Emigrants to Australia
By Hilding Widjeskog “Storbacka and Manderbacka. Groups of Houses in Småbonders”June Pelo It was in 1924. Times were hard and they weren’t getting any better for…
Learn about culture, traditions, and history.
Swede Finn Junction
Finns Abroad
Olavi Koivukangas, Director, Institute of Migration Studies, Åbo. Extracted from “Finland, a Cultural Encyclopedia”. Translated by June Pelo. The greatest emigration among Finns has been to…
Folk Culture
By Teppo Korhonen, Professor of Ethnology, University of Turku,Extracted from “Finland – A Cultural Encyclopedia”. Translated by June Pelo Folk culture in Finland is clearly divided between…
The National Anthem of Finland
By June Pelo, citing the Internet as her source of information. The Finnish national anthem, with words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg and music by Fredrik Pacius,…
Johan Ludvig Runeberg – National Poet of Finland
By June Pelo. Sourced from the internet. Runeborg was the national poet of Finland who wrote in Swedish, and also exercised great influence on Swedish literature.…
Runeberg Defined the Finnish Spirit
By Irmeli Tanttu Suomen Silta No. 2-2004Translated by June Pelo The Finnish identity began to take it current shape when Sweden lost its eastern section, Finland,…
Pedersöre Church
Translated from “Pedersöre Kyrka” and Jakobstads Tidning by June Pelo, 1990. Medieval Church The Pedersöre church is one of Österbotten’s oldest medieval churches. The foundation was laid…
Solv Church Village
By Evald Strandén from DEN ÖSTERBOTTNISKA BYN.Translated by June Pelo The dry timber cracked when I climbed upstairs in the church bell tower. As a child…
Building Contractor Johan Johansson Bäcksbacka
From Finlands Swedish Technicians. By Prof. Jonatan Reuter. Rewritten by Bror Höglund.Translated by June Pelo. After the severe years of famine 1867-68, a man named Johan…
Old Marriage Customs in Finland
Excerpts from “Finnish Folk Culture” by Ilmar Talve.June Pelo At times while doing genealogy research, I’ve noticed that young couples married at a very young age…
Manner and Customs of Kantlax
By Vald. Nyblom in “Den Österbottniska Byn”. Translated by June Pelo. These are some remembrances from the late 1800’s about life in Kantlax, a little coastal village in…
Life-cycle rites: Birth & Churching
Excerpts from “Finnish Folk Culture” by Ilmar TalveTranslated by June Pelo Birth From time immemorial, the Baltic-Finnic people have divided the period of gestation (40 weeks)…
