
Finland has a complicated history with its neighbors to the east and west. For more than 500 years the country was ruled over by the Swedish kingdom until it was ceded to the Russian Empire during the 1700’s. Swedish culture still influences some of the regions says Fins and Friends President Jim Kurtti, evident in the Swedish-speaking minority. He adds that most Swedes who immigrated to the United States settled in Michigan.
There are pockets of them in lower Michigan. And especially along the southern part of the upper peninsula. And even in places like Dollar Bay, there were Swedish halls and Swedish churches there. And they were all Swedish-finn churches, not Swedish churches. Their language has a different tone to it. And they are recognized as a minority. – Jim Kurtti, president, Copper Country finns and friends
To the east, Russia claimed the land as the Grand Duchy of Finland, which lasted until 1917. Even before the country’s independence, swede-finn was coined in America to distinguish the community. In 1981 a study of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland determined the community met the criteria of a separate ethnic group. Most Swedish-speaking communities in Finland reside along the eastern coast, near the Gulf of Bothnia.
Learn about Juhannus June 20th to the 22nd in Hancock here.
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