Gourt Home::Gourt :: Tornedalians
The Tornedalians or Tornedalian Finns are members of the Finnic (a.k.a. Finno-Ugric or Fenno-Ugric) peoples, traditionally speaking Meänkieli - a.k.a. Tornedalen language, which up till recently was widely considered to be a Finnish dialect), but which in 1999 received an official minority language status in Sweden.
The Tornedaleans are descendants of Finns who in some point in history settled to the areas of today's Northern Sweden near the Torne Valley district and west from there.
The taxation of the Sami people, fur trade and large hunting grounds were among the most important factors contributing to the migration of the Tornedealians up north. Beginning in the 13th century the Tornedalians helped the Swedish expansion to the areas that today are part of northern Sweden.
Eventually, the taxation of the Samis became to be shared fully by two Finnic groups, the Kvens and the Karelians who during several centuries had often fought against each other. United they were now able to fence off the competing Norse (later Norwegians) - who before had shared the Sami taxation rights with the Kvens within some parts of Northern Scandinavia - and the Slavic groups (later Russians) making advances from south-east.
Despite the Finnish and Russian demands of including much of today's Swedish Torne River Valley territory into the autonomous Russian Grand Duchy of Finland - from the River Kalix west - that area remained part of the Kingdom of Sweden as a result of the peace treaty signed between Russia and Sweden in 1809, after the so called Finnish war which ended that year. The Swedish-Finnish border was drawn at the River Tornio, and that border has stood official up to date.
The minority status of the Tornedalians was officially recognized by the Swedish government in 1999 by the recognition of Meänkieli as one of the acknowledged minority languages in Sweden. 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 Tornedalean area has been particularly struck by the twentieth century urbanization and unemployment.
As a result of the long-lasting effects of Finland's part in the Second World War - i.e. Finland's Winter War, Continuation War, and Lapland War -, the migration of a new generation of Finns to Sweden has chiefly taken place to central Sweden, where over the centuries countless Tornedalians have striven to assimilate and become indistinguishably Swedish.
Cultural imperialism, in combination with a fear of Russia, led to Swedish attempts to assimilate and “Swedify” the Finnish-speaking population between 1850 and 1950. Since the 1970s, efforts have been made to reverse some of the effects of the so-called Swedification, notably in education. Public radio and television broadcasts in Finnish also became a standard, to raise the status of the Finnish language language. As a result, a written standard of the local dialect Meänkieli has been established and taught, which has given rise to critical remarks from Finland, suggesting that standard Finnish would be of more use to the pupils.
The novel Populärmusik från Vittula (2000) (roughly Popular Music from Vittula; in Finnish, Populäärimusiikkia Vittulajänkältä) by Tornedalian author Mikael Niemi became very popular both in Sweden and in Finland. The novel 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.
See also
"Tornedalians"