Folklife Annual, 1986. INSTITUTION Library of Congress, Washington, D.C

Home , Alan Jabbour, Applied folklore, Breakdancing, Charleston (dance), Folk dance, In Finland

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 310 960 SO 020 179

AUTHOR Jabbour, Alan, Ed.; Hardin, James, Ed. TITLE Folklife Annual, 1986. INSTITUTION Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. American Folklife Center. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8444-0514-0 PUB DATE 87 NOTE 178p.; For the 1987 edition, see SO 020 180. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Books (010) -- Historical Materials (060)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Cultural Education; *Dance; Ethnic Groups; Ethnography; *Folk Culture; Foreign Countries; Foreign Culture; *Legends; Mythology; Photographs IDENTIFIERS Breakdancing; Finland; Finnish Americans; Peru; West Indies

ABSTRACT Folklife is the study of tradition, of what carries forward through time, providing continuity and identity with a place or an activity. This collection of articles is intended to provide a forum for the discussion of theories and procedures of folklife study and to demonstrate both the variety of folklife communities and the unexpected similarities displayed by seemingly disparate groups or situations. "Breakdancing" (S. Banes) traces the phenomenon of breakdancing from its origins on the streets of New York City in the early 1980s where it served as a nonviolent form of competition between gangs, or "crews," of youngsters through its transformation into a theatrical event. "Among the Qeros" (J. Cohen) details the return visit of a filmmaker to a remote region in the Andes of Peru and the changes he found there after only six months. "'Bleows'": The Whaling Complex in Bequia" (H. P. Beck) describes 19th century whaling customs still practiced on the island of Beguia in the Lesser Antilles. "The Kalevala: 150 Years, 1835-1985" (E. Brodunas) introduces this Finnish folk epic. "The Kalevala Process" (L. Honko) discusses the history of the epic, and "Partial Repentance of a Critic: The Kalavala, Politics, and the United States" (W. A. Wilson) is a critic's reassessment of The Kalevala. "Immigrant to Ethnic" (Y. H. Lockwood) has to do with the symbols of identity among Finnish Americans. "Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937" (R. Lee) is a photographic essay. "Via Dolorosa" (A. Asplund) is the life story of a Finnish immigrant to the United States, and "Symposium on the Life Story" (E. D. Ives, et al.) provides commentary on the preceding article. Many black and white and color photographs are included. (JB)

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mrevr nvp Ai Al! .a.nt. r .....lesm==.& r. A Publication of the AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER at theLIBRARY OF CONGRESS Edited by Alan Jabbour and James Hardin

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON 1987 Folk life Annual presents a yearly collection of articles on the traditional expressive life and culture of the United States. The articles are written by specialists in folklife and related fields, but the annual is intended for a wide audience. A publication of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, Folklife Annual seeks to promote the documentation and study of American folklife, share the traditions, values, and activities of American folk culture, and serve as a national forum for the discussion of ideas and issues in folklore and folklife.

The editors will consider for publication articles on all areas of folklife and are particularly interested in the folklife of the United States. Manuscripts should be typewritten,Jolible- spaced, and in accord with the Chicago Manual of Style. Submit to: The Editors, Folklite An- nual, Publishing Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540

CORRECTION: In Folklife Annual 1985, on page 148, the photograph bottom left was incorrectly identified as "Tower for the Brooklyn festival." The tower shown is one from the Nola festival in Italy.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 ISBN 0-8444-0514-0 ISSN 0747-5322

Director Writer-Editor ALAN JABBOUR BRETT TOPPING Deputy Director Administrative Secretary RAY DOCKSTADIER DORIS CRAIG Folklife Specialists Contract Specialist CARL FLEISCHHAUER MAGDALENA GILINSKY MARY HUFFORD Staff Assistant DOROTHY SARA LEE LISA OSHINS Folklife Researcher Tel: 202-287-6590 PETER T. BARTIS Executive Assistant PATRICIA M. MARKLAND

ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE

Head Staff Assistant JOSEPH C. HICKERSON SEBASTIAN LOCURTO Reference Librarian Tel: 202-287-5510 GERALD E. PARSONS, JR. Archivist MARSHA MAGUIRE

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Chairman JEANNE GUILLEMIN BRUCE JACKSON Massachusetts New York Vice Chairman JUDITH McCULLOH WILLIAM L. KINNEY, JR. Illinois South Carolina J. BARRE TOELKEN RUSSELL W. FRIDLEY 0; egon Minnesota

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS

DANIEL J. BOORSTIN LYNNE CHENEY The Librarian of Congress Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities ROBERT MCCORMICK ADAMS Secretary of the ALAN JABBOUR Smithsonian Institution Director, American Folk life Center FRANCIS S. M. HODSOLL, JR. Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts Contents

EDITORS' NOTES 6

Breakdancing: A Reporter's Story 8 BY SALLY BANES

An article in the Village Voice brings national attention to a new dance form.

Among the Qeros: Notes from a Filmmaker 22 BY JOHN COHEN

Encounters between documentary filmmakers and Peruvian Indians generate moral questions and physical danger.

"Bleows": The Whaling Complex in Bequia 42 BY HORACE P. BECK

Nineteenth-century whaling customs brought to a small Caribbean island continue today.

The Kalevala: 150 Years, 1835-1985 63 AN INTRODUCTION BY ELENA BRADUNAS

Ancient heroes and tales of adventure create a national identity.

The Kalevala Process 66 BY LAURI HONKO

The foiktales of the Kalevala have been interpreted in different ways.

e N 0 Partial Repentance of a Critic: The Kalevala, Politics, and the United States 81 BY WILLIAM A. WILSON

A folklorist evaluates his criticism of the uses of the Ka levala in the light of his own involvement with public-sector folklore.

Immigrant to Ethnic: Symbols of Identity Among Finnish-Americans 92 BY YVONNE HIIPAKKA LOCKWOOD

Ethnic communities in Michigan's Upper Peninsula define themsek es in both traditional and newly created ways.

Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937: A Photographic Series by Russell Lee 109 SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY CARL FLEISCHHAUER, BEVERLY W. BRANNAN, AND CLAUDINE WEATHERFORD

Photographs taken for the Farm Security Administration provide rounded portraits of their subjects.

Via Dolorosa 132 BY ARVID ASPLUND

The son of an immigrant from Finland dcsLribcs a difficult boy hood and shows himself to be resourceful and tenacious.

Symposium on the Life Story 154 INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD D. IVES

Comments on "Via Dolorosa" by ROGER E. MITCHELL, JANE C. BECK, BARRY LEE PEARSON, JEFF TODD TITON, JUHA YRJANA PENTIKAINEN, and YVONNE HIIPAKKA LOCKWOOD

CONTRIBUTORS 174 PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER 175 Editors' Notes helping to present publicly sponsored folklife programs, or Russell Lee documenting life in a Minnesota lumber camp in the 1930s. In each case the photographer or folklorist cannot discount the effect of his or her own involvement with the community observed or the material ctudied. This fact is dramaticahy (even danger- ously) apparent in the work of Sally Banes and John Cohen, but many who have done fieldwork, even of a less exciting variety, will see their experiences and problems reflected in the essays here. Few communities are isolated enough to be free of impinge- mentparticularly in America where radio, television, public education, and popular culture are nearly universal.Sally Banes's essay provides a case in point. But in addition to recognizing the difficulty of identifying a "pure" community or tradition, folklorists need to consider both their own attitudes toward the people and material they study and the way they themselves are regarded by their subjects. The folklorist is neither anonymous in the material he gathers nor invisible to the people he studies. One of the purposes of Folk life An- Folk life is the study of tradition, of course, nual is to provide a forum for the discus- of what carries forward through time, pro- sion of theories and procedures of folklife viding continuity and identity with a place study, and the editors believe that such dis- or an activity. But also emerging from the cussions gain special importance as the essays in the second volume of Folk life An- hundredth anniversary of the American nual is a sense of the forces of changein Folklore Society approaches. The commu- Finland or Peru or on the streets of New nities of people that are depicted in the 1986 York City. Arvid Asp lund's life changed for annual include teenager. in New York City, the better when he married and began a Peruvian Indians on the slopes of the Andes, family of his own, although it was his early and Finns in their homeland and in Amer- life that he judged most important in telling ica. In bringing these essays together the his "life story." He sent in "Via Dolorosa" editors intend to demonstrate both the vain response to a notice inviting manuscripts riety of folklife communities and the un- for this annual. The editors wish to thank expected similarities displayed by seem- Gerald E. Parsons, reference librarian in the ingly disparate groups or situations. We Archive of Folk Culture, for organizing the discovered also that the essays exhibited a symposium of commentaries that follows it commonality we did not anticipate, for each and thus showing us how best to present one presents an encounter between two Mr. Asplund's story. Since the essay grew groups within a society or, more to the point, out of a writing class, we did not treat it as between an outside observer-researcher and an "artifact": some light editing was em- the community observed: Elias Lonnrot ployed for such matters as capitalizatim and seeking out a national tradition in the tales spelling; section breaks were supplied. But Llamas of the Qeros. Pho- tograph by Emilio Rodri- of rural "singers," Sally Banes or John Cohen the style, like the choice and arrangement guez photographing teenage breakdancers or of topics, is Mr. Asp lund's own. South American Indians, William Wilson JFI

Folk life Annual 19866 4

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9 ow" Breakdancing A Reporter's Story

v1 BY SALLY BANES PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTHA COOPER

reakdancing is a craze that has easily surpassed the twist for media attention and wildfire popular diffusionits energy and ambition seem to symbolize the 1980s. It is also a richly complex phenomenon to examine. First, brcakdancing is not an isolated form of expression but is integrally linked to rapping (a form of chanted poetry descended from black oratory), scratching (the music made from record-mixing techniques), subway graffiti, slang, and clothing fashion. To study brcakdancing is to study an entire energetic urban adolescent subculture called hip-hop, that has spread from New York City black and Latin ghettos across the United States and beyond the Americas to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Aus- tralia. And to analyze breakdancing and hip- hop is also to consider the ways in which Breakdancing on the the spread of that subculture has inevitably Upper West Side of New York City Copyright 0 Sally Banes 1986 ..- 1

"r / , fragmented and distorted it and to note bow myself includedartwilly-nillypartici- the popular global media serve as both im- pants, since they have had such an enor- agery for and agent of hip-hop culture. Sec- mous effect on its meteoric history. ond, because breakdancing builds its unique style on the solid foundations of the Afro- American dance repertory, it opens a window not only on the present youth culture but also on the history of black dance on both sides of the Atlantic. Its study sheds In the fall of 1980, I received a call from light as well on the continuous process by Martha Coopera photographer, .1 visual which hlk dance is transmuted into the- anthropologist who specializes in children's atrical dance and vice versa. And further, play, and a working journalist. For several in terms of its own short history, break- years she had been documenting subway Teenagers from the High dancing is particularly compelling because graffiti (her book,SubwayArt, with Henry Times crew being watched new generations of dancers arise so quickly Chalfant, was published in 1984). She told by a Department of Trans- on the heels of the old. The telescopic story me that as a staff photographer for the New portation officer in a sub- of its permutations and transformations, as way station in Washington York Post she had been sent toa police Heights as they demon- well as its tenacity and flexibility in the face station in Washington Heights the previous strate moves for New York of various changes, lets us observe the vi- wint-x "to cover a riot." When she got there Post photographer Martha cissitudes of an oral tradition in an incred- sh- (mind only a few dejected-looking kids Cooper after their release ibly short time span. And finally, partly be- who had been arrested for allegedly fight- from the police station, cause of its close relationship with the media, ing in the subway when they claimed they January 1980 the observers and recorders of the form- were dancing. Marty's interest in them was

