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]
tornionlaaksolaiset (Meänkieli) | |
|---|---|
.svg) 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 | |
History
editTornedalians 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.[4][5] The birkarls were through the 14th to the 17th century slowly incorporated into the Swedish state, with the establishing of Christianity beginning in the 1400s though some pagan burials continued until the early 1600s.[6][5]
Following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn between Sweden and Russia in 1809, all Swedish lands east of the Torne and Muonio 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.[7] 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.[8][9]
Tornedalians were the targets of extensive so-called "racial biology" and swedification policies. In 1888 Swedish was made the sole language to be used and taught in schools.[10][7] 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,[11] however they worked to forcefully assimilate Tornedalian children and abuse was rampant.[12][13][14] 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.[15] The ban on speaking Meänkieli in school was revoked by the Riksdag in 1957.[16]
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.[16] 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.[17]
Groups and Terms
editTornedalians 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'.[18][19] Lantalaiset (sl. Lantalainen; lit. "fertiliser/settled people")[20] typically further inland in an area known as Lannanmaa, roughly corresponding to the area known in Swedish as Malmfälten.[18][21] 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 (Karesu[v]anto) area.[19]
Population
editSweden 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.
Literature
editBengt Pohjanen is a Tornedalian author who has written the first novel in Meänkieli, the language of the Meänmaa.[22] He has written dramas, screenplays, songs and opera. He is trilingual in his writing.
The novel Populärmusik från Vittula (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.
Flag
editThe flag is a horizontal tricolour of yellow, white and blue.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Tornedalingar". Minoritet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ "Fourth Report submitted by Sweden pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 2 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ACFC/SR/IV(2016)004)". Council of Europe: Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. 1 June 2014. p. 3. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ Kuoksu, Erik (2010). BIRKARLSSLÄKTER I ÖVER TORNEDALEN [Birkarl clans in the Upper Torne Valley] (in Swedish). pp. 1–4.
- ^ a b Sannings och försoningskommissionen för tornedalingar, kväner och lantalaisets slutbetänkande [The Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset's final report] (in Swedish). 2023. pp. 178–183.
- ^ Antti, Peter. Religionens utveckling i Tornedalen - från hedendom till kristendom [The Evolution of Religion in the Torne Valley - from Paganism to Christianity] (in Swedish).
- ^ a b "Den tornedalska minoritetens historia tar form" (in Swedish). Sámi Parliament of Sweden. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Lundgren, Edvard (2006). Den nya riksgränsen Byråkratiseringsprocessen och gränsdragningen i Tornedalen 1809-1825 (in Swedish).
- ^ "Tornedalsk historia". Minoritet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Sannings och försoningskommissionen för tornedalingar, kväner och lantalaisets slutbetänkande [The Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset's final report] (in Swedish). 2023. p. 270.
- ^ "Norrbottens läns arbetsstugor 1903-1954". Norrbottens museum (in Swedish). 1 May 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ ""I helvetet finns bara en eld, men i arbetsstugorna fanns två" – STR-T" (in Swedish). 8 June 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ "Arbetstugornas dag 1". Minoritet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ Lindskog, Gerda Helena (2014). Först och främst misshagade namnet : arbetsstugor för barn i Tornedalen och Lappland 1930-1954 : tjugosex intervjuer (in Swedish).
- ^ Nyheter, S. V. T. (7 March 2021). "De upplevde skallmätning som skolbarn: "Det var nedlåtande"". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ a b Langseth, Anna (21 May 2022). "Lång historia av statliga övergrepp mot tornedalingarna". Syre (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ Wallbrandt, Anna (19 October 2023). "Tornedalingar vill bli urfolk – begäran skickas till regeringen". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Tornedalsk identitet". Minoritet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ a b Nieminen, Nilla (18 April 2024). "Vilka är kvänerna, tornedalingarna och lantalaiset?". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Resultat för "lanta" - MEÄN SANA Tornedalsfinska ordbok". meankielensanakirja.com. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Background of the region of Lannanmaa and Torne Valley". Platform working for a Lannanmaa/Torne Valley Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Meänkieli elämänsä kiikkulaudalla". Kaleva (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 July 2021.