Tornedalians

Tornedalians (; ; ) are an ethnic minority native to the Torne Valley ( Meänmaa) region in northern Sweden and Finland. Tornedalians were officially recognized as a national minority in Sweden in 2000. Tornedalians divide themselves into three distinct groups: Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset.

Etymology

The English word ''Tornedalian'' derives from the Swedish name for the Torne Valley, ''Tornedalen''. The Swedish word Tornedalen derives from the archaic Finnic word ''tornio'' meaning ''spear'' and the Swedish word ''dal'' which means valley.

Language

Meänkieli, or Tornedalian, is the language or dialect spoken by Tornedalians. While Meänkieli is recognised in Sweden as one of the country's five minority languages, its status as an independent language is sometimes disputed due to its high mutual intelligibility with Finnish. It belongs to the Uralic language family.

History

Finnic populations first began settling in the northern reaches of the Bay of Bothnia during the Viking Age, which previously would have likely been solely inhabited by the Sámi. Finnic settlement in the Bothnian Bay likely extended as far as the Pite and Lule Rivers by the 1100s and 1200s. Swedish colonisation beginning in the 1300s displaced and assimilated those who lived on the coast west of the Kalix river. Local toponomy indicates early Finnic populations in the area were made up of Tavastians and Karelians. These may have formed the ancient Kvens, which are often considered ancestors of todays Tornedalians and Kvens, though the connection between the ancient Kvens and modern Tornedalians and Kvens has been disputed.Myten om kvänernas rike. En granskning. Manuskript, 2013-08-12
''Lennart Lundmark'' is a retired historian, formerly of Umeå University, a recognised expert in the field, and has published several books about the history of northern Fennoscandia (PDF in Swedish). Retrieved 14 July, 2016.

The Birkarls were first mentioned in 1328 in a legal hearing by the Swedish Drots Knut Jonsson in which they claimed the Hälsings were encroaching on their lands. The Birkarls were tradesmen active around the northern Bothnian Bay who largely held a monopoly on trade with the Sámi. While their origins have been disputed, the Birkarls were ancestors of modern Tornedalians, as can be proved via tax and church records available from 1539 and onwards. The birkarls were slowly incorporated and replaced by the Swedish state until they no longer retained any of their original privileges and they disappeared as an entity.
Following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn between Sweden and the Russia in 1809, all Swedish lands east of the Torne, Muonio and Könkämä rivers were ceded to Russia as the Grand Duchy of Finland. As a result, the Finnish speaking communities on the western side were separated from those on the east. This would later lead to linguistic drift, creating the language known as Meänkieli. The split region continued to be culturally homogenous, so the border had little impact on people's everyday lives.

Later, the Tornedalians were the targets of extensive so-called " racial biology" and Swedification policies. During the 1800s many Tornedalian and Sámi graves were plundered at the behest of priests. Lars Levi Læstadius himself participated in the process of plundering graves. In 1888 Swedish was made the sole language of civil life, as well as the only language taught in schools. No outright ban was ever instituted in Finland, but those who spoke the language were discriminated against. After the 1902 Norrbotten famine, "work cabins" were established in Norrbotten in the fashion of boarding schools where the children from the sparsely populated region could be provided with food, lodging and education. Here, teachers would work to forcefully assimilate Tornedalian children; abuse was rampant. In the early to mid 1900's, Herman Lundborg from the State Institute for Racial Biology performed skull measurements on Tornedalians in 1913, which continued into the 1950s. The ban on speaking Meänkieli in school was revoked by the Riksdag in 1957.

In 2000, a new law went into effect recognising the Tornedalians as an official national minority and Meänkieli as an official minority language. A truth and reconciliation commission on historical discrimination against the population was appointed in 2020, and made its final report on 15 May 2023. In both 2020 and 2023, STR-T, the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians demanded the Swedish government to investigate their status as an indigenous people in accordance with ILO 169, although both times the Swedish government has denied to do so.

Subgroups and ethnic terms

Tornedalians generally divide themselves into three different groups: Tornedalians, Lantalaiset and Kvens. The term Tornedalian (''Tornionlaaksolainen'', pl. ''Tornionlaaksolaiset'') originally refers specifically to someone living along the lower course of the Torne river, beginning roughly in Pajala municipality. The term has come to be used to denote all 'Tornedalians'. Lantalaiset (sl. ''Lantalainen''; lit. "fertiliser/settled people") typically live in the further inland areas of Swedish and Finnish Lapland, known as ''Lannanmaa'' by Lantalaiset. The parts of Sweden inhabited by Lantalaiset largely correspond to the area known in Swedish as Malmfälten.

The term Kven has a disputed etymology. It appears for the first time in Ohthere of Hålogaland's 9th century accounts of northern Europe and is used mostly in Norwegian and Icelandic sources to refer to Tornedalians. With the integration of Meänmaa into Sweden the term fell into disuse in the Torne valley, though continued to be used among Norwegians Kvens. In Meänmaa the term featured in some traditional tales but was not actively used. Since the 1990s the term has been revived in Meänmaa and is especially commonly used by Lantalaiset. The term is also very common in the Karesuando (''Karesuanto'') area.

Terms such as meänmaalaiset (lit. ''people of our land''), meikäläiset (lit. ''people like us'') and Kven (kvääni/kveeni) are used natively to refer to Tornedalians as a whole. Ultimately, there is no internal consensus on the use of any one term.