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Folklife Annual 1986 10 fueled by seeing the confiscated cans of spray We recorded some improvised a capella raps paint and martial arts paraphernalia that and they invited us to several occasions marked them as part of the graffiti subcul- where they thought a jam would material- ture. According to the kids, the cops had ize, but by Christmas, when we went to the to admit defeat, drop charges, and release karate school's recital for friends and fam- them because the kids proved conclusively ilies, we had yet to reach our elusive goal that they had, in fact, been doing a shared to see "the real thing." It occurred to us dance. Marty asked them to take her back that perhaps the form was hibernating and to the subway station and show her their would reemerge the next summer in the dancing moves. She photographed them and parks. It also occurred to us that perhaps took down their phone numbers. When she this was, indeed, a fad that had appeared called me, she was just getting around to and already disappeared without attracting looking them up and asked if I would be mainstream attention and that we'd missed interested in writing an article about this our chance. kind of dancing for the Village Voice (where But we were determined to satisfy our I frequently wrote about dance and per- curiosity before a possible summer revival, formance). It was something she'd never seen and though we continued to search for the beforesolo performance with wild acro- form at rap concerts, school dances, and batics and posesam' she found it hard to other events, we tried another method: we describe. began to track down more breakdancers by But having a second look turned out to sending out feelers among graffiti writers. be harder than we bargained for. For one Henry Chalfant, Marty's colleague, was thing, these kids were shy about demon- planning a slide show of his photographs strating their dancing for adults, even for of subway graffiti at Common Ground, a two encouraging and sympathetic report- loft in Soho, to be accompanied by live rap ers. Their mothers disapproved of their music. When Marty asked him whether the breakdancing indoors, since they invariably graffiti-writers he knew did breakdancing knocked into the furniture, and they also and Henry discovered that they did, he de- disapproved of their breakdancing out- cided to include that too as part of the show. doors, since (although the dancing itself A crewRock Steadywas found, and it wasn't, after all, fighting) the activity seemed promptly split itself into two for the sake connected to all kinds of illicit behavior and of competition. The "fake" crew called it- institutionslike graffiti and street gangs. self Breakmasters. We supplied both sides (The word crew replaced gang when the with T-shirts ornamented with crew insig- talk was of graffiti or dancing rather than nia"colors" in hip-hop slang, which serve fighting.) And the competitive nature of the as prizes in real jams, with the winner tak- dancing at times did lead, in fact, to actual ing the loser's. At the time the T-shirts and combat. the wide colorful sneaker laces were the most A further difficulty for our investigation elaborate parts of the breakdancers' outfits. was that these kidsmembers of the High Later, crews developed entire uniforms as Times crewassured us that this kind of well as a style of layering and slashing dancing no longer interested them or their clothing that formed a visual analog to the friends. It was out of fashion, they insisted. mixing and scratching of records by the DJs. Roller disco was now the going thing. They Fab Five Freddy (Braithwaite), the graffiti- ran a little karate school in the basement writer-turned-easel-artist who wrote Blon- of a neighborhood apartment building, die's hit song "Rapture" and later would where they finally hesitantly showed us bits be the musical director of Charlie Ahearn's and pieces of the form. Even the name hadn't film Wild Style, served as both DJ for the crystallized; when we tried to tell them (and event and knowledgeable informant for us. afterwards tell new informants) what it was Ramellzee was the MCan acronym re- we wanted to see, they referred to it as worked, in the hip-hop manner, to mean "B-Boy," "rocking," "breaking," or even "mike control" or rapper. As they all re- "that kind of dancing you do to rapping." hearsed for the upcoming "Graffiti Rock"

Breakdancing 11 13

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Practicing moves in Harlem

Folklife Annual 1986 12 show, we photographed, asked questions, references to TV, Playboy, comic books, and took notes (and even dance instruc- kung-fu films, and even the spinning turn- tion); gradually other people dropped by to tableseemed utterly new, in other ways it film and videotape the goings-on. was clearly a direct descendant of African and Afro-American dance traditions, from its format (a solo performer inside a ring) to its rhythmic structure (syncopated), to The form as a whole looked like noth- its movement vocabulary (the leg wobbles ing I'd ever seen before, though it did in- of the Charleston, the acrobatic spins of clude very familiar moves. Its spatial level black dance from Africa to the flash acts of called to mind Capoeira, the spectacular New York nightclubs, the mimed freezes), Brazilian dance cum martial art form that to its rhetorical modes (the boast and the incorporates cartwheels, kicks, and feints insult), to its function (male exhibition and low to the ground, but the two were dis- competition). It was a distinctive new dance, similar enough in shape and timing that but one with a solid pedigree. Capoeira seemed at most only a distant rel- The term breakdancing continued (and ative, and certainly one the breakdancers continues) to provide food for research. In weren't acquainted withat least on a con- music, the term refers to brief improvised scious level. There was a Caribbean beat to solos in jazz, often making use of a sus- the rapping and music that most often ac- pended beat and inventive flourishes. It was companied the early breakdancingand exactly the break in swing music that made rocksteady is a form of music related to it "hot." The parallel with breakdancing reggaebut the dancing, though it shared seems clear. When I first asked kids what with Jamaican ska and other Afro-Ameri- breakdancing meant, they told me, "It's can forms the use of pantomime and nar- when you go crazy on the floor," and that rative capacity, wasn't a close relative of it was the change in the musical phrasing reggae dancing either. Though in certain that compelled one to break out into the ways breakdancing as a pastiche of pop most outrageous possible movements. As culture in the 1970s and 1980swith its Fab Five Freddy put it, "They started going

Taunts, boasts, and insult- ing gesture: are an integral part of breakdancing. Take One's dance movement in this photograph simulates a "befouling" of Frosty Freeze.

Breakdancing 13 wild when the music got real funky," when the dr nmer's beat took over. The term breakdown refersto both the dance and the music of a nineteenth-century black ver- nacular dance, a kind of reel that entered the white repertory as welland by extension entered American slang to mean a rau- cous gathering. But also, thebreakin vodun is a technical term that refers to the point of possession in the dancer, controlled by the playing of the drummer. And further, in French Guiana a traditional dance is

By CockburnJanos Ridgeway I called, in Creole,casse-ko(breaking the whim Why hAid ie mai& Ord la holii Ian rondo Poolkonfradropoir LasIs pmill ea 1114 r ehv tha**41.011114111kapo Oh ea US. hawnauaus la LS hasd dim 116 Asir body). Clearly this linking of ecstatic danc- Numable,011.1moranghestsWasler.k dm lot 'had* lamelloorgiftrars droner id tradd.lansha ea car%haw auellawomdariplembh b! ma* poidm. thla ode iimam amr adwasaloils) I rah* *waft Ile alodidr:Ow pain olio die ing, suspending the beat, and the termbreak the. Ile 1011 of am ow, As ism la Oink maltmon dila =lv hr in=iraummt Ida aboone Loewy hips be. lollnidalland am Imanabs Wig Ilsofelomedllooloppo- itself is a continuing idea in Afro-American =Darmrallimial halnay ilinbkyle. . meleethis wharf It 5.1 14ees:* ok4who ll co- M rim %as IN %Oa Edo. mil& Reamlips la sohneln doom h. rshilmda a loaf era POW oil. of Orr lie in, lob lid yak oid cogrialsim H. Seata.lbalta dance culture. And further, the various vio- &Os CamPlIFIR EIt miiigadkillsVAS Droney.4.= ar- lent, destructive meanings of the word see wail" .....m11.4fia lists ih thole 011111, hall palm. do =aalT Slammelir =trues bona numb Swab/sin Mc Nowt their parallels in the scratching of records Imam patchbA t addle Oah ihrk wroth Milk oillip Ts owl *lir ha Art MO thin sial Air :yaks of minim via boo armed Ma by DJs and the ripping of clothes in hip- 11elltlwoh sea of p.m will& Amy The cilia ow for are lo CAM ?morePew.= wag Slam Ids ramrod we MOO) hop fashion. In April 1981 1 wrote the article for the Sarrison Village Voicethat would serve as the pre- !THAI Stanwyck view for Henry's concert, scheduled for nvo SHTICK (I? 43) performances in early May. The response mArieyaco'hion MAWS to the article was overwhelming. By the fol- 1:5) AGE lowing weekend, three extra shows had to t LOOK be scheduled and the Rock Steady crew had I B performance dates lined up at several sum- , EASY HIGHS Rickey on mer festivals and filming dates for various Jan Hol);tuzn Astaire television news specials. In retrospect, it (P38? (R44), seems it was that article that introduced breakdancing aboveground. But Rock Steady's sudden fame had other repercussions. Before they could reap their rewards, they had first to pay for their hu- Front page of the Village bris. After the first of the "Graffiti Rock" Voice, April 22-28, 1981, concerts, a rival crew, from Brooklyn, ap- which features the article that broke the story on pearedatthe performance space and breakdancing threatened violence. Rock Steady was an uptown crew and had overstepped its turf, though it was never clear whether the Ball- busters, as this group was called, were rival dancers or simply fighters. Henry and the crew members decided to cancel the remaining shows. And our faith in what one breakdancer had told usthat breakdancing had replaced fighting among street kids was shaken. But the rise of breakdancing, and of the Rock Steady crew, was already unstoppa- ble. What began as a folk form, a dance- game among adolescent boys that symbol-

I I U Folklife Annual 198614 I

Above: "Graffiti Rock" television show, starring Michael Holman and the New York Breakers

Right: A member of the group Rock Steady demonstrates breaking for a be- mused group of folklorists at a conference on the folk culture of the Bronx, May 1981. ically asserted various aspects of personal rink, for the documentary film StyleWars, Opposite page, above: Filming for a 1981 show identity and group solidarity, became the- which appeared on PBS in 1983. The loon the television program atrical and then, in turn, was taken by its gistical needs of the film crew created yet "20120," the first of many younger acolytes back out into the parks more stylistic changes in the dance form. television shows to feature and streets. Every new performance situa- For example, the man who ran the roller breakdancing tion initiated changes in the form. For in- rink kept telling the kids to open up the Opposite page, below: stance, a few weeks after the "Graffiti Rock" circle to give the cameraman room. The next Breakdancers watching show, Marty and I presented a paper on time we saw breakdancing in the parkby themselves on videotape at breakdancing with slides at a conference on now people were jamming in parks again the Negri!, a reggae club in the folklore of the Bronx. Members of the we happened to rin into Rock Steady. Crazy the East Village Rock Steady crew, entirely at home behind Legs, by now president of the crew, was microphones and in front of a mesmerized walking along the edge of the circle telling audience, served as commentators, and the everyone to open up the circle. next day they were given a local roller skat- The widespread media dissemination not ing rink to perform in. The space and the only changed but also for a time homoge- equipment inspired them to new heights of nized the form. What at first had been moves Cliff Lyons (Spider) of the invention: breakdancing on roller skates, of idiosyncratic personal style, with ima- Dynamic Rockers in groupchoreography,open-field per- ginative invention at a premium, though Queens, New York. Now formance. In another few weeks they had firmly rooted in the basic conventions as known as the Dynamic Breakers, this crew has already outgrown the status of folk per- passed on from older cousin or brother to elaborated its moves with formers as Henry Chalfant and Tony Sil- younger apprentice, were copied ad infini- group choreography, aerial ver, who had met as a result of the Voice tum and became fashion. At a party the spins, and balleticlacro- article, filmed them competing with a Queens following fall I saw a group of neighbor- batic partnering. crew, the Dynamic Rockers, in another roller hood kids my host had hired for the eve-

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Breakdancing 17 .4f,;44"4. ' .00411,10" - , - - 1.4 12 14 1,...... 1 X 7,1 III ning's entertainment and noted their stylis- Kitchen, a Soho center for avant-garde mu- Shooting Charlie Aheanes movieWild Style. tic similarity to the Rock Steady crew; I sic, video, and performance, presented an askedthemwherethey'dlearnedto evening of Rock Steady as part of their dance breakdance. From seeing it on television, series. The independent filmmaker Charles they told me. Ahearn shot Wild Style, a musical with a Rock Steady began performing regularly fictional narrative that featured real graffiti at the Negril, a reggae club in the East Vil- writers, rappers, scratchers, and breakdan- lage, and refining their choreography with cers. Patty Astor (who in the film plays a the instant feedback of video as well as au- white reporter who discovers hip-hop cul- dience response; at first Chalfant set up some ture as she researches graffiti in the Bronx) jobs and then they took on as their man- opened The Fun House disco. The Holly- ager Kool Lady Blue, who organized hip- wood film Flashdance, with the Rock Steady hop nights at the Negril, then at the new crew, came out in the same year, 1983, and Scene from Harry Bela- wave club Danceteria, then at the notorious though its breakdancing sequences lasted fonte's movieBeat Street. Roxy. The professionalization of break- less than two minutes, it made the dance a Crews were auditioned at a competition held at the dancing had begun: downtown choreog- national phenomenon. Breakin' and Beat Roxy, and one scene fea- rapher Julie Fraad organized the Magnifi- Street followed fast, as did an entire stream tured a dancing battle be- cent Force and gave their performances a of movies that hasn't ended yet. These films tween crews in a subway narrative structure; Michael Holman man- documented another phase in the develop- station. aged the New York City Breakers; the ment of breakdancing: its merger with the

0 Breakdancing 19 41 West Coast form electric boogie, an upright Breakin' portrays (albeit in Hollywood style(as opposed tothe floor-oriented fashion) just such a competition, where one breaking) inspired by robotics (as opposed senses that the dancing does metaphorically to the martial arts imagery of breaking). stand for fighting in proving power and vi- At the same time, breakdancing as an rility. (Contrary to the norms of street life, amateur activity proliferated. By 1984, you in this movie women also enter into the could buy several how-to-do-it books as well fray.) As breakdancing became more the- asevenmore numeroushow-to-do-it atrical, with public performances as exhi- videotapes. All over the suburbs, middle- bitions replacing private performances as class housewives and professionals could interactions, the element of contest re- take classes at their local Y's and dance emerged in a new form. At clubs like the centers. (Much of this instruction, how- Ritz and the Roxy, crews began to vie for ever, centered around electric boogie rather cash prizes and movie roles in contests or- thanthemorephysicallydemanding ganized not by the kids themselves but by breakdancing spins and freezes.) And the the club managements or movie producers; road from amateur to professional could they were judged not by their peers but by often prove a very short one, as kids took panels of "expert" judges. to street corners to perform for donations But with the rise of breakdancing on the from the crowds of spectators they at- Hollywood screen, yet another level of tracted. The very term street dancing had competition has appearedthe battle of the changed its meaning in regard to breakdance genres. From Flashdance to Breakin' dancingfromprivatetopublicper- to Beat Street to Body Rock, the plot of the formance, from folk to theatrical status, from hip-hop movie inevitably takes a crucial turn performing for one's peers to performing when the youthful vitality and (literally) for money. down-to-earth quality of the breakdancing is pitted against an entrenched formbal- let or jazz dancingthat is shown as effete, decadent, and creatively exhausted, if not downright offensive. The battle lines are clearly depicted as class lines. And, of course, The meaning and nature of the com- breakdancing always wins. petitive element of breakdancing have also Breakdancing was invented by a genera- taken on new dimensions. In its original, tion of kids raised on television, movies, folk form, breakdancing was a dance-game, radio, and video games. The relationship a cooperative (though not always friendly) between the dance form and the mass me- competition in which kids tried to top one dia is densely layered, beginning with the another in order to win honor and fame use of pop culture imagery and with brevity (sometimes symbolically expressed in tan- of format, and evolving with the succession gible form by the above-mentioned 'colors") of responses to media coverage and dissem- oot only for themselves as individuals but ination. The very success of the form and also for their crews. It was in the crucible of some of the dancers, in fact, seems an of the contest that the form's moves were American dream-come-true that could only forged. Its vocabulary alluded to fighting in have been concocted in Hollywood. These its use of martial arts maneuvers. That kids' sensitivity toand sophistication in combative heat and pressure generated a the use ofthe popular media is essential style that was intricate, witty, raw, and to the nature and development of this ur- flamboyantinventive by necessity. The film ban folk dance.

