Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
If you want to have a reindeer herd in the Upper Peninsula, you need a reindeer expert.
Antti Pätsi , a reindeer herder from Finland, is joining the folks from the Finnish Theme Committee this weekend for the annual Heikinpäivä celebration.
He will be giving a presentation on Saturday called “Reindeer Herding: Past and Present” at the Chapel of St. Matthew at 1pm. “We’ll talk about reindeer herding but also what’s included in reindeer herding for tourism, reindeer raising, and some products and what people do with reindeer, and just a little about history,” said Pätsi.
Pätsi will also be talking about the viability of having a reindeer herd in the UP at a special presentation Monday at 1pm at the Finnish American Heritage Center. His university background is in tourism and he will also talk about how a reindeer herd can be used to attract tourists to the area.
Reindeer are not only used in tourism, they are also used as a food product, used for leather, their horns are used in jewelry and knife handles, and Pätsi even races reindeer being pulled behind while on skis. Pätsi said, “I haven’t yet won the championships but maybe someday. It happens to one reindeer herder maybe once in a lifetime so I’m really waiting for it.”
A reindeer herder from St. Clair, Michigan will also be taking part in tomorrow’s festivities…giving people a chance to get up close to real live reindeer.
