Finnish American Folk School passes on skills from Finland leading up to Heikinpaiva

Excitement about Hancock has been growing since the first storm dropped snow into the Copper Country. The same is true for Heikinpaiva’s cultural festivities at the end of January. Each year, the Finnish American Folk School collaborates with the Hancock Finnish Theme Committee to organize cultural enrichment courses for the community.

And for Heikinpaiva, here at the Finnish American Folk School, one of the things that we do every year is offer cultural courses. Of course, we offer courses throughout the year, but at Heikinpaiva time, we have a few courses selected to focus on Finnish culture celebrating midwinter here in Hancock. So we have a Kantele course coming up. Registration is still open for that. We also have a birch bark sheaf weaving. So if you have a knife that needs a sheaf, you can learn some traditional birch bark weaving skills to make a sheath for it. We also have several other classes going on, including Finnish language classes. – Clare Zuraw, Director, Finnish-American Folk School

Folk School director Clare Zuraw says around the area and woven within Finnish culture lives creative songs and music. One of the folk school’s most popular Heikinpaiva courses teaches students how to play the country’s national instrument, a Kantele.

So the kantele is the national instrument of Finland and is still being played here in Michigan’s Copper Country. So this Thursday, our instructor, Kay Seppala, will be teaching an introduction to kantele course, which is for total beginners. Kay likes to say that if you can count to five, you can play the five-string kantele. All are welcome there to learn not only how to play the instrument, which is very accessible and beautiful sounding, even played by a beginner, but also learn about the culture around the national instrument of Finland. Hear some of the stories about the instrument and also learn the music. – Clare Zuraw, Director, Finnish-American Folk School

Exploring crafty skills and the region’s ancestry can help communities grow says Zuraw. Throughout the year the folk school offers other courses for the community to participate in.

Some of our students are interested in connecting with their Finnish heritage, and many of our students, including myself, don’t have any Finnish heritage at all. We’re interested in learning about local culture, and international cultures, but also in working with our hands. And I think that having, especially with our long winters, I think that having outlets for your energy, things to do to keep you occupied, can improve mental health, can improve engagement with your community, you can meet new people, learn new things, it’s good for your brain, and so that’s a big part of what we do here as well. – Clare Zuraw, Director, Finnish-American Folk School

The First cultural course leading up to Heikinpaiva will close registration after today. Zuraw adds that some of the cultural programs have filled up, and people interested in a certain course should contact the Finnish American Folk School for more information. Find more details about the Heikinpaiva course with the Finnish American Folk School here.