2 Folk life Annual 1986 20 Breakdancing moved to midtown New York in summer 1981 with its first mainstream performance at Lincoln Center.

11111 III

4.. Breakdancing 21 Among the Qeros Notes from a Filmmaker BY JOHN COHEN

It should have been evident that there would be filming problems when the president of the community of Qeros announced in August 1983, "Everything is different now. The Japanese filmmakers have been here. They have paid people individ- ually every time they filmed." 1 told the president that 1 was planning to bring sickles for every family in the community to help them clear land in the jungle. I asked him to consider which would be preferable, to pay a few individual families to allow filming or to bring something for all the community. After a night of thinking it over, he said to bring sickles. But the people I know in the hamlet of Wayuna Pampa said that they would "put on a dance for me for one million soles." 1 told them that 1 was a human being, not a bank. The region of Qeros is situated on the Qeros woman. Photograph by Emilio Rodriguez Copyright 0 John Cohen 1986

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0-.4.440 arr. cast slopes of the Andes in Peru. The four the finest Arriflex equipment, theirsystem hundred Indians who live there are also of sixteen runners who brought themsup- called the Qeros, although to themselves they plies from over the mountains,as well as are the Runathe People. They are shep- their mountaineer guides from the north who herds of llamas and alpacas, and they live were now trained to "cook Japanese meals." in clusters of stone houses in high valley We heard that television moneywas behind heads at fourteen thousand feetjust be- them, and Peter and I were forcedto con- low the snow line. There are aboutseven sider the moral problem caused by TV's Qeros hamlets scattered across the region, powerful resources, whichcan convert the which is isolated both culturally and geo- daily lives of ordinary people intoa com- graphically. Above them are snow-covered modity to be vie""%.' *slyUllbeelt peaks, and below them the Amazon jungl- or entertainment. stretches to the horizon. I have been visiting Qeros since 1956 and made recordings there in 1964 and. a- film in 1979. I told the president that I would return in 1984 to film at Carnival, an in- ne might argue that the discrepancy tense festival for the Andean communities 0 between the II.S, and the Vard World that has little to do with Catholic ceremony economies is so great that paying for the but invokes many indigenous beliefs and right to record and document is the only rituals. In this filmI wanted to convey decent thingin light of the fact that "na- something of the role of music in the con- tive peoples" will never get anything else text of daily and ritual life, for it seemed so from it. This argument raises questions about central to understanding the Andean peo- the purpose of anthropology, the ethics of ple, and I had received a Guggenheim fel- doing field work, the nature of tourism, ts.nj lowship to make it, as well as thecooper- the potential for exploitation in filmmak- ation of the national airline, AeroPeru. ing. It points to the deficiencies in our own In 1979 when I received payment from society, which seeks fulfillment and alter- PBS Nova for the leasing of my film "Qeros: natives in the cultures of others, and calls The Shape of Survival," I sent 5500 to Peru attention to the evils our system has some- to help pay off the tax debt on Qeros land. times wreaked on others. It also evokes The money never got to the people. In 1977, feelings of uneasy guilt about the inequality while making the film, I had given axes to of contrasting societies and individual lines. all Qeros families (there were eighty of them Increasingly now tourism in the Third then) to help clear jungle land to grow corn. World has become an industry thatcon- I did this under the advice of anthropolo- verts folklore and native culture into com- gist Steven Webster, who had spent several modities. Culture is up for sale, and in Puno, years with the Qeros. The problem of com- "The Peruvian City of Folklore,"every guide pensation for information, for observation, is a folklorist, every restaurant performs or for documentation (through film or "authentic music," and city dwellers have recordings) has become a difficult issue for become the experts and explainers of coun- tourists, anthropologists, and filmmakers try life. While filming a folkloric group at alike. Western civilization, in its curiosity, a bordado (eml roido-y) shop, I recognized continues to invade the me t shelteredcor- the dancers as clt.;1:s, secretaries, and sales- ners of the world in ways that go beyond men from a neal!,:y electronic appliance the usual capitalist expansionist need for store. It has become increasingly dna., t to new markets. get out to the rural communities where tra- In February 1984, when I returned to Peru ditional practices might still be observed. with Peter Gerzels, a student of anthropol- Indeed, in the small communities, many of ogy who was helping me with sound the rituals are now performed only at sta- recording, people in Cuzco told us that the diums during touristic festival dates, and Japanese were already in Qeros, preparing thus the internal meaning of the ritual can to film at Carnival. We were told of their he called into question. large crew, their specialcameraman with My own needs as filmmaker are satisfied

Folklife Annual 198624 by working with poetic and mythic values, cently Peter Getzels has told me that the and I make films to show the connections Qeros are abusing this custom in order to between cultures and people. My world has get the gifts. Although this is disquieting been made richer by shared knowledge, and information, I can only accept it for what this knowledge must be handled with eth- it is. I'm in no position to pass judgment ical delicacy, or else gaining it becomes an- on Qeros motives. other form of exploitation. As Peter Getzels explained it, the issue is reciprocity and exploitation. Even in anthropology there is A Personal History the temptation to fall into certain interactions, which may be done in the name of knowledge but are in fact ethical traps. In his work with the Qeros, Peter had been 've been coming to Qeros long enough asked many times to become compadre to witness the changes from the hacienda (godfather). He finally agreed for one in- regime through the land reform of 1972. formant because he knew the man's father My first visit there in 1956 was in the com- had stories to which he could gain access. pany of Eduardo Dubarry, the son of a Peter has learned many Andean ceremonies nearby hacienda owner, and there was no in order to play the game by Andean rules doubt about Qeros deference to this pow- and thus gain access to the Indians' private erful viracocha (chief). However, on sub- thoughts and mental constructs. But he sees sequent trips with majordomos of the ha- the inherent immorality in this activity if it cienda as my guide, the relations between is done only to get a Ph.D. the Qeros and myself changed. The major- In my relations with the Qeros, I can often domos were feared but less respected, and be criticized for not observing, studying, and I found myself more in the role of inquiring attending to their everyday ceremonies and curiosity than that of sheltered guest. After rituals, which are many and constant: there the land reform, the majordomos lost their is the practice of selecting well-formed coca power and were considered merely as mes- leaves to make groups of three, breathing tizos, a class apart, situated above the Qeros upon the leaves while invoking the names but with only echoes of power. And the of local mountain spirits (Aukis and Apus) Qeros perception of them was tinged by a before ingesting them, offering coca to the deco resentment. Over the years, however, giver, preparing and offering cooked po- many majordomos had become compadres tatoes for a close relationship, or presenting to the Qeros and thus held that different raw potatoes for future use. kind of control over them through obliga- Invariably my presence has been an im- tions. position, disrupting a busy schedule of By 1976 when Emilio Rodriguez and I planting, harvesting, herding, weaving, and went to make the Qeros film, we had to the making of rituals. The Qeros get noth- develop our own connections with the ing from me in return. Yet I hope that they Qeros. Neither of us spoke Quechua, and receive compensation in the way my pho- we occupied none of the positions they were tographs andfilm work communicate accustomed to: we weren't mestizos, ha- something positive about them to the out- cienda representatives, government agents, side world. On my visits during ceremonial salesmen, or mining engineers. We neither events, I have provided the coca leaves for commanded respect nor made demands on all sides. Often my gifts are one-directional them. We didn't remain standing as they rather than reciprocal, and I give expecting squatted before the mestizo guide, we didn't nothing specific in return. This may be at order them in harsh voices, and we didn't odds with local custom, and I hope the Qeros evoke the obsequiousness that was given to can make allowances for my transgres- the mestizos. We acted the clown, the ig- sions. Over the years, I too have been called norant traveler, and shared our food and upon to become a compadre, which goes other things with them, although at the same along with a haircutting ceremony and the time, and inadvertently, we failed to rec- gift of money for the child's future, but re- ognize certain traditional Andean rituals of

Among the Qeros25 ,.? 7 John Cohen, 1977. Photo- graph by Emilio Rodri- guez behavior. Rather, we were a puzzle to them was dead. All winter long as I edited the as we sat on the ground with them and film of the previous visit, the image of that shared our sleeping bags, food, and con- baby and her surrounding family had com- cernsor so we thought. municated life, warmth, and smiles to me. The Qeros were curious about our pos- Suddenly I couldn't stop my tears, for this sessionsour watches, wool pants, and hit me hard. Later I was told that Andrea down vestsand expressed a proprietary, was disturbed that I had not accepted a gift acquisitive interest in them. They have all of potatoes she had made for me the pre- these things now: over the years I have vious year. Probably I wasn't hungry at the watched with dismay as transistor radios time, but I had broken an important Andean have worked their way over the mountains tradition by not accepting food. into Qeros homes, bringing messages of Huayno music and advertising along with A Warning discarded Ray-O-Vac batteries that slowly rust away as litter on the landscape. Between my August 1983 and February 1984 visits, something changed radically. Ve were warned not to descend to The first signals came as we descended from the Qeros ceremonial center at the edge of the mountain pass that leads into Qeros. the jungle, where the Carnival festival was The welcomes were gone and words of to be held. Each Qeros family has a large warning were everywhere. It felt as if a poi- house here, used only for community feasts. son had been spread or some outside force We were told that people would be drunk had intervened in our relationship. As we and not responsible for their actions, and passed a corral by the houses where some further that the community authorities were people were slaughtering a llama, an un- sending us a note from the ceremonial cen- familiar Qeros man asked us what right we ter telling us not to come or to be prepared had to be there. I told him I was bringing to pay one million soles in order to film sickles for the entire community. "How there. Someone said that the people were many?" he asked. I said, "One hundred angry and were gathering stones to use in enough for all the families." He said, "Leave their slingshots against the filmmakers. Al- them all here, we need them." Then he said though no note arrived, just minutes before something in Spanish about becoming a we started our descent down the mountain, member of the Guardia Civil as he was going the alcalde (mayor) and his rechidor (as- to protect the Qeros from outsiders, espe- sistant) arrived on horseback. They were cially in preparation for Peru's planned drunk beyond reason and were singing, and highway along the eastern slopes of the they told us that it had been decided that Andes just above the jungles where the Qeros we should not disturb the festival. The al- are located. He was indeed the son of a calde held the responsibility (called a cargo) Qeros family and had moved away into for the affair and didn't want any trouble. town. He was now visiting his family for I attempted to explain my position to him the Carnival celebration. Loaded with the and revealed the agreement I had made with suspicions of the outside world, he asked the president the year before, but he just how much money we were making from sang with his eyes dosed as I talked, so that the film. I couldn't be heard. Eventually he stated Even my old friend and comadre Andrea that last year's president had been replaced, and her daughter seemed to have masks over and he said I was welcome to be at the their faces, and in the presence of their par- festival but that I could not film unless I ents and larger family they appeared not to had the agreement of the community. So recognize me. (We had been joking and em- on the basis of presenting my case to the bracing only six months earlier.) I visited Qeros authorities, we went down the them alone and some of the warmth re- mountain, descending four thousand feet in turned. I asked about the baby I was com- four hours, through pouring rain, and fi- padre to, who had laughed when they sang nally entering into the silent and deserted to her in the film, and learned that the baby ritual center of Hautun Qeros.

Among the Qeros27 29 PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN COHEN

Raymundo, Andrea, and Nicholasa Quispe aura as children, 1956. John Cohen photographed these same three again in 1977 and in 1983.

Opposite page, above: Raymundo at a ceremony for the strength and fertility of llamas, 1977. The llama is being givenchicha (corn beer).

