15 0 Years of Finnish–Na M B Ia N R E La T Io
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s n o i t a l e R n a i b i m a N – h s i n i n F f o a r s 15 0 Ye Marjo Kaartinen, Leila Koivunen & Napandulwe Shiweda (eds.) INTERTwINED HISTORIES EDITORS Marjo Kaartinen, Leila Koivunen & Napandulwe Shiweda PUBLICATION DESIGN Studio Merileena Maria & PAGE LAYOUT COPYRIGHT Authors ISBN 978-951-29-7828-1 ISBN 978-951-29-7829-8 PUBLISHER University of Turku, 2019 PRINTING Spin Press TYPEFACES Solide Mirage by Velvetyne Type Foundry, Aperçu by Colophon Foundry & Lyon Text by Kai Bernau INTERTwINED HISTORIES 150 Years of Finnish–Namibian Relations Marjo Kaartinen, Leila Koivunen & Napandulwe Shiweda (eds.) Contents 7 To the Reader 9 Kim Groop Behind the Memory of the Finnish Missionary in Namibia 17 Romie Nghitevelekwa and Napandulwe Shiweda Omandongo: “The site of the forsaken mission station, and a reminder of the plights of pioneering times” 22 Simo Heininen The Letters of Martti Rautanen to Carl Hugo Hahn, 1888–1895 29 Loini Iizyenda The Impact of Finnish Missionaries on Traditional Aawambo Dress 37 Maria A. N. Caley A Reflection: The Intersection of Trade Cloth and Indigenous Crafts Among the Vakavango 43 Napandulwe Shiweda and Romie Nghitevelekwa The Architectural Designs of Finnish Missions in North-Central Namibia 51 Anna Rastas Lessons to Learn from the Story of Rosa 58 Ellen Ndeshi Namhila and Werner Hillebrecht Rosa Emilia Clay: From Omaruru via Sortavala to Chicago 66 Leila Koivunen Martti Rautanen’s Collection of Aawambo Artefacts in Finland 74 Kaisa Harju A Joint Effort: Owambo Agency in the Karl Emil Liljeblad Collection 83 Essi Huuhka Relief and Salvation: The Famine Relief Activities of Finnish Missionaries in the Ondonga Region, 1908–1909 90 Kalle Kananoja The Finnish Medical Mission in Owambo and Kavango, 1900–2010 97 Heini Hakosalo Step by Step, Brick by Brick: The First Decades of the Onandjokwe Hospital 109 Petrus Angula Mbenzi The Contribution of Finnish Missionaries Towards the Development of Oshiwambo Language and Culture 116 Kati Kemppainen The Finnish Mission’s Relationship to Anglicans and Roman Catholics in South West Africa, 1919–1937 122 Hertha Lukileni-Iipinge Nakayale Keengulu, a Center for Missionary Activities 127 Saara Kuoppala The Lutheran Condemnation of the Initiation Ritual of Girls in Namibia 134 Marjo Kaartinen Martti Rautanen as the Agricola of Owambo 142 Harri Siiskonen ELCIN Parish Registers: A Trail to Namibia’s History and Culture 152 Raita Merivirta Stories from South West Africa for Young Finnish Readers 160 Martti Eirola Former Mission Churches Cooperated Against Apartheid 167 Authors To the Reader Marjo Kaartinen, Leila Koivunen and Napandulwe Shiweda In July 1870, 150 years ago, after a long and tedious journey, the first Finnish missionaries arrived at their new missionary field in Owambo in what is now northern Namibia. This marked the beginning of an intricate relationship between Finns and Aawambo. The relations of these two people, one from the very far North, the other from the far South, formed into a remarkable and unique bond, which has not always been unproblematic but has always been intense. This has especially been the case in past decades, leading to the long- sought independence of Namibia in 1990. These relations have resulted in many fascinating cultural phenomena, which we often forget to attribute to the cultural interactions that took place in the past. Thus, even in today’s Namibia, Finnish influence can be recognized, for example, in the first names of many people. In Finland, the very image of Africa as a continent is strongly built upon the multitude of reports, books and interviews concerning the Aawambo. Some two years ago, the then rector of the University of Turku, Kalervo Väänänen, returned from a journey to Namibia with the objective of instigating a historical project on these intriguing relations. After meeting with the representatives of the University of Namibia (UNAM), it was agreed that a collaborative project on the history of the relations of the two countries would be carried out. This book is the fruit of this initiative. This book brings together a selection of essays by Finnish and Namibian scholars to shed light on the partly shared histories of the Finnish and Namibian people. Although the history of Finnish-Namibian relations has previously been examined in both countries, scholars in Namibia and Finland have mostly worked in isolation from each other. This collection of essays seeks to combine different perspectives to shed light on some questions and phenomena that bring these people and their histories together. 