweden . Several hundred of these “Värmland Finns” assisted in establishing Sweden’s Delaware River valley colonies throughout areas of present-day Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,and Maryland from the 1640s to the 1660s.4 Two centuries later, during the Russian era of Finnish ...