Opposite page, below: Raymundo at the hamlet of Wayuna Pampa, high above the ceremonial center of Qeros 30

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Folk life Annual 1986 30 Andrea and her daughter, 1977

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Right: Andrea's daughter with her daughter, the baby whose death John Cohen mentions, 1983

35 Among the Qeros33 The first task was to find a place to stay. fected us all. The guide announced that it We entered, leaving the horses and equip- would be impossible to prepare dinner that ment on the edge of town. Earlier, in the night, for all the streams had been muddied hamlet of Wayuna Pampa, Henrique Sa- by the horses and people running around mata had invited us to stay in his house in the village. There were wild sounds of Hamlin Qeros, but it was closed and .ie chanting and shouting all around the house, wasn't there. I suggested that we stay on and no Qeros came to greet us. the edge of town in a building that be- We attempted to vent our frustration by longed to the community, but our guide, cursing the damage the Japanese had done. JubernalDiaz, thought that would be It seemed clear that their practice of paying worsefor in the event that the community in order to film had changed the meaning did not welcome us, we would be in serious of culture for the Qt:ios, turning daily life trouble. So we opened Henriques door and into a commodity. At the same time they moved our gear inside. An old man who feared these changes, they were also willing used this house to store potatoes told us we to accept the payments. Somebody told us could stay that night but would have to that the Japanese had already paid the mil- leave if we weren't permitted to film. He lion soles and had presented the Qeros with said that the Japanese had been thrown out sickles and trago (drinking alcohol). We and were not going to be permitted to film figured this would keep the Qeros drunk, at Carnival. People were angry about them. irrational, and greedy in any negotiations. As it grew dark, Qeros families arrived from the paths above. No one spoke to us, and we were suddenly isolated and surrounded in the center of the village. We were hoping for a signal of recognition or welcome, but none was forthcoming. It felt as if we were in some kind of prison, or didn't exist for those around us. In the morning I announced that I was With a flourish, the alcalde of Qeros gal- abandoning the plan to film and would no loped in on his horse. We had last seen him longer push for dealing with the authori- in the mountain hamlet that very morning. ties. The situation had become too uncer- Now he was in full costume with bright tain and seemed potentially dangerous to streamers and Samurai-like dress. He fell us. Images of the massacre of the journal- off his horse drunk. A boy laughed and the ists in Ayacucho entered my head, and I man gave us a mistrustful glance. Every- could see parallels in the situation. We too body seemed irrational and potentially hos- were outsiders dealing with an unnamed and tile. undefinable native rationale. All evening we watched shadows pass our Early that morning, several of Peter's door and looked for indications of how we compadres came up to greet him. They said were to be received. We did not know that by night they did not recognize him. whether it was safe to go out into the crowd. Groups of Qeros were moving rapidly Conch shell trumpets were playing outside through the village greeting and visiting each our house and we couldn't be certain if we other. The Carnival became a reuniting of were being threatened or ignored. We the separated villages of the community. I watched for new developments while trying recognized Francisco Flores from the ham- to interpret what was happening around us. let in the mountains. He winked at me and Peter became depressed. He feared that went right on. I recognized Santos from our our filming would disrupt his relationship filming seven years before. He embraced me with the Qeros. At dark he walked through and smiled. After all the tension, it was very the village looking for his old compadres, touching and reassuring. He left with a group and he encountered a woman he had been of Qeros. An optimism emerged. We said, close to. She ignored him. He became more "Let's be cool and possibly we'll be able to upset and withdrawn and his gloom af- film now, if the feelings come from them."

Folklife Annual 198634 ,., A man dressed in an Addidas running One of the guides told us that the new suit came over and announced in English president of Qeros was sleeping and that that we must come see, for the Japanese we must discuss any arrangements with him had arrived. In a field just down the path as soon as he arrived. We realized that the from our house stood a strange film crew, ceremony was supposed to start within the men in bright yellow synthetic fabric jack- hour. Shortly, the president came and an- ets withKODAKFILM printed on them. There nounced that the Japanese must pay half a were an athletic cameraman who looked million soles and give sickles and alcohol prepared to assault a mountain and a tall in order to film. I was told that I would not young man from Lima with a genteel man- be permitted to film unless I paid one mil- ner looking very chic in clean white pants lion soles and gave the sickles. Yoshi said and a white hat. There were also assorted to the presidentwho was an unpleasant runners, assistants, guides, and translators. and insistent personthat we were going There were too many people here for the to resolve this payment jointly. The presi- small Qeros community. I spoke with the dent announced that he would return in half chief of the Japanese film crew. He was a an hour, and that we should have an offer serious, decent person. I said I'd heard about ready. The Japanese and I agreed to pool his filming and liked the way he had been our resources and to limit the number of following a single family over several years people involved in the filming. Then I sug- to record social change. I told him also that gested that we pray to the Apus and the I had serious differences with the approach Aukis (Qeros mountain spirits), as well as of paying everyone for each scene. And I to Buddha, Jehovah, and Confucius. said we had a most delicate situation with the Qeros before us. I suggested that if we did film, we should try to be considerate of each other. The Japanese filmmaker said that they did not pay for their filming and that we had only heard a story that was circu- . !tile we were talking, one of the lating about them. Further, they had heard guides for the Japanese made a private deal from the Qeros that we were paying to film. with the Qeros president, offering him a We realized that the Qeros had been play- special payment for his cooperation. This ing us off against each other. would be separate from the community do- Yoshiharu Sekino, the filmmaker, said that nation. When the president returned to us, he had missed the showing of my Qeros he restated his original position.I was film in Cuzco by one day last year. He said kneeling by Yoshi and became very tense that television had no interest in his Qeros as the guides negotiated with the Qeros. project or in a similar film he was making Everything seemed settled, and we were about the Machiganga tribe in the jungle. asked to wait outside for the final word. Japanese television only liked a film he had While I was preparing the camera, they told done about the making of an Inca bridge. us that things were "all set." I began to We talked of our similar problems with TV. wonder how the Qeros would be notified, When I asked him how he funded these and how they could change their attitude projects without TV backing, he laughed. toward us in such a short time. But before His family and friends were helping him. any public announcement could be made, He was a medical student who got side- the Qeros started to assemble for their Car- tracked into his interest in anthropology and nival, and the Japanese started filming. I law and had written a thesis on the subject. was told by Peter to wait for a public He hoped to go back to medical school. I presentation of money and sickles, but when told him he must be crazy like me to have I saw the Japanese running all over the place become so obsessed with the Qeros. He with their camera, I thought there was a agreed and told me he had come directly misunderstanding and I prepared to film from Japan to film Qeros Carnival and was from my stationary position with the tri- going right back afterward. pod.

37 Among the Qeros 35 r

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Above: Qeros man arguing with a mestizo, 1957

Opposite page: A Qeros elder spinning wool to snake yarn

38 Folklife Annual 198636

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41 Among the Qeros 39 A strange excitement set in, for the Qeros the blows. The old man struck me on the began to run about, bringing cbicba (a fer- temple and I started to black outI barely mented beverage) and tables to the plaza in kept from collapsing and felt absolutely front of their church. Conch shell trumpets helpless. There were possibly five people were blasting, and groups of Qeros with hitting me. I could see the Japanese running flutes were whizzing by. And the Japanese into the house, also under attack. I was sep- cameraman kept rushing in front of the arated from them by a mass of angry peo- Qeros, filming like a pilot on a hit-and-run ple. I looked to the hill above me and could mission. A Qeros man became annoyed with see I was surrounded by Qeros. It was like the cameraman and attacked him with the a scene in a cowboy movie, and I thought table he was carrying. A second Japanese of the rocks they might be carrying. Al- interceded while the cameraman ran off to though the idea of starting up the camera film elsewhere. A line of dancers went by, came to me, I was too busy trying to defend and I filmed them from above on the hill. myself. Peter handed our tape recorder into There were several still photographers with a house and yelled at me to get back to our the Japanese who were set up with tele- place. I lifted the heavy camera and tripod, photo lenses on tripods, and the whole af- clambering down stones and into the stream fair was beginning to resemble a media event. while I was being kicked and punched. I A young woman teased me in Quechua, "Are called for Jubernal, our guide, who was in you going to pay me one million soles?" front of me. The Qeros turned on him and Someone yelled "Watch out for stones!" My pushed him up against a wall and kicked hand was on the switch of the camera and him in the groin, head, and hand. Peter I felt a sudden sharp pain in my finger. It passed by and they started after him. Some- went cold and numb, and I could see the how, we three managed to duck into our bruise at my knuckle. Someone saw the large place and shut the door. We feared it would stone the woman had thrown so accurately be broken in. Shortly, the young wife of at me. Only a half inch difference would Henrique joined us in the house. She was have smashed my expensive rented camera. terribly scared as well. Then a heavy rain Another rock went by the face of the guide. from the jungle drenched the village, and it became silent. We remained close to the house all that The Attack day and night, afraid to wander out or come close to the Carnival dance, which we could hear but not see. During that day several Qeros came to visit and offer apologies. They reported that the Japanese had left and that There was a strange silence as the our sickles had been taken by the people. Japanese filmmaker talked again with the Several Qeros appeared bruised and beaten; Qeros president. Together we calmly filmed the pent-up feelings released by intoxicat- in the plaza at a table full of conch shells ing chicha beer resulted as much in fighting where the village authorities sat. I returned and expressions of old resentments as they to my station on the hill and 'filmed a pass- did in greetings and reunions. ing line of dancers. I saw a man dressed in This opening up of deep feelings is the full Qeros costume, accompanied by an older emotional basis of this religious fiesta. Most man, come running up the hill to my side. of the year the Qeros are separated from Suddenly they were confronting me. All I each other in their isolated villages. They could do was say, "Pardon me if the cam- spend many hours alone each day in the era is a disturbance." The older man re- high pastures with the flocks of llamas and peated the word disculpe (pardon) and then alpacas. Their coming together at Carnival he struck me in my face and on my arm. I has many divergent resultsone of which tried to protect the camera and he kicked is the releasing of tensions. We learned the me. Others joined in hitting me. I didn't identity of those Qeros who had attacked want to hit back, only to defend myself from us. Most of them were from villages where

Folklife Annual 1986 40 the Japanese had filmed earlier, and prob- accepting gifts and payment with no sense ably these were people who had )zot been of the tradition of reciprocity that governs filmed and had watched their neighbors their lives. He feared that they would grow across the stream grow rich while they were accustomed to taking payment without excluded from the gifts and attention for working for it or deserving it. several years. It certainly gave an explana- Although I agreed with him, there was tion for their resentment of filmmakers. nothing I could do about it. My own moral I expressed anger that our sickles had been decision to bring gifts to help the entire taken and said that I would report it to the community as an alternative to individual district police if they were not returned. The payments was a failure. There was no way following morning, the secretary of Qeros to communicate to the Qeros any possible came and admitted that he was one of those benefits which might come from my film, who had attacked us, and that he felt it although years ago Domingo Samata, then wrong that our sickles were taken, so he president of Qeros, had announced at a cer- had gone around and collected them from emony, "We don't know exactly what this the takers. But he wouldn't return them to man is doing, but I feel it will be good for us unless we gave him several for himself. us." On the basis of his statement I was I was disgusted by this type of ransom but allowed to film the ceremony. How could was persuaded to acquiesce in the demand I show the Qeros that my film presented so as to avoid getting involved with the re- them in a favorable light to the outside gional police. world, and why should this matter to them? Traditionally the neighboring villages and the mestizo communities have viewed the Qeros as dirty brutes, the uncivilized chun- A Contemplation chos of the Andes. AccordingtoanthropologistSteven Webster, who knows the Qeros well, the problem with my film and outlook on the Qeros is that there is too much stress on We. never were sure what had hap- the importance of survival and not enough pened. Had we been the focus of deep com- attention given to their modernity. The munity resentment, or was it just a few peo- Qeros have demonstrated their ability to ple against us? Were we only a small element construct defenses to deal with the mestizo in the Carnival uproar? Was our relation world, and they have developed the capac- to the Qeros wrecked forever, and is the ity to be devious in dealing with life outside idea of further filming out of the question? their community. This ability to have a sep- What were the key ingredients of the trou- arate face and a different set of standards bles? One clue was given by Faviano Quispe for a hostile world, while preserving their Chura, an old man up in the highlands. He private traditional beliefs for themselves, has was troubled at the way new ideas were become the strategy that connects the Qeros disrupting Qeros traditions, and he didn't to most of the "Fourth World" of Third like the way that the young people were World native peoples.

