Gifted by Nature Tales from Pohjola
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GIFTED BY NATURE TALES FROM POHJOLA 1 2. KANSI GIFTED BY NATURE TALES FROM POHJOLA 2 3 FOREWORD The stories in this book are based on real events. They open a door to the souls of the people of Pohjola, the heritage of the wilderness and the sea. When you next roam in Kuusamo, Rokua or Kalajoki, look around. Listen, smell, taste, observe and study. You will see that there is a tiny bit of the past hidden in everything – a piece of Pohjola in the old times. We wish you a rewarding trip back in time! TEKSTIT Anne Ruuttula-Vasari, muokattu Kulma-hankkeessa KUVITUS Joiku Rauhala TAITTO Seven-1 Julkaisu on tuotettu osana EAKR-hanketta Kulttuuriperintö matkailun voimavaraksi (Kulma). 4 5 CONTENTS KUUSAMO I Wonder Who Lived Here During the Stone Age? 9 Kiveksenkylä Robbers, Variskylä Thieves The Forest Lapps of the Summer Dwelling – Pirates at Lake Oulujärvi 61 by the River Savinajoki 11 Emperor’s Road – the Road the Russian Emperor The Ultimate Bounty of the Forest – Trailing a Bear 14 Never Used 64 Life in the Backwoods – Five Men and One Pair A Sworn Pilot 66 of Sunday Trousers 17 Ahmas – the Village of Kalevala Poems 68 Trekking the Karhunkierros 20 Lichen Everywhere 70 The Kiutaköngäs Siege of the Winter War 22 Fishing Traps and Foreign Anglers 73 Lumberjacks on Their Way to the White Sea 24 Paanajärvi – Travellers Day and Night, All KALAJOKI Summer and Winter Long 27 Men and Women with Scythes and Rakes on Jussi Kurikkala from Kalajoki a Flooded Meadow 31 – Nordic Walking Pioneer 79 Elli – Nature’s Gift to the People of the Backwoods 34 A Sailor's Letter Home to Kalajoki 81 Long-Stump Antti, Clearer of Reindeer Pasture 36 Aukku Catching Baltic Herring 83 Torch-Fishing on the River Kitkajoki on a Dark Hilma’s Hotel 87 August Night 39 Woeful Times in a Valley of Grief during the Great Wrath 89 ROKUA Living in the Light and Shadow of the Ulkokalla Beacon 91 The Last Tar Makers in the Forests of Rokua 45 Piekkon Aukko, the Best of All Hunters 94 “The forester has been notified – a mighty fire at Anna – the Seal Hunter’s Wife 97 Rokuanvaara Hill!” 47 The Kalla Council – We Are in Charge 99 “Bring the Horses Here – Now!” 49 Bathers and Sea Enthusiasts in Kalajoki as Early Backpacks, Skis and Rail Buses as the 1870s 102 – Destination Rokua 51 Lumberjacks on the River Kalajoki – More Wood The Iron Age – Who Lived in the Rokua Woods than Water in the River 104 Back Then? 55 Turnesjussi at the Kalajoki Farmers' Fair 106 Iso-Räisänen – the Strongest Man Ever 59 6 7 KUUSAMO 8 KUUSAMO KUUSAMO 9 I WONDER WHO LIVED HERE DURING THE STONE AGE? ather, did people live here during the Stone Age?” people had found quartz fragments and pits of different " a little boy asked in a clear voice by the Oulanka sizes in the ground. A few years back, during an inventory National Park Visitor Centre. Passers-by stopped of the national park, someone had noticed that there had F to see how his father would manage such a tough been a stone-age dwelling at Kiutaköngäs, right by the Kar- question. It was well worth their while to do so. hunkierros Trail. The father and son had spent the night at the nearby Jussi, the boy, continued with his questions: “What camping site, and the father had promised his son an ad- are quartz fragments?” His father explained that the tools venture into the history of Oulanka. He had not guessed people had used in the Stone Age had been made of white that he would have to begin as far back as the Stone Age. quartz. The stone had to be beaten several times to make The boy’s father suggested to the people who had it into the kind of object you wanted. This left a lot of gathered around that they all start hiking towards the Kiu- sharp-edged chips of stone, or fragments, on the ground. taköngäs Rapids and travel 6,000 years back in time. He They flew off the stone when it was being moulded. remembered to mention right away that the people who “Was it not hard to make objects out of stone?” a man who had roamed the area during the Stone Age had not called had hiked along with them wondered. Jussi’s father, who the rapids by the name Kiutaköngäs. No one knew what had been appointed the guide for the group, told the others language the ancient people had spoken. that a skilled stone-age stone mason would make a usable “How can you tell for sure that somebody lived here thou- object in no time. He