Finland-Swedes in Michigan

Introduction

1 Introduction T he Finland-Swedes are pre-Viking descendants who settled on the Åland Islands and the coastal margins of today’s Southern and Western Finland. They lived in Finland prior to the 1200s and were part of the Kingdom of Sweden until 1809. For the many thousands of Finland-Swede emigrants who found their way to North America in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the term “Finland-Swede” may not accurately identify the people described in this book. Today defined as natives of Finland with a Swedish mother tongue, this immigrant population involves many who left the Grand Duchy of Finland during the reign of Russian czars between 1809 and 1917 and immigrated to North America with different identities. The majority of the population in the Grand Duchy during this period was Finnish speaking, while a minority of people in the coastal margins spoke Swedish. The Russification of Finland after the turn of the century pushed for the assimilation of Russian language, which in turn alienated many Finnish and Swedish-speaking Finns. These early immigrants identified themselves at times as Russian Swedes, Swede Finns, or simply Swedes. Others have also identified themselves as Ålanders . Whatever term is preferred, this book examines the Finland-Swedes of Michigan and tries to shed light on a small ethnolinguistic minority that few are familiar with. ...