43 Among the Qeros41 "Bleows" The Whaling Complex in Bequia BY HORACE P. BECK PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE BECK

(.1...4arleton Mitchell once referred to the island of Bequia in the Lesser Antilles as "a working mariners museum."1 And so it is. Bequia is the only island in the West Indies where people hunted, and still hunt, the humpback whale in about the same way it was hunted when Melville went a-whaling. Indeed, it is one of only two places in the world where humpbacks are still fished, the other being the Kingdom of Tonga in the So'ith Central Pacific. This whale-hunting at Bequia has had a singular effect not only upon the island community but also upon the positions Be- quians hold throughout the islands. In an area where interisland enmity is rife, Be- quiaaloneisrespectedandadmired throughout the Lesser Antilles. All of this is due to "Old Bill" Wallace, and accord- ingly a few words are required to set the scene.2 Looking out for whales, 1972 Copyright 0, Horace P. Beck 1986

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46 William Wallace (the father of "Old Bill") Old Bill, as he came to be known, was Portion of a snap, "The West Indies," (Washing- was born in Strathrea, Scotland, joined the faced with a monumental task, and he did ton, 1958). Bequia is navy, served in the West Indian "Station," it well. He had to teach the locals how to shown beneath Saint Vin- and came to Saint Vincent, where he was build boats, how to rig them out for whal- cent. Geography, and Map discharged and became the manager of ing, how to look out for whales, how to Division, Library of Con- Friendship Estate in Bequia, which was approach a whale (in those days not only gress owned by Thomas Warner. When Friend- humpbacks but right and sperm whales also), ship Estate went bankrupt Wallace bought how to harpoon it, fight it, kill it, bring it itin. He married Elizabeth Brown, the ashore, butcher it, and process it. widow of an English army officer, and had He gave his men a costumea large two sons by herCharles, and William floppy hat, wide pantaloons, a knife, a Thomas, Jr., who was born in November walking stick, and a whaler's pan (a painted 1840 on the island of Bequia. lard pail containing a lunch). He gave them The boys' mother died when Bill was five, a language composed mostly of his big-ship and his father then married Sarah Ann lingo, which sometimes sounded absurd Warner, widow of Thomas Warner, origi- when applied to whaleboats. For example, nal owner of Friendship Estate. The father "Let fly de jib tackle falls!" requires loosing died, leaving an imperfect will, when the a halter knot in a piece of string. He gave boy was fifteen, and four months later Bill, them songs (sea shanties) and taught them Jr., bound himself to the Hughes Island how to compose them, and narrative songs Company and on March 15, 1856, went to as well. He taught them small-boat han- sea "against my dead father's wishes." He dling, how to keep station when sailing in traveled extensively in the merchant ma- company, how to heave to without losing rine, suffering seasickness, hurricane, war, ground while waiting for a whale, how to smallpox, yellow fever, shipwreck, mutiny, handle the whaling oars in muffled oar- and ...a few other vicissitudes, all carefully locks and "spring ahead" in perfect unison set down in his journal, part of which has at forty-four strokes a minute and "toss been devoured by slicks and still more oars" at the end, how to sheer the boat burned for spite in a family feud. with the steering sweep, and how to keep In 1857 he shipped aboard a Yankee the whale line clear, "wet the line" and coil whaleship in Saint Vincent, where appar- it, and maintain it. He taught them how to ently he acted as a shantyman, for he "was cook whale meat, preserve it, try out the asked to come aft and play a tune for him blubber, and clean the bone. In so doing, [a mate with smallpox] on the violin." His he instilled in the population a longing for peregrinations took him into several whale- whale meat. Beyond this he established ships and carried him to Provincetown, elaborate rules to control the fishery:3 which where he met and subsequently married Es- boat was entitled to strike first, what obli- tella Curran, and to New Bedford, where gation other boats had in regard to the "fast" he learned boat-building. boat, who owned a whale that had broken loose or that had been killed but first broke away, how the profits should be divided not only among the crew but among all who had a part in the taking of the whale. Eventually he returned to Bequia with He delegated responsibilities within the his wife, settled down on part of his inher- boatwho bailed, "wet de tub," "throw ited estate, and started a new enterprise, a down de spar," and so onas well as de- shore whale fishery. Meanwhile, he sired a termining rewards for the harpooner, boat number of offspring both "in" and "out- steerer, and others. All of this he had learned side" the family, until his wife finally took from tradition, and thus he started a true ship for home, remarking that she would folk occupation. prefer going to hell to returning to Bequia, The task he set for himself was not easy. a vow we know she partially kept, for she After more years than I care to remember never came back. I have learned one thing: West Indian blacks

, "Meows"45

4.f. are among the most ti ajition-oriented peo- he did. At one time there were seven "fish- ple I have known. They resist change, in eries" on Bequia with four boats, six men proof of which I would suggest that al- each, to a fishery.4 The occupation has sur- though they have forgotten some of what vived for over a hundred years, although in Old Bill taught, they have not replaced it greatly reduced numbers (only two boats with improvisations, nor have they changed still hunt). It survived ten years whenno a single item. In fact, they refused to use one saw a single whale. It survives despite Dacron sails for several years in the 1970s the fact it never showed a decent profit, and because "Bill Wallace don't use them" and it survives today with less than a whale and came to them only after their canvas ones a half per year since 1960 and despite all were totally destroyed. The only change from that the ecologists, environmentalists, and Bill's teachings is the use of a walkie-talkie busybodies can do to stop it. to supplement Old Bill's heliographic com- What Old Bill did he did for hisown munication system, and half the time it fails profit. That he created a new culturewas to work because the batteries are dead, they incidental, though it aided him, undoubt- forget to bring them, or the machines sim- edly, in recruiting and holding goodmen. ply "mash theyself up." The blacks themselves he held in scorn How he managed to achieve his goal is "those jumble crabs," he called them to Fritz hard to say, although there can be no doubt Fenger in 1912.5

Straightening the harpoon, 1975. The whole instrument weighs nearly eighty pounds.

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Evelyn Ford, Begnia fisherman, 1972 Certain things Bill had on his side that moreover, the track led across Qualm Gut- helped immeasurably in implanting a New ter and Lowby (Low Bay) Gutter, areas well England folk occupation in the West Indies. known for their population of assorted su- Whether it was by accident or through his pernatural beings. own discoveries in Africa, Bill made use of The African and the West Indian love rit- many traditional values whose origins lay ual, and whaling became ritualistic. The in Africa as well as more recent, local ones. boats were launched and whaling begun on The first of these was courage. In Africa a February 1, unless that date fell on a Mon- greeting is "May you have strength," with day, which was an unlucky day. Before the the implication not of good health but of boats pushed off, they were decked in flow- superior prowess. To overcome one's ad- ers and blessed by a priest, a feast was held versary physically, to confront danger, to that everyone attended, and the boats were display sexual success all denote the brave sprinkled with rum. The boats pushed out man. And to the West Indian the world is at a set hour each morning and returned at full of terrifying possibilities. There was the a set hour, with half a day on Saturday and danger of being killed by the whale and no whaling on Sunday. The boats were rit- swallowed up by the sea. The men who went ually hauled ashore on the bones of defunct whaling arrived at the boats before first light. whales, blocked up by whale vertebrae. The This meant that many must walk a narrow season was finished May 1 and the boats track in the small hours of the morning when laid up till next year. the jumbles (ghosts) were out. For some, Costume is extremely important to West

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Folklife Annual 1986 48 50 Indians and to Africans as well. Said Lin- Lying under the fig tree on the hill, they Bequia fishing boats at Pa- get Farm, 1972. Note that coln Simmons of Belmont (Bequia), "Give peer out over the sea for whales, while they all are built on the whale- a West Indian a uniform and an oil barrel spin yarns and play practical jokes like boat model. for an office and I tell you, man, he think "putting fire to someone," sticking a horse he governor." The clothes, the hat, the knife nettle into somebody's pants, or arranging and pan, along with the staff of authority, a fishhook to jig someone when he gets up. all fill this requirement, and it is said that A whale is sighted. Everyone shouts orders. the people living along the track could tell They "fly" to their boats and try furiously the hour by the tapping of the whaler's stick to get up to the whale. If they succeed, there as he moved to the boats in predawn dark- is a long period of waiting for the whale to ness. rise, the rush to drive home the harpoon, West Indians enjoy brief periods of in- then the wildest activity. The whale line tense activity interspersed with long pe- smokes on the loggerhead, the boat groans Atimeal 011ivierre, head riods of tranquillity. They are galvanized from the strain, spray slashes over the bows, harpooner, 1971. The har- into action at a dog-baiting or cockfight, the whale roars and thrashes the water to poon remains sheathed un- and when it is over they relax, doze, and foam, and the crew are covered with blood til the final moment of tell endless stories of previous activities. from his spout. The shore is thronged with "going on" the whale. Whaling affords exactly this kind of action. semihysterical spectators. It's heady stuff,

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\, and there is a long period of leisure to sit one man cried out, "Lookee! Lookee! Yon- in the rum shop and discuss it. der comes de whale! Blessed Jesus! Oh, it Cutting up and trying out is something fair melt me bowels!" On another occasion else again. It is a bloody but unexciting pe- the whale nudged one of the boats, and the riod of demanding work that sometimes harpooner threw his iron over the opposite takes more than three days. It is plain hard side. To combat this, Wallace, knowing they work, and before many hours the whalers loved sayings and fraternities, gave them to begin to drift away, with the result that understand that they were "brothers to- sometimes a considerable portion of the gether" and "if the whale kill one it mus' whale is lost. kill all." This tactic availed little. Most crews The sea itself has charisma. During slav- will not hunt sperm whales, considering ery only the most trusted slaves were al- them too ferocious, and are even reluctant lowed to go out on it, for the less trust- to go on a bull humpback. worthy might skip off, commit a clumsy act A second difficulty Wallace never re- and wreck the boat and gear, or drown solved was that West Indians are neither themselves. Further, it was a highroad to very inventive nor forehanded. In a hundred adventure and freedom. Hence there re- years there have been almost no innova- mains a desire to spend one's time on the tions in the whaling trade. If anything breaks roaring sea. It is also believed that the sea or miscarries, there is never anything to re- will drown evildoers,6 so that those who pair the damage, nor is there any effort to venture forth on it must be at least some- do so. I once pointed out that the mast of what virtuous. a boat I was in had a crack in it, but noth- When a man catches a whale he dem- ing was done about it, and four days later onstrates his prowess in several ways. Al- it broke about three hundred yards from though it takes a collective effort, the result shore. We returned to the beach, and al- is usually regarded as a personal success. though there was a usable mast on the shin- The whale is the largest creature alive, and gle, no one was interested in transferring for a 150-pound man to kill it in a twenty- the sails and shrouds. The crew went home. six-foot pulling boat clearly entails a display of great strength and courage. To drive the iron home in the first place necessitates being able to outwit leviathan, whose in- tellect is thought to be in proportion to his bulk. According to an informant, one of the more famous whalers (after Bill Wallace) As I mentioned, West Indians seem augmented the reputation he gained from to enjoy their place in the sun inordinately. killing whales by sailing from Isle a Ronde Each man is a "hero," and he would rather to Bequia in the dark with only his cook: achieve nothing than see someone else suc- "In each channel [there are five] he have ceed. There are tales of boats ramming other intercourse with she." boats to prevent their taking a whale, of Finally, Wallace did not have to start quite sending boats off on a wild goose chase from scratch. Bequians had been going in when they were most needed, for fear the small numbers to whale on ships that put other boat might "get fast first." There is into Saint Vincent for water? This gave him at least one ridiculous account of a boat's a small number with whom to work. throwing a harpoon over another to pre- AL,ng with the traits of culture he could vent its getting fast first. An especially good work on there were others he could do little harpooner was believed to have been pushed about. Although the West Indian admires off a cliff and his neck broken. courage, it may be because that is a rare Enmity runs high, and revenge is sweeter commodity.8 In times of stress there is a than success. Harpoon lines are cut, the tendency to panic in the boats. On one oc- walkie-talkie sabotaged, the spyglass stolen, casion when a whale came up beneath the the pin pulled out of the harpoon. Lookout boat there was general consternation, and stations are declared off limits by their

Folk* Annual 198650 52 August Monday. Regatta for all fishing boats at Pa- get Farm, 1974

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"Bleows" 51 53 owner, whose act serves to deprive him of workobeabagainst another fishery to pre- whale meat and cash. vent its men from catching whales, and there Neither is there much cooperation.' When is a belief that some of the dry periods of a whale was killed and "went bottom" in whaling were due to that practice. Indeed, 120 feet of water a diver was needed. The it was so common as to work its way into best diver was a relative of the harpooner, folksongs. For several years I thought it was but he was busy diving for lobsters. Two something out of the past, since, my stock other divers were then employed; taken to question, "Do you haveobeabhere?" was the very spot, they found the whale on the always answered by, "No, noobeabin Be- first dive. They passed lines to it and the quia." whalers hauled it up. Although the divers Then one day, after nearly a month with had no prior knowledge of where the car- no sightings, cm of the whalemen asked cass was, could not have hauled it up, did me, "Do you believe you can put something not know how to butcher it, had no way in the water to keep cow whale away?" to proccs: it and no idea of how to dispose "I thought there was noobeabin Be- of it, they claimed it for their own. Much quia." of the whale spoiled before the problem was "There ain't. We brings it from Saint resolved. Speaking of the relative who was Vincent." lobstering when needed, an informant said, It seems that a member of the crew felt "1 tell you mon, that rather gaze himself abused and paid money to anobeab into the two loving eye of a lobstaire than man in Saint Vincent to drive away the help he best friend." whales he presumably was hunting. Perhaps the greatest source of unrest is Later on 1 discovered thatobeabcan help the pay system. Wallace used the tradi- as well as harm whaling. I was asked if I tional share system universally accepted (and would like to catch a whale, and I assured also detested) in Yankee whalers. Under this the person I would. arrangement, disproportionate amounts or "You nuts' give me S1200, and you kotch shares are distributed to owners and crews de whale." so much for the boat, so much for the owner, "How's that?" and so down the line. Invariably the crew "I give it to a fella in Saint Vincent, and feels this is unfair. Moreover, since part of he make things like they was." their portion is paid in blubber, bone, and Dreams in the West Indies are of great meat, some of which is always stolen, and importance.") Before undertaking any v.:- some thought inferior to others' portions, riot's enterprise, people seek dream mixt-- hard words are passed and devious routes ences. If these are auspicious, the venture followed to assuage the presumed injury. is deemed worth undertaking; if inauspi- The n-,ethods vary from poisoning the har- cious, it is abandoned or held in abeyance pooner's dog to frightening off the next until dream assurances are forthcoming. whale to practicing black magic. Frequently the undertaking is altered according to dream advice. So popular and important are dream messages that they have been codified. The best or most certain results are in dreams from the deadfriends, relations, and parents, in ascending order. espite its problems and its lack of Usually, to dream of one's dead mother or financial success, whaling remains the pulse relation who was closest is the most im- of Bequian life and the reason for the is- portant. However, dreams generally need landers' superior position among the Lesser interpretation, and this, too, is codified. For Antilles. An enormous amount of island example, to dream of corn means money; culture has permeated the occupation. From white children bathing in the sea, good luck; many examples, two will suffice--the use sheep feeding on a hill, success. An airplane ofobeaband the employment of dreams. tells of a trip, but a burning or falling plane In the past it was common practice to means death, a horse means a message, and