would first cut the stones into appro- sands of years ago?” the boy asked again. His father calmly priate sizes and then grind the object with sand and water replied: “There are no signs of stone-age settlers left imme- on an even flat rock, or use a smaller grinding tool. Finally, diately by the River Oulankajoki, because the river banks the mason would even out the stone surface by means of have caved in in several places, and the water has washed spot cutting – i.e., knocking small dents very close to each the signs away. There was a stone-age dwelling site upriver, other into the surface of the stone with a stick. at the Taivalköngäs Rapids. You can still see the quartzite When the group got to Kiutaköngäs, Jussi sat down on glittering on the ground.” the ground and started beating two rocks together, but he On the way to the Kiutaköngäs Rapids, the father ex- could not get them to turn into objects, nor did any stone plained that there were signs of the earliest settlers of fragments fly around. His father found a piece of quartz on Oulanka right by the rest spot at the rapids as well. There, the ground, and it was as sharp as a knife. Stone-age peo- 10 KUUSAMO KUUSAMO 11 ple used to make scrapers, spear and arrowheads, as well could catch fish in Oulanka with a hook and line or fishing as carving tools and knives out of quartz. The tools were nets, but what else had the people eaten? They concluded used to skin animals and cut meat. Many of them had been that all the bounties of nature and game available in to- attached to a handle made of wood or bone with leather day’s Kuusamo had been available back then too. Plants straps and resin. high in vitamins, such as angelica, nettle and French sor- THE FOREST LAPPS OF THE SUMMER The hikers participating in the guided tour of Kiu- rel, had been used fresh. They had also been dried and taköngäs felt as if a stone-age mason had been sitting right mixed with other foods. People had already known how to next to them and cutting stone. “I can’t believe that people use mushrooms and even preserve them back then, not to DWEllING BY THE RIVER SAVINAJOKI from thousands of years ago stood on this very spot admiring mention the wild berries. Birch sap had been collected and the red dolomite rocks”, Jussi thought out loud. drunk raw. Next, the group headed to the surroundings of the The group then got to thinking about the clothes the here is a Lapp’s tax for the Crown, paid in full. The inajoki. There, you could go fishing as soon as the still wa- camping site between Kiekeröniva and Haaralampi, where ancient people had worn. They had probably been made " skins were acquired during long hunting trips be- ters were open, and you could go punting along the river. several different-sized pits had been found. Jussi’s father out of leather and plant fibres. People had also worn jewel- tween two long dark seasons!” Nilla grunted and The familiar pond area was also a good calving place for was a bit disappointed that no stone-age artefacts had been lery, although none had been found in Oulanka so far. T set down his bunch of skins in front of the tax bail- the reindeer. found in Oulanka. Still, there was a good chance that some- That night, before Jussi went to sleep, he asked his fa- iff. The Vicar had already received his tithe in the form of After the deer hunt, the families would set out to their one might unearth treasures of silver or flints, because ther: "Was the one who lived here in the Stone Age related dried pike. summer dwellings. The twigs and boards that Nilla had tak- such things had been found in other parts of Kuusamo. to you or mother?” His father took a moment to think, then The whole after-Christmas time had been spent driv- en to the Kotalampi pond were there, waiting for the fam- The group put their heads together to wonder where replied: “I do think you will live to see a time when that will ing officials around with reindeer and holding the winter ily to build their kota hut. The frame was covered with the the stone-age people had got their food. Of course, you also be revealed.” assembly. Throughout the heart of the winter, the wom- deer skins that Nilla's wife had worked on during the winter. enfolk had worked hard to mould the deer skins and make A short walk from the summer dwelling was a place of new peski fur coats and Lapp shoes, which the men had sacrifice that Nilla often visited on the spring mornings.