Historically the term ''Finn'' has been used to denote all Tornedalians. While some Tornedalians will sometimes use the term Finn and Finnish, in contexts where being Tornedalians is implied, the term can be offensive to some. In a historical context the terms Finn/Finnish may sometimes still be used. The Swedish terms ''byfinne'' (pl. byfinnar, lit. 'village Finns') and ''lappfinne'' (pl. lappfinnar, lit. 'Sámi Finns') have historically been used to describe the Meänkieli-speaking population in the Gällivare area. While the term ''lappfinne'' has fallen out of use, the term byfinne remains prevalent.

These different terms/groups are not necessarily exclusive, and some may identify with multiple.

Religion and beliefs

Christianity first gained a foothold in the region in the 1400's. By the 1600's it had come to be the dominant religion displacing earlier pagan beliefs. Many pagan beliefs would continue throughout the Christinization and afterwards. Jopmel/Jobmel was a key figure in Tornedalian beliefs, along with figures such as Hiisi, Perhana, Veen neiti, Jatuni, and others. According to traditional beliefs, a ''saivo'' is a special kind of holy "double-bottomed" lake which can act as a portal to the land of the dead. The ''jänkkäsilmä'' (lit. 'eye of the bog') was a similarly holy feature in nature, which could likewise transport a person to the other life or through time.

The ''noita'', the same as the Sámi noaidi, was a traditional shaman. During the 1600s and 1700s when Christianity became dominant in Meänmaa the noita largely lost his importance as a religious figure and became primarily a keeper of traditional medical knowledge.

A significant religious shift would come to Meänmaa in the mid-1800s when the Swedish priest Lars Levi Læstadius began preaching his beliefs in the area. Læstadius spoke Sami but had no knowledge of Meänkieli when he first came to the area in the 1820s. While he first attempted to communicate via the Finnish he had learnt from a book, though he soon found that the local speech was rather different from "proper Finnish" and thus resolved to learn the language first-hand, travelling between different homes and villages and talking to many citizens. Læstadius gained great popularity in Meänmaa, though especially in his earlier years his devout belief in temperance caused trouble. When he died in 1861, took up the mantle as spiritual leader of the movement. After his death in 1899 the movement splintered, though Læstadianism remains an important part of much of Tornedalian society.

During the 1930s, the Korpela Movement gripped Meänmaa. It taught that God would soon make a crystal bridge to Palestine where a utopia would be established. The movement was much more lenient with the consumption of alcohol and extramarital sexual relations. It became popular with lantalaiset. The movement's heyday came to an end in 1939/1940 when the last of its preachers were jailed but its beliefs have had a lasting impact in Meänmaa.

''Liikutuksia/liikutukset'' is an important practice of Tornedalian/Kven Læstadianism. The word roughly translates as 'movements' or 'ecstasy' and involves moving about within the church in a state of religious ecstasy often involving hopping, clapping, dancing, shouting praise, singing and similar activities.

Population

Sweden does not distinguish minority groups in population censuses. The number of people who identify themselves as "Tornedalians" is usually estimated to be between 30,000 and 150,000. Estimates are complicated by the fact that the remote and sparsely-populated ''Tornedalen'' area has been particularly struck by the 20th-century urbanisation and unemployment. In 2006, a large radio survey about Finnish/Meänkieli speakers was conducted in Sweden. The result was that 469,000 individuals in Sweden claimed to understand or speak Finnish and/or Meänkieli. Those who can speak or understand Meänkieli are estimated to be 150,000–175,000.

Literature and cinema

The oldest works of native Tornedalian literature known today are two runic songs by The first and most famous concerns the ice discharge of 1677, which brought massive carnage to Torne valley at the time. It was written down roughly 100 years after its composition and at the time accredited to his grandson Josef. A second runic song by Keksi, about the priest Nicolaus, also survives.

Bengt Pohjanen wrote the first novel in Meänkieli, the language of the Meänmaa. He has written dramas, screenplays, songs and opera. He is trilingual in his writing.

The novel '' Popular Music from Vittula'' (2000) by the Tornedalian author Mikael Niemi became very popular both in Sweden and in Finland. It is composed of colourful stories of everyday life in the Tornedalian town of Pajala. The novel has been adapted for several stage productions, and as a film in 2004.

The first feature length movie in Meänkieli is set to premier in 2025. Titled ''Liikheitä'' in Meänkieli (; ), it follows the rise and fall of the Korpela movement. It is directed by and based on Bengt Pohjanen's book ''Dagning; Röd!''.

Flag

The flag is a horizontal tricolour of yellow, white and blue. This is a reference to a quote credited to an unknown Tornedalian woman as the border was being drawn: "''The summer-blue sky, you cannot cut in two; Nor the white winter field can you part; And neither can you divide the clear yellow sun! That which you cannot cut in twain shall forever remain.''" or alternatively "''You may gladly draw a line in the earth, but the air, sun and land - that you can never cut in two.''" The Nordic cross is not present on the flag as "''No crusaders have we ever been''".

The Meänmaa Flag Day is celebrated on July 15.

See also

*Kven people
* Tornio, Finland

References

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Ethnic groups in Sweden
Ethnic groups in Sápmi
Baltic Finns