54 Folklife Annual1986 52 Sighting the flukes in the distance, 1972

, 55 "Neon's"53 The chase, 1972 a ship going away from one means disaster. friends of the living or through interpreta- To dream of certain individuals means ill tion of the dream content. One morningmy fortune. While all dreams are important, companion told me on the way to the whale certain people have a reputation for having boats that we would get a whale that day. especially pertinent dreams. Further, he said, we would meet it in the Nearly every whale caught is caught after channel between Isle a Cote and Petit Nevis. a dreamand usually much in the fashion That is where we met, and that is where described in the dream. There can be little we got fast to, a large bull (which subse- doubt that dreams have an effect upon the quently "drew the iron"). crew. For if one has an auspicious dream, Athneal 011ivietre, the head harpooner, the entire temper of the boat will acceler- dreamed that he was rushed by a large horse ate, whereas if it is bad or nonexistent, there (see page 49). He drew his knife and stabbed will be an air of indifference and even re- it twice, and the beast ran off. Athneal in- sistance to the activity. Lest someone think terpreted this to mean he would harpoon a that the dreams are tailored to fit the cloth, whale. they are usually revealed before the event, Occasionally dreams need little symbolic and I, for one, am convinced that they may interpretation. One night Athneal dreamed well be self-fulfilling in that they havea that he was taking his cow up the mountain psychologize: effect. to pasture when "she began to act very cross. Oddly enough, the information within the I picked up a stick and knock the old bitch dream does not ordinarily come from the down." The calf promptly ran away ("he dead but is instead revealed either through fly fly from me") downhill and Athneal, busy

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with the cow, saw his boat steerer, Joseph monkey urinated on her out of a tree. This Maneuvering a whale into position at a butchery on Ford, coming toward him and called to Jo- she interpreted as a whale spoutand an- Petite Nevis, 1974 seph to stop the calf, which he did. other whale was taken. 011ivierre interpreted this dream to mean A final example of Hilda's dreaming oc- he would take a cow and a calf whale next curred in 1980. She wns worried about a day, and so it transpired. The cow whale sick relative and slept badly. After Athneal butted the boat (acted cross) before he lanced had gone to the boat, she slept and dreamed her and her calf swam down wind until Jo- that the house, yard, and road were full of seph Ford put the whale boat in position people "coming and going." Some she did and it too was taken. not know. She thought it was a feast, but His wife, Hildaone of those persons there was no food. She realized immedi- with a special reputation for significant ately that Athneal was in danger and tried dreamsdreamedthatAthneal'sdead to warn him. Subsequently he became en- mother brought her "four fowl's eggs." tangled in the whale line and nearly lost his When she awoke she prepared an extra large leg and his life. breakfast for her husband, for, she said, the Much of the whaling complex rubbed off dream meant he would catch four whales on the native culture. The natives already for the season, and since he had already had communal work songs such as digging taken two, the next two were at hand. That songs, and thus shanties were quite accept- day he fulfilled her prediction with a cow able; the shanties in turn picked up native and a calf. On another occasion she dreamed traits and used them." One, "Do Old that she was walking down a road and a Moses,"I2 is a pulling song that uses as its

57 "Meows" 55 theme the treachery of one fishery to an- known as England. Dixon Durham, har- other and how to overcome it. Another is pooner in another fishery, supposedly pushed based on the obeab being practiced be- 011ivierre off a cliff and broke his neck. tween two fisheries: Shortly thereafter, Durham got fast toa whale in Bequia Channel. She swung her Obeab SONG flukesand beheaded Durham without Here come the "Iron Duke" harming anyone else in the boat, indicating Here come the "Iron Duke" that the sea takes its toll of the wicked. Here come the "Iron Duke" (Dixon bears the dubious distinction of being And what become of "Dart?" the only Bequian ever killed by a whale.) "Dart" is gone to town The song also indicates that at that time To buy a tub of line there were three boats to a fisherysix men "Dart" is gone to town to a boat: To buy a tub of line.

Oh Oh North side work the witchcraft THE PRINCESS HILL SONG And South side keep it down Between the eighteen brothers, The first cow whale that Old England Jolly whaler men.13 did beach, The first cow whale dat Old England While long narrative verse is not popular did beach, Oh, the first cow whale dat Old in the West Indies, there is one long piece England did beach, still sung that is interesting as a social and Old Dixon destroy one of Old England historical document. In 1885 Edward 01- man. Starting to cut out first livierre was considered to be the best har- blanket piece, 1974 They speak the word an den do what pooner on Bequia. He was in the fishery dey say,

4 They speak the word an den do what The rum shops are decorated with whaling dey say, pictures; one that features a whale jaw for And they speak the word an den do a bar is called the Whaleboner. Shops are what dey say, Old Dixon destroy one of Old England full of scrimshaw (not native) and art deal- man. ing with the whaling. One year at Carnival t:island's biggest celebration was won by Shame, oh shame, you murderin' crew, Shame, oh shame, all you murderin' a boat of a miniature whaleboat pursuing crew, a papier-mache whale. Shame, oh shame, all you murderin' A more important area of endeavor is in crew, boat-building. All small boats on the island What done in the dark gwine show in for whatever use are designed on the whale- de light. boat model. Those not used for whaling Friday evening he bid fare a well, will not have the steering oars, the logger- Friday evening he bid farewell, head, or sheer chocks, but most have the Friday evening he bid farewell, And Saturday forenoon six men pick bow chock that the whale line runs through. him up. Even a larger yacht built in Bequia for a They speak the word an den do what world cruise was on whaler lines and named dey say, Plum Belly. They speak the word an den do as dey say, They speak the work an den do as dey say, What done in the dark gwine show in the light. All you go way, all you murderin' oday the whaling complex is under in- crew, creasing strain. On the one hand there is All you go way, all you murderin' great effort devoted to prevent the hunting crew, of :hales. Although no one else hunts All you go way, all you murderin' crew, humpbacks, and only one or two a year are What done in the dark, it will show in killed, environmentalists want the occupa- the light. tion stopped. They aver that the whales may Seventeen brothers to wear the be exterminated, despite the fact that more mourning, are sighted each year. Yachtsmen, in order Seventeen brothers will wear the to photograph the whaling, get between the mourning, boat and the whale, and themselves try to Seventeen brothers to wear the harpoon it with a boathook or shoot at it. mourning, Old Dixon destroy one of Old England Still others try to frighten the whale away. man. More serious is the changing economy. Cash is increasingly important in Bequia, Shame, oh shame, you wondering men, Shame, oh shame, you wondering men, and much of whaling flourished on a barter Shame, oh shame, you wondering men, and a status basis. Now men are encour- What done in the dark, it will show in aged to forsake the sea to work in the ho- the light. tels or in other jobs created by the tourist You leave his wife and his children to trade. It is safer, more comfortable, and more mourn, profitable to drive a taxi or carry tourists' You leave his wife and his children to bags. The status of the whalers' costume mourn, and staff is now achieved through display- Oh, you leave his wife and his children to mourn, ing a portable radio or 35-mm camera And seventeen brothers shall wear the (usually without film). Were it not for the mourning." fact that most of the whaling needs were covered by donations from wealthy white There are other areas where the whaling tourists and landowners, the entire enter- complex can be noticed. It is a large tourist prise would have to cease. attraction. The Bequian flag features a whale. In recent years whaling on Bequia has

59 "Bleows"57 It( I I ; 4,.$ VIA 4.4 4* 4

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Cutting up on the third day, 1972. The whale is too large to haul on shore and must be cut up in shallow water.

Go Folklife Annual 198658 changed. As far as I have been able to de- without paying a heavy fee. It is more prof- termine,I was the first nonlocal to go itable to romp around the ocean looking a-whaling on a continuous basis; and I ex- for whales than to catch them. Moreover, perienced great difficulty in getting aboard. supercargo in a whaleboat is dangerous. My wife was the first to photograph the According to an old-time whaler, things are whalers and their activities consistently. This greatly altered. No longer do they pull for was the icebreaker. A Spaniard arrived, paid a whale, but depend upon sail alone, oc- a huge sum to whale for a winter, and in- casionally augmenting it with paddles. No sisted on bringing his wife. Instead of leav- longer, I am told, do they put out two oars ing at first light, they left after breakfast. to maneuver when "going on." As a result Their pay was to stop when they caught a there have been calamities. We were told, whale; not surprisingly, none were caught for example, that a crewman stood up to enable a female tourist to "get a better snap." Doving whale meat at Pe- that year. tite Nevis, 1972. The meat Now tourist information on Bequia de- Unfortunately he stood in front of the boat is minced, spiced, cooked scribes "authentic whale hunts," and any- steerer, who lost sight of the whale, which with blubber, and canned one with sufficient money can go out. Any- slashed with her flukes and "cut the boat for future use. one can photograph the procedure, but not from garboard to sheer plank." improper

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of Sri `i-*.t1:1- -rargiikAti,"".; positioning in the boat, which prevented a hunt the largest living animal in the world clear view from aft, was a significant factor they are considered to be a very brave peo- in the near-destruction of the harpooner in ple. The whale is known to be "quicker the spring of 1980. than a sprat in the sea" and is believed to Whatever the future of whaling in Be- have intelligence commensurate with its quia, there can be little doubt that it has bulk. To hunt it successfully, one must be done much to determine the character of a consummate boat handler and have a the islandnot only as the islanders appear greater degree of sagacity than the prey. to their neighbors in the Lesser Antilles, but Bequians believe these things of them- as they see themselves as well. Because they selves and strive to live up to their image.

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62 By \Vest Indian standards, they are skilled attacked it with his knife and was relieved and courageous seamen. Not only are they to discover it was the whaleboat rising bot- engaged in the trading business and in tom side up. Another man, diving for lob- smuggling, but many go on as hands on the sters, had an enormous shark grab him by ever-increasing number of yachts. They are the head. He pulled its jaws apart, extri- remarkable swimmers. One man named cated his head, and attacked the shark. Most King, for example, is said to have saved West Indians fear "jumbies" and will blanch himself by swimming three days to reach at the thought, though on Bequia men have shore. Many are skilled divers, hunting been known to stand against them. On one conchs and lobsters in depths of over 150 occasion a man went out with a gun at night feet. A very large percentage of them gain to discover what was destroying the young their living on the seafishing, diving, tur- goats. There was a full moon, and he was tling, and so on. And lest we forget, the near Lowby Gutterthe perfect time and whaleboat is the model for all their craft, place and condition for jumbie visitation. and they are renowned as boat handlers. He heard a terrible noise and saw some- Similarly, in a wider perspective, Bequi- thing rolling and tumbling down the hill- ans' homes and boats are cleaner and better side toward him. "I think," he reported, kept than those of other islands. There is " 'Mother God! A jumbie for sure.' " He less crime on the island, and much of what stood his ground, threw up his gun, and crime there is is believed committed by an fired, killing the "jumble" completely. It increasingly large number of off-islanders. turned out to be a "ram cat" locked in mor- Although hard to prove statistically, they tal combat with a young goat. generally appear to comport themselves Whaling has survived on Bequia over one better than their neighbors. hundred years. It is now in a difficult stage. Last, they appear as a group braver than Over all those years, it has been a cogent others. This can best be described through factor in the cultureone that Bequians and individual anecdotes. When his whaleboat people from outside the island see as bene- was pulled under, Athneal 011ivierre found ficial. One cannot help wondering what will himself alone several miles from shore. happen on the island if whaling ceases. It Looking down, he saw what he assumed is difficult to believe that, by western stan- was the whale rising for him. Instantly he dards, the consequence will be beneficial.

NOTES

1.Carleton Mitchell, Isles of the Caribbees 8. Fenger, Alone in the Caribbean, 43. (Washington:NationalGeographicSociety, 9. Joel C. Arnoff, "The Interrelationship of 1966), 33. Psychological and Cultural Systems: A Case 2. The information about Wallace is based Study" (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1965), on "Old Bill's" handwritten journal, the rem- 194-96. nants of which are kept by Miss Olive Wallace, 10. Jane C. Beck, "Dream Messages from the Friendship, Bequia. Dead," Journal of the Folklore Institute 10 3. John E. Adams, "Historical Geography of (1973): 173-86. Whaling in Bequia Island, West Indies," Car- 11. See Roger D. Abrahams, Deep the Water, ibbean Studies 11 (October 1971): 64-66. Shallow the Shore: Three Essays on Shantying 4. Ibid., 62. Adams cites six stations but in the West Indies (Austin: University of Texas overlooks one at Ile-de-Caille. Press, 1974). S. Frederic A. Fenger, Alone in the Carib- 12. Horace P. Beck, Folklore and the Sea bean: The Cruise of the "Yakahoo" in the Lesser (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, Antilles (London: Hoddzr and Stoughton, 1917), 1973), 156 -57. 106. 13. Sung by Ocarol 011ivierre, La Pompe, Be- 6. Jane C. Beck, "Study of the West Indian quia, March 11, 1972. Devil," unpublished manuscript. 14. Recorded by Jane C. Beck in the rum shop 7. Karl Brandt, Whale Oil and Economic Re- owned by Walter Bynoe at Paget Farm, Bequia. sources (Stanford, Calif.: StanfordUniversity The informant was Joseph Ford, age seventy- Press, 1940), 54. three years.