9 This volume by no means claims to offer a complete history of the relations, but rather presents a selection of various perspectives that introduce some recent scholarship to the reader. The short essays portray research conducted in Namibia and Finland by scholars of different backgrounds; mostly historians, but also archivists and records managers, fashion and textile designers, sociolinguists, cultural anthropologists and others. The examples show many points of shared interest. Therefore, the aim of this collection of essays is also to encourage future scholarly collaboration between Finns and Namibians. It is evident that by combining different linguistic skills and cultural knowledge and by making available previous research and materials located in both countries it is possible to reach a new level of understanding of our entangled histories. To our Finnish readers we would especially like to explain some of our editorial decisions. We have decided to call what in Finland was historically termed Ovamboland (“Ambomaa”) as Owambo, to follow the common modern practice. This loses the colonial burden of the historical term. The singular form of Owambo people used is Owambo, in plural Aawambo. In a similar vein, Finnish first names are used in their Finnish form. Thus, Martin Rautanen is referred to as Martti Rautanen and so on. Warm thanks are due to a number of people in Finland and Namibia who have contributed to making this book possible. Thanks to Rector Emeritus Kalervo Väänänen, everyone at the Embassy of Finland in Windhoek, Ms. Essi Huuhka, Dr. Robert Collis, Prof. Kenneth Matengu, Prof. Frednard Gideon, Prof. Lazarus Hangula, Dr. Martha Akawa-Shikufa, Dr. Kletus Likuwa, Dr. Vilho Shigwedha, Prof. Jekura Kavari, Dr. Romanus Shivoro, Mr. Evaristus Evaristus, Ms. Saara Kamati, Ms. Hendrina Jeremia and Mr. Sam Shaanika. And finally, we would like to thank all our authors for their generosity of spirit in sharing their knowledge and for participating in this book project. Turku and Windhoek, October 2019, The editors 10 Behind the Memory of the Finnish Missionary in Namibia Kim Groop The image of the European mission in Africa has often been overshadowed by Europe’s political and colonial past. This also holds true in the case of Namibia. For instance, the German Lutheran missionaries from the Rhenish Missionary Society will be remembered for the most part in relation to German colonialism. The Finnish missionaries from the Finnish Missionary Society (today the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission) have also been accused of using power in northern Owambo. Indeed, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo once mockingly stated that “you Finns colonized us”. However, more commonly the Finnish missionaries have been remembered in relation to their dissociation from German, British and South African colonial agendas. In Aawambo cultural memory, the Finns are (rightly or wrongly) remembered as having been invited, and as friends against hostile surroundings and as those who “became a part of society”. In some of my earlier research, I have studied the work of the Finnish Missionary Society in Owambo in northern Namibia, predominantly from a cultural memory perspective. I have thus taken particular interest in older Finnish work, which no one can remember in person, but of which stories are still told and retold, and which is communicated through various culture carriers such as mission buildings and mission related memorials, literature, hymns and so on. In this essay, I would like to “go behind” some of these memories. I wish to draw attention to the fact that there were a number of favorable societal and political circumstances in and around Owambo, and in particular the Ondonga Kingdom, that has favored a positive memory of the Finnish work. Remembering the Helping Hand The Owambo kings and chiefs wanted the missionaries to provide them with goods and services, such as weapons and ammunition, in order to help them 11 compete with their adversaries. They also sought alcohol and tobacco. In this respect, the missionaries may have been a disappointment to the Owambo leaders. The early missionaries provided the chiefs with a number of guns, but missionary trading policy did not permit large-scale trading. They gave them tobacco, but persistently refused to provide them with alcohol. However, the missionaries were valuable in other ways. For instance, they provided the kings and chiefs with healthcare and medicine. However, more importantly, they served as mediators between, on the one hand, the Owambo leaders and, on the other hand, the colonial administration and various European agents visiting Owambo. Indeed, the missionaries may have been influenced by German culture and German protestant ideas, but they were still against the idea of a German military presence in what they regarded as their domain. Because of Finnish advice to the Owambo leaders, Owambo largely remained a peaceful region during the era of German sovereignty and the colonial government found no reason to station troops further into Owambo than at Namutoni, where a fort was built. During British, and later South African rule, after World War I, this relative isolation would change. Owambo would in due time become a war zone between white apartheid rule and the SWAPO liberation movement. However, by this time, the Ondonga kings and some other Owambo chiefs were already Christians and the Finnish missionaries had established a good reputation.