Forest fins
Forest fins ( Swedish skogsfinnar , Norwegian skogfinner , Finnish metsäsuomalaiset ) is a name given to the Finns who immigrated to Sweden and Norway between the end of the 16th and the end of the 17th century . In contrast to the Finns who immigrated since the middle of the 16th century, who mainly worked in mining and metallurgy , they created new agricultural areas for themselves by clearing and burning ( finn. Huuhta ) the large, untouched coniferous forests in the interior. Hence the alternative Swedish name svedjefinnar (slash-and-burn fins) .
history
In the 16th century, the inhabitants of the Finnish landscape of Savo (Swedish: Savolax ) colonized large, previously uninhabited forest areas in Finland, which was then part of Sweden, by means of slash and burn. After small patches of forest had been burned down, a variety of rye specially bred for this purpose (called svedjeråg ) was sown directly into the warm, nutrient-rich ash. Compared to conventional agriculture, the yield was enormous, but after a few years it fell sharply, so that new areas had to be burned down.
This form of farming led to a rapidly growing, very mobile population. When the unused land ran out, many residents emigrated to the west. Up to 12,000 Finns, mainly from Savo and northern Häme (Swedish Tavastland ), moved to Värmland , Dalarna , Hälsingland and southern Lapland , some of them also attracted by tax concessions as part of the colonization policy of King Charles IX of Sweden . The new settlement areas were called Finnmark ("Finnenland") or Finnskog ("Finnenwald").
The state was ambivalent about the immigrants. On the one hand, they paid taxes and improved the food supply in the country by developing new areas. On the other hand, the burning of the forest brought them increasingly into conflict with the rapidly growing industry that required large amounts of charcoal. In 1647 and 1664, therefore, laws against slash and burn were first passed in Sweden. Although these bans could never be fully enforced, they made traditional agriculture more difficult, so many Finns had to look for other sources of income. Many worked in forestry or as charcoal burners for the new ironworks. The burnt soils, on which no more grain grew after a few years, could continue to be used as pastures, so that cattle breeding became more and more important. Slash and burn became less and less important until it ceased entirely at the end of the 19th century.
Culture
In some isolated regions, the Finnish language and culture, cut off from the Finnish motherland and without Finnish writing, survived for over 350 years until the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the Värmland areas of Fryksdalen and Klarälvdalen and the neighboring Norwegian communities in Finnskogen . In the years 1817 and 1821–1822, the Savo-born ethnologist and Fennoman Carl Axel Gottlund (1796–1875) traveled to the settlement areas of the forest fins in Sweden and Norway and described in detail the life and traditions of the inhabitants. He also noted down the local sagas and fairy tales as well as some rune chants . In addition, he tried with some success to improve the often difficult economic situation of the forest fins. a. through petitions to the Swedish government. His efforts to help the Finnish-populated areas to independence and autonomy, however, were unsuccessful.
Situation today
Today the forest fins are completely assimilated in Swedish society. In Norway the forest Finns have the status of a recognized minority (alongside Jews , Kvenen , Sinti and Roma ). Thousands of Finnish place names still remind us of their role in Scandinavian history. More recently, attempts have been made to actively maintain and promote the Finnish forest culture. The Norwegian Grue and the Swedish Torsby , both main places of forest-Finnish settlement, have a town partnership with the Finnish Rautalampi , from where many of the immigrants came.
Well-known personalities of forest Finnish descent are Björn Skifs , Dan Andersson , Gunnar Myrdal , Sven-Göran Eriksson , Leif Boork , Gunnar Broberg and Tage Erlander .
The open-air museum Glomdalsmuseet in Elverum has several buildings related to the building tradition of the forest fins in Norway.
See also
literature
- Carl Axel Gottlund:
- Dagbok öfver dess resor på finnskogarne i Dalarne, Helsingland, Vestmanland och Vermland år 1817 , edited by Nils Sahlström with a foreword by KB Wiklund, facsimile, Falun - Dalarnas museum in collaboration with the Finnish Literary Society in Helsinki, 1984 (424 pages);
- Dagbok över mina vandringar på Wermlands och Solörs finnskogar 1821 , facsimile, Kirkenær, Gruetunet museum in collaboration with the Finnish Literary Society in Helsinki, 1986 (532 pages);
- Karl Axel Gottlunds and prosten Jacob Boëthii brev om finnmarkerna i Dalarna och Bergslagen , Filipstad 1928 (40 pages);
- Carl Axel Gottlunds Värmlandsbrev (1821–1823) edited by JJ Mikkola , Helsinki 1925 (361 pages). Co-author: Jooseppi Julius Mikkola (1866–1946).
- Richard Gothe (1883–1953): Medelpads finnmarker - Kulturhistoriska undersökningar om finsk bosättning i mellersta Norrland under 15-, 16- and 1700-talen. Stockholm 1945, Författarens förlag (reprint Gotab, Stockholm 1988).
- Arne Järtelius: Invandrarnas svenska historia . Känn ditt land, no 19. Svenska Turistföreningen, Stockholm 1988.
- Scandinavian metsäsuomalaiset. Facta 8. Tietosanakirja, Helsinki 1971.