63 "Bleows" 61 tst

An Introduction offers his sister Aino as ransom for his release, and Viiinamoinen accepts. The young BY ELENA BRADUNAS girl, dismayed by the prospect of marrying such an old man, drowns herself and becomes a fish. Vainamoinen later catches the fish, but does not recognize her and she es- capes, leaving him grieving. Though Viiinamoinen suffers setbacks now and then, as a skilled musician and wise charm-singer he is the central figure of the Kalevala. Other heroes are either his friends or foes. One adventure follows another, filled with marvelous and fantastic feats. For example, the smith Ilmarinen, who wins the girl of the Northland whom Viiin- amoinen had set out to court, remains his steadfast friend. Together they go to seek the release of the sun and moon, which Louhi, the evil mistress of the Northland, has sung into hiding. Another memorable episode recounts how Lemminkainen, the handsome and restless playboy of the epic, is killed while trying to fulfill tasks to win a maiden; his body is chopped into pieces by Death's son. Raking the pieces of the body from the black river of Death's do- main, his mother is able to sing life back into him through her knowledge of charms. These fantastic adventures of charm- chanting heroes and sorcerers were known toilliterateFinnishsingersfor many

A hundreds of years. The episodes were sung as individual songs by traditional singers hose who enjoyed the film Star Wars who lived in isolated villages along the would probably fall under the spell of the Finnish-Russian borderlands. They became Finnish epic Ka levala. Though first pub- known to educated, urban Finns only after lished 150 years ago, many of the adven- the texts of some songs were set down on tures in the epic could easily be scripted paper. Although a few of these songs had into scenes for our modern fantasy adven- been sporadically recorded since the eigh- ture films. Instead of battling with ad- teenth century, it was primarily the work vanced technological gadgets such as rock- of one individualElias Lonnrotthat ets and laser beams, however, the heroes of clearly demonstrated the richness of these the Kalevala engage in bouts with words of oral traditions. A medical doctor by profes- wisdom and magic runes that cast spells of sion, but an avid folklore collector by avo- enchantment over their foes. Thus, when cation, Lonnrot logged many miles on foot wise old Vainamoinen, the greatest singer in the early 1830s, writing down as many of runes, is challenged by a young upstart variants as he could find of the songs about Joukahainen, it takes but a few magical V5inamOinen, Lemminkainen, Overleaf: Ku llervon goes to war. Fresco by Akseh charms to bury the young man neck-deep and others. Instead of publishing the songs Gallen-Kallela, 1901. in the ground. The frightened Joukahainen as individual pieces, however, he arranged Courtesy of the Embassy them into a linear storyline. In 1835 he of Finland, Washington, published the Kalevala as an epicthe Fin- D.C. Reprinted from Fo (kith Center News (October- December), 1984 nish counterpart to the Nordic Edda, Ger-

(36 Fo lklife Annual 1986 64 manicNibelungenlied,ScottishOssian tory of the folklore discipline will recognize poems, and, harking back to the classics, the names of both the epic and the com- the Greek Iliad and Odyssey. piler. The recognition comes about because For Finland the publication of songs sung Lonnrot's work inspired other scholars to by the ordinary folk in the hinterlands of develop a particular methodology for the their country served as a major stimulus to study of 4nIklore which for many years the building and fostering of a distinct na- influenced the development of the folk- tional identity. Until then the Finnish lan- lore discipline: the comparative historic- guage and identity were held in rather low geographic method or, referring directly to esteem; Finland's educated, urban elite had its origins, the Finnish Method. Julius Krohn, accepted, for the most part, the language, born the year the Kalevala was published, culture, and traditions of the governing is credited as one of the first to articulate Swedes. Through Lonnrot's Kalevala the the principles which later served as guide- intelligentsia began to awaken to the rich- linesfotthecomparativehistoric-geo- ness of the Finnish heritage. graphic method. Realizing that Lonnrot's Although it took some time, the Kalevala unpublished collection consisted of many actually helped to kindle national aspira- variants of the same song recorded in dif- tions that eventually led to the establish- ferent locations, Krohn wondered about the ment of an independent Finland. For the origins and eventual spread of the songs, Finnish people; much under the sway of the feeli : "" 17. -3 to those ques- general romantic trends of the times, the tions coma icsuu nom a comparison of text Kalevala presented a past of which they variations from different locales. He was could be proud. Scholars argued about the much caught up in the nineteenth century's historicity of the heroes, and engaged in intellectual fascination with Darwin's evo- discussion about the evolution or devolu- lutionary theory, which underscored the tion of the songs through time. It became value of empirical studies of variants. After required reading in secondary schools, and his early death, his son Kaarle Krohn fur- playwrights, composers, and other artists ther developed the method, which served were soon using its themes and motifs for as the basis of early folklore scholarship in their own creative ventures. both Europe and America. Kaarle Krohn The Kalevala was indeed something of became the first professor of Finnish and which to be proud, for soon after its pub- comparative folklore at Helsinki Univer- lication in Finnish it was translated into sity, founded the network of International Swedish, French, German, and Russian, as Folklore Fellows, and started publishing the well as into Estonian and Hungarianthe famed FF Communications series, which two non-Indo-European languages related continues to the present. to Finnish. In America the work generated Althoughthecomparativehistoric- considerable publicity when Longfellow geographic method anditsunderlying published his Song of Hiawatha in 1885 premises are not so widely employed within and critics accused him of plagiarizing the folklore scholarship today, its development Finnish epic. Longfellow admitted that he played a major role in establishing the study was acquainted with the work through of folklore on a solid academic footing. The German translations and that he purposely method also laid the foundation for the or- copied the trochaic meter of the Kalevala ganization of many folklore archives around in order to imbue his work with a certain the world and led to the publication of clas- ancient andnobletone andcadence. sificatory indexes such as Stith Thompson's Prompted by the controversy, the English Motif-Index of Folk-Literature and The translation appeared in 1889. Since those Types of the Fatale by Antti Anne and times translations have been printed and re- Stith Thompson. For this reason references printed in thirty languages. The Kalevala is to Lonnrot, the Kalevala, the Krohns, and probably the best known Finnish literary theFinnishcomparativehistoric-geo- work throughout the world. graphic method will always be part of aca- Any folklorist who has studied the his- demic training in folklore.

The Kaleuula: An Introduction 65 6'7 f The Kalevala Process tom C11 . 4:47..

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In May 1630, two hundred years before the publication of theKalevala,Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, issued the first directions for collecting Finnish and Swedish folk poetry. His decree contained detailed instructions on the collection of ancient rel- ics and was preceded by a directive to record "all sorts of chronicles and narratives, ancient tales and poems about dragons, dwarfs, and giants, as well as stories about famous people, old monasteries, castles, the dwell- ings of kings and cities, from which it will be possible to ascertain how things were in The Grand Duchy of Fin- ancient times; old poems about heroes and land, showing the region magic songs, not forgetting to take down as it was divided into their melodies." The preface to the decree provinces. Elias Lonnrot reveals that the motive for wanting to col- Iq collected many of his lect folk poetry vas to demonstrate "that poems in the province of Karelia in eastern Finland. our forefathers were no barbarians," "that F. De Witt, about 1670. we are the oldest nation," and "that our dei.i.snaw Ar(Wood Si Geography and Map Divi- 'Y./..1.Vidtticieh 740! sion, Library of Congress Copyright 0 Lauri Honko 1986

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Nava' Tabula' MAGNI D CAXIIS FINLANDI1 in PrcninciasDina.MIthuietu auita et Correctapar. r.de Vitt language is the oldest of all," and it ex- These opposing interpretations may be pressed too some concern at the Danish at- observed, for instance, in the eighteenth tempt to steal these prizes. With the help century. They were represented on the one of the folk tradition, it was believed, light hand by a well-known defender of the Fin- might be cast upon the way of life of an- nish nation, Professor (and later Bishop) cient times, the means of livelihood, the his- Daniel Juslenius and, on the other, by the tory of habitation, the succession of rulers, father of the study of Finnish history, Hen- and the pagan religion. rik Gabriel Porthan. The idealistic and pa- But Gustav H Adolf's decree should not triotic Juslenius had a patchy knowledge of be taken as an expression of interest in folk poetry, but this did not stop him from folklore as a living tradition. It was prin- making free use of imagination and the cipally a reaction to a similar note sent to historical interpretation of the folk tra- the bishops of Norway and Denmark in dition to increase Finland's fame and self- 1622 by Denmark's Kristian IV. Behind both confidence. The cautious and critical Por- lay the need to strengthen national identity than, on the other hand, collected from a and to create a favorable view in any com- number of diverse sources a wide variety of parison of the nations. The discovery of folk poems, realized that they could give an tradition is usually followed by its adap- insight into the life and way of thinking of tation for use as an instrument of cultural the Finnish-speaking people, and encour- policy, and the administrative or cultural aged his students to study Finnish mythol- elite that set the collection of tradition in ogy. motion that resulted in the Kalevala also The starting point of the Kalevala process bears the responsibility for its new use in was Porthan's Dissertatio de poesi feititica, an environment quite unlike the one in which published 1766-78. In this work he argued it existed before its discovery. that folk poetry in Finland was highly developed and should even be placed above the poetry to be found in literature. There is a foreshadowing of the direction later taken by folklore research when Porthan says, "Experience has taught me that, by The Kalevala is not simply an individ- comparing a number of records of folk ual work; it is also a continuing process. In poems, it is possible to restore them to a a broad sense this Kalevala process can mean more complete and suitable form." Porthan the development that began at the time of also demanded that folk poems be pub- Henrik Porthan at the end of the eighteenth lished without alteration, and that the place century, continues today, and will stretch and time of collection be recorded. into the future for as long as the Kalevala The importance of Porthan lies in the fact is read. The meaning of this process can be that he endowed Finnish folklore with a seen in the interpretation of epic folk po- new prestige, and that he laid the founda- etry' and of the Kalevala at different times tions for folklore research. Porthan was a either as the account of historical events or disciple of the Enlightenment, not of Ro- as myth. These two interpretations perform manticism; he was producing his works at an elaborate balancing act. The historical the time of Johann Gottfried von Herder interpretation has weight whenever it is felt (1744-1803), but independently of him, for that the national identity is threatened and there was in his day discussion at Turku needs strengthening. The mythical interpre- University of Macpherson's Ossian* but not tation, on the other hand, gains in importance when internal conflicts and outside *Editors' note: In the 1760s James ,Macpherson pressures are not very strong. Sometimes published what were purported to be translations of a Gaelic poet called Ossian that were admired for their both interpretations are current simulta- Romantic spirit. Their authenticity was challenged, neously; but in this case the theory that does however, notably by Dr. Johnson, and a committee not fit with the spirit of the time is pushed appointed after Nlacpherson's death in 1796 reported that Macpherson ;lad liberally edited traditional Gaelic aside. poems and inserted passages of his own.

