Tornedalians

tornionlaaksolaiset (Meänkieli)
Flag of Tornedalians
Regions with significant populations
Sweden	30,000–150,000 (est.)[1]
Languages
Meänkieli, Finnish and Swedish
Religion
Lutheranism (Laestadianism)
Related ethnic groups
Kvens, Finns, Karelians

Tornedalians (Meänkieli: tornionlaaksolaiset; Finnish: tornionjokilaaksolaiset; Swedish: tornedalingar) are an ethnic minority native to the Torne Valley (Meänmaa) region in northern Sweden and Finland.^[2] Tornedalians are since year 2000 a recognized national minority in Sweden.^[3] Tornedalians generally divide themselves into three distinct groups: Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset.^[2]

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.^[4]

Tornedalians are descended from Tavastians and Karelians who migrated to the region, as can be seen in local toponymy. This can be seen from some names such as Tornio and Kemi which follow Tavastian characteristics, while names such as Seittenkari follows Karelian characteristics.^[5]

Tornedalians are generally thought to be descended from the ancient Kvens, first mentioned by Ohthere of Hålogaland in 890, though recountings of Tornedalian history often begin with the birkarls who are first mentioned in 1328 in a legal hearing by the Swedish Drots Knut Jonsson over disputes with the Hälsings who the birkarls claimed were encroaching on their lands.^[6][7] The birkarls were through the 14th to the 17th century slowly incorporated into and replaced by the Swedish state, with the establishing of Christianity beginning in the 1400s though some pagan burials continued until the early 1600s.^[8][7] Finnic settlement in the Bothnian Bay likely extended as far as the Pite and Lule Rivers by the 11- and 1200s, though Swedish colonisation beginning in the 1300s largely displaced and assimilated these populations.^[9][10]

Following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn between Sweden and 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 now officially separated from those on the eastern side of the border, which later also led to divergence of dialect and the language known as Meänkieli.^[11] Though the now split region continued to be culturally homogenous and the border had little impact on people's everyday life for some time after.^[12][13]

Tornedalians were the targets of extensive so-called "racial biology" and swedification policies. During the 1800s many Tornedalian and Sámi graves were plundered, with the priesthood often playing a large role.^[14][15] Lars Levi Læstadius himself participated in the process of plundering graves.^[16] In 1888 Swedish was made the sole language to be used and taught in schools.^[17][11] After the 1902 Norrbotten famine so called 'work cabins' (Swedish: arbetsstugor) were established in Norrbotten as a sort of boarding school where the children from the sparsely populated region could be provided with food, lodging and education,^[18] however they worked to forcefully assimilate Tornedalian children and abuse was rampant.^[19][20][21] In the early- to mid-1900s, Herman Lundborg and others from the State Institute for Racial Biology performed skull measurements on Tornedalians, with Lundborg performing the first measurements in 1913. Bodily measurements in the name of scientific racism were being carried out as late as the 1950s.^[22] The ban on speaking Meänkieli in school was revoked by the Riksdag in 1957.^[23] No equivalent ban was ever instituted in Finland, however what is now called Meänkieli was heavily looked down upon and de facto forbidden in school.^[24]

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.^[23] In both 2020 and 2023, STR-T, the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians have demanded the Swedish government to investigate their status as an indigenous people in accordance with ILO 169 though both times the Swedish government has denied to do so.^[25]

Tornedalians generally divide themselves into three different groups: Tornedalians, Lantalaiset and Kvens.^[2] 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, though the term has also come to be widely used to denote all 'Tornedalians'.^[26][27] Lantalaiset (sl. Lantalainen; lit. "fertiliser/settled people")^[28] typically live further inland in an area known as Lannanmaa, roughly corresponding to the area known in Swedish as Malmfälten.^[26][29] The term Kven is also used and is connected to both the ancient Kvens and the Norwegian Kvens. The term is especially used in the Karesuando (Karesuanto) area.^[27] These different terms/groups are not necessarily exclusive, and some may identify with multiple.^[30]

Terms such as meänmaalaiset (lit. people of our land), meikäläiset (lit. people like us) and also Kven (kvääni/kveeni) have been and are used natively to refer to Tornedalians as a whole, though there is no consensus on the use of any one term.^[31][32][27]

Historically the term Finn has been used to denote all Tornedalians. While some Tornedalians will sometimes use the term Finn and Finnish, especially in contexts where them being Tornedalians is implied, the term is otherwise somewhat deprecated and can be seen as offensive to some.^[33][34] In a historical context the terms Finn/Finnish may sometimes still be used.^[35] 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.^[36] While the term lappfinne has fallen out of use, the term byfinne remains prevalent.^[37]

Christianity first gained a proper foothold in the region in the 1400s and by the 1600s had come to be the dominant religion, largely displacing earlier pagan beliefs.^[8] However many pagan beliefs still lived on long after. Jopmel/Jobmel was a key figure in Tornedalian beliefs, along with figures such as Hiisi, Perhana, Veen neiti, Jatuni, and others.^[38] 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.^[39][40] 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.^[38]

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, while largely Swedish, had during his childhood learned Sámi (primarily Lulesámi as is spoken in Kvikkjokk) however 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 inviting people to talk to him about theological matters and correct him when he made errors in his speech. Lars Levi Læstadius gained great popularity in Meänmaa, though especially in his earlier years his devout belief in temperance caused trouble.^[41] When Lars Levi Læstadius died in 1861, preacher Johan Raattamaa [sv] 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.^[42][43]

During the 1930s, the Korpela Movement gripped Meänmaa, promising that God would soon make a crystal bridge to Palestine where a utopia would be established. The Korpela movement, while originally branching from Læstadianism was much more lenient with the consumption of alcohol, and extramarital sexual relations could be described as accepted, if not outright encouraged. The movement was especially popular among lantalaiset. While the movement's heyday came to an end in 1939/1940 when the last of its preachers were jailed the movement and its beliefs have had a lasting impact in Meänmaa.^[44][45]

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.^[46][45]

Sweden does not distinguish minority groups in population censuses, but 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.^{[citation needed]}

The oldest works of native Tornedalian literature known today are two runic songs by Antti Keksi (1622-1705, known in Swedish as Anders Kexi). The first and most famous concerns the ice discharge of 1677, which brought massive carnage to Torne valley at the time. It was first 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.^[47]

Bengt Pohjanen is a Tornedalian author who has written the first novel in Meänkieli, the language of the Meänmaa.^[48] 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 (Swedish: Rörelser; Finnish: Valitut), it follows the rise and fall of the Korpela movement. It is directed by [1]Jon Blåhed [sv] and based on Bengt Pohjanen's book Dagning; Röd!.^[49][50]

The flag is a horizontal tricolour of yellow, white and blue, in reference to something a Tornedalian woman supposedly said when 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".^[51][52]

The Meänmaa Flag Day is celebrated on July 15.^[53][54]

• Kven people
• Tornio, Finland