Fo!klife Annual 1986 68 70 of Herder. And in Turku the attitude to- the old Finnish poems might give birth to ward Macpherson remained positive even a new Homer, Ossian, or Nibehingenlied, when Ossian had almost disappeared under and that the resulting epic would secure the the waves of criticism. Porthan and his stu- admiration of both contemporaries and dents compared Macpherson's situation to posterity for the Finnish nation. their own: it was likely, they thought, that The man who met the demand for a na- his work was based on genuine folk poetry, tional epic was Elias Lonnrot. Lonnrot be- just as theirs was. They did not, however, lieved in the historical interpretation of folk come any closer to the :dea of an epic proper. poetry. He was guided in this by his teacher, In the Peace of Hamina (1809) Finland Reinhold von Becker, who was the first to ceased to be part of Sweden and came un- begin to piece together the story of Villa- der the jurisdiction of Russia as an auton- moinen from different folk poems in which omous Grand Duchy. The intelligentsia he appears and to distill from them what found themselves forced to break off their von Becker believed to be objective histor- close cultural relations with Sweden, and ical facts. Another important inspiration was the process of their assimilation into Swed- the Romantic tradition, according to which ish culture, which was already well-nigh folk poetry was the nation's historical ar- complete, came to a halt. On the other hand, chive. But Elias Lonnrot was no ordinary they had no affinity with Russian culture. collector of folk poems, content to record The solution to the identity crisis that en- his material just for the archives. From the sued was identification with the large ma- very beginning, his work had a conscious jority of Fa land's population, the Finnish- aim: publication. It was to this end that he speaking but unlettered common people, and collected folk poems, and once the Kalevala in a few decades Finnish, not Swedish, be- was published Lonnrot lost interest in col- gan to gain a position as the common lan- lecting folk poetry. guage of the intelligentsia. But the attempt Elias Lonnrot played his part in the Kal- to create a national culture that would sat- evala process between 1828 and 1849. After isfy European criteria came up against a that, he concerned himself with the Kalevala triple stumbling block: the language was only once more, when he produced an not adequate for modern needs, the history abridged version for schools that appeared of Finland was unwritten, and there was in 1862. His active period divides itself nat- almost no literature in Finnish. urally into phases according to how he dealt with the original material he collected. Be- tween 1829 and 1831 he published a series of Kantele anthologies containing uncon- nected poems. But even then, Lonnrot allowed himself a freer hand in editing them It was at this time that Romanticism as- than had Porthan or Zacharias Topelius the serted itself: it painted a new vision of a elder, who was to publish his own anthol- nation whose common people were not, after ogy of folk poetry at the same time as all, passive, subjugated, clumsy, and un- Lonnrot. In his foreword, it is true, Lorin- gifted, but the inheritors of magnificent rot gives details of where the poems were powers of the mind and spirit that had gone recorded; but the published poems are the unnoticed until now. The soul and special result of combining different variants and quality of the Finnish nation was hidden in of patching one poem with lines from an- the oral tradition that had been preserved other. Only three poems appear in exactly by the common people. A program for the the form in which they were recorded. construction of a national culture began to In the next phase, Lonnrot allowed him- take shape in the 1810s in the minds of a self to take greater liberties and combined, group of young students at Turku Univer- for instance, poems about the same char- sity. A kind of social demand for a national acter or event. The folk singers from whom epic was in the air. One of the students, he collected the original poems were, cer- C. A. Gottlund, put forward the idea that tainly, in the habit of combining separate

The Kalevala Process 69 71 Elias Lihntrot, from a portrait by Bernhard Rein- hold, 1872. From Yrki Jantti, et!, Suomen Sana, vol. 13

poems in their local, individual repertoire. isodes. The basic conflict of the epicthe The cycles of poems put together by Lonn- competition and battle between the people rot, however, had no such link with any of Kaievala and the people of Pohjola particular area or tradition; they were begins to emerge when the mistress of Poh- created from verses collected in many often jola and her beautiful daughter are made widely scattered regions. the antithesis of the Kalevala heroes led by The next stage was the Proto-Kalevala, Vainamoinen. in which poems about different characters were fitted into an overall plot. The forging and the stealing of the Sampo, a miraculous object bringing material prosperity, were separated from one another, and in between Lonnrot placed the wooing contest, In creating the structure of the Kalevala, the wedding at Pohjola, and the still rather Liinnrot sought help from both the folk disjointed Lemmink5inen and Kullervo ep- singers from whom he collected the poems

72 Folklife Annual 19S6 70 and from contemporary research into the intentions as compiler of the Kalevala, and origins of the Finns. In addition, he was how did he use the material he had col- encouraged by the so-called Homeric model, lected to achieve them? the theory that epics are born through a The attempts of the folk singers them- process of combining and editing oral po- selves to link together poems about the same etry. Lonnrot's experiences on his field trips character created a number of miniature were decisive: some singers had performed epics that could be called folk epics, none concerted pieces much longer than usual, of them more than a thousand lines long. so unified that they could almost be re- There is no reason to believe that the situ- garded as miniature epics in themselves, and ation should have been different in pre- had also spoken to him of the order in which vious centuriesthat the poems should then they supposed the events in different poems have been sung in a more complete form. to have taken place In the end Lonnrot was The structure and form of the Kalevala as guided by an impression, half of his own we know it is Lonnrot's answer to the ques- invention and half based on learned opin- tion that occupied him throughout the time ion, of the time when the events of the poems he spent collecting his material: What was had been a natural part of the life of the the order of the events of which the poems ancient Finns. He believed that the religion told? And this answer is not a reconstruc- of these ancient Finns had exhibited many tion, but the creation of Lonnrot's own of the characteristics of monotheism, even imagination. if the fields and woods were still inhabited by their gods and tutelary spirits, and the respect in which historical figures were held had often led later generations to endow them with godly traits and attributes. This had happened in the cases of Vainamoinen All the same, the number of lines ac- and Ilmarinen. Seeking a place and a time tually composed by Lonnrot is very small for his visions, Lonnrot put the events in according to one estimate, only about 3 the poems at around a thousand years be- percent. Thus, if the criterion is the authen- fore, to the south of the White Sea, the area ticity of individual lines, the Kalevala is from which the Finns were supposed to have without doubt a genuine folk poetry epic. moved into Finland. In moulding this quasi- But of the remaining lines, only a third are history, part scientific, part poetic, Lonnrot identical with Lonnrot's original records. immersed himself in the world of the Kale- He made alterations in the orthography, vala so completely that it began to live a language, or poetic meter of about half the life of its own. It was a question of the lines in the Kalevala; from the beginning, ancient history of the Finns and an ancient he believed that dialect words and phrases society of which the Kalevala was supposed and other inconsistencies were unaccepta- to be proof. ble and could not be allowed to disturb the Although Lonnrot often makes his own reader: the work was intended for the en- role in the creation of the Kalevala appear tire nation, not for a select circle of schol- smallerand the historical and ethno- ars. The remaining 14 percent cannot be graphical value of the work as source ma- interpreted as variations of single lines from terial greaterthan is actually the case, it Lonnrot's original reccrds: they are derived is also true to say that he was always ready by combining two or more lines. to speak quite openly about how he had Thus it is clear that, although Lonnrot gone about putting together the Kalevala. did not allow himself a poet's freedom in From the point of view of the compara- composing individual lines, he did avail tive study of epics, the question of the au- himself of it in compiling the poemsin thenticity of the Kalevala is an interesting creating the plot of the Kalevala. The Kale- one: what resemblance does the epic bear vala contains very few substantial passages to the folk poems that have been preserved that are word-for-word the same as the in the oral tradition? What were Lonnrot's originals. Lonnrot combined different vari-

The Kalevala Process71 73 Liinnrot's field trips through Finland. Map by Samuel H. Bryant. Re- printed by permission of the publishers fromThe Kalevala or Poems of the Kalevala District,Elias Leninrot. comp., Francis P. Magoun, Jr., tr. (Cam- budge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1963). Copyright (0 1963 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. 'Feld Triy or 1828 II it ff1832 it ee 1833 II II a 1834 If ff It1835 it II a1 8 3 7 -1-4--l-t--4-4---1-1-1- it a tt1842 o f0 wo 2o0itles ,

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The Kalevala Process 73 75 ants and added parallel lines. The result is be interpreted as mythit became domi- that many of the lines appear in context nant to the extent that it was even the of- quite different from those of the original ficial version taught in schools. It was not oral tradition. At the same time the poems until the discipline of the study of folk po- have lost their connections with particular etry founded in the 1870s by Julius Krohn regions, as Lonnrot has no scruples in jux- shifted attention from the Kalevala itself to taposing lines that he had gathered in quite the original folk poems that the mythical different places. By using this technique interpretation became current once more. Lonnrot was able to create an epic that be- The new discipline brought with it the geo- longed not to a particular area or province graphical-historical method that was soon but to Finland as a whole. But it also means applied to the comparative study of folk that, considered on the level of extended tales of different cultures. International passages, the Kalevala is a great deal less parallels began to emerge for more and more authentic than a study of individual lines of the subjects and traditions that had hith- would suggest. erto been regarded as peculiar to one par- It was in constructing the Kalevala's plot ticular area. In this light national traditions that Lonnrot allowed himself his greatest began to be seen as common to many na- liberties. On this basis it is reasonable to tions. call him an epic poetfrom disparate ele- This promising development toward a ments he created a working whole. But his balanced view of Finnish folk poetry in its treatment of the plot was made to serve a international context was cut short by the differentpurposethat was,artistically First World War. And even before it, the speaking, more controversial. For Lonnrot Finnish identity had undergone a crisis that wanted the kalevala to represent the whole disturbed even the peace of scholars. In 1910 range of folk poetry, and consequently he a number of newspaper articles criticized developed a technique of enlargement that the approach of Julius Krohn's son Kaarle allowed him to expand poems at will. He Krohn and his followers, accusing them of compared variants of the same poem and belittling the value of the Kalevala and of put together the best lines from eachand seeking in folk poetry evidence of the influ- as a rule the result was a poem that was far ence of late medieval Christianity when they longer than any of its variants. In elabor- should have been dazzled by the ancient ating the plot his most often used technique and pagan, free and warlike age of the was to interrupt the main story with minor heroes. Four years later Kaarle Krohn an- episodes. This meant that the narrative nounced that his view of Finnish folk po- moved in a series of stops and starts and etry had undergone a radical change: con- that the preparations for an event were apt trary to what he had thought until now, to swell to quite unjustifiable proportions. the poems contained historical reminis- This feature was especially obvious in the cences of pre-Christian Finland and the fifth phase, in the second edition, which ap- heroes whomitsinhabitantshonored. peared in 1849. One of the characteristics Abandoning most of his earlier theories, of Lonnrot's development was a gradual Krohn engaged in a new historical inter- liberation from the Romantic theory of epic pretation and later allied himself with Jal- ana the adoption of a more consciously lit- mari Jaakkola, the leading authority on erary approach to the Kalevala. Finland's early history. Together these men dominated the scholarly atmosphere between the wars, in which the Kalevala poems were regarded as heroic works composed during the Finnish Viking age. This was the climate of thought in which the next gen- Even though not everyone agreed with eration of scholars was to grow up. The Lonnrot's theory that the Kalevala was an mythical interpretation found only one account of the ancient history of the Finns strong advocate in E. N. Setala. Jacob Grimm, for instance, believed it should After the Second World War fresh winds

Folk* Annual 198674 Lemminkiiinen is rescued from Tuonela, the river of the dead, by his mother (poem 15). Tempera by Akseli Gal len-Kallela, 1897. Courtesy of the Em- bassy of Finland, Washing- ton, D.C.

77 The Kalevala Process 75 brought in new methodologies and subjects of interest. Symptomatic of the new attitudes was Martti Haavio's Viiiniimoinen (1950; English translation 1952). The first chapter deals with earlier studies of Vain- amoinen; the question posed in the title of Pursued by Vamamomen, the first chapter, "God or man?," receives Amo drowns in a lake such a profound and comprehensive an- (poem 4). Aino triptych, swer that the reader leaves it with a clear oil, by Akseli Gal len-Kal- understanding of the impossibility of a sim- lela, 1891. Courtesy of the Embassy of Finland, ple answer. The poems tell of at least two Washington, D.C. Vainiimoinens, the shaman and the culture hero; upon these the religious beliefs of the ancient Finns and international myths are deposited layer upon layer. It is no longer possible to make out any putative historical center to the poems, for instance an ancient shaman-seer. But what comes across strongly is an impression of the mythical world-picture of a certain cultural period. Some recent works have shown that the Kalevala process continues today. The historian Matti Klinge's 1983 book Muinais- untemme merivallat (Sea Powers of Our Ancient Past) revives the old controversy. Klinge propagates historical interpretation and western origins for ancient epic poetry. The study is not entirely free from meth- odological errors, and in the perspective sketched above it is perhaps little more than an anachronism. The author himself admits that he was inspired to write the book by desire to join the battle between eastern and western Finland for the "ownership" of the ancient epic. Consequently the work's true concern is perhaps with what might be called the Finnish soul or identity rather than with the poetry itself. Another historian, Hei:-ki Kirkinen, joins the fray on the other side with rather more carefully chosen argu- ments. He presents Karelia as an independent eastern cultural area whose influence extended far into western provinces. On this theory, western Finnish characteristics found in the Karelian tradition would be derived from early Proto-Finnic rather than medieval contacts. Kirkinen rejects completely the possibility of interpreting the folk poems historically. Clearly it is the mythical interpretation of the Kalevala that is dominant at present. Lonnrot's theory that the Kalevala was at least a signpost to the early history of the

Folklifc Annual 1986 76 7S The Kalevala Process 77 t 7 9 Finns has collapsed. It is no more than a evaluation of the sources using the tech- pleasant way of passing the time to attempt nique of genre analysis. : =or instance, bear to link Viiiniimoinen, Ilmarinen, Lemmin- hunting was always carried out in reality kiiinen, or Joukahainen with known his- with fire weapons, but in the poems bears torical characters, or even to some exact are always killed with arrows and spears. time or place, or to imagine that all of them Clearly, for LOnnrot, the poems told of an existed at some particular time. The layers earlier reality; and it was this realization that folk tradition has added to these fig- that inspired him to build his fictive ancient ures over the centuries, and to some extent Finnish way of life. the roPional differences in their develop- To gain a firm grip on the difference be- mem, make such a reconstruction impos- tween the historical and mythical interpre- sible in a rigorously scholarly sense. The tations it is worth looking at the concept part played by poems that are undoubtedly of time. Historical time is linear, continu- historical, such as "The Death of Elina" or ous, and irreversible, whereas mythical time "The Poem of Duke Charles," in Finnish is cyclical and repetitive; it is born of the epic poetry as a whole is fairly negligible. union of two different dimensions of time, the magnificent, mythical beginning of the world and the present. Myth is defined as the account of the great beginning (the creation of the world, the decisive start of time), the fundamental events and the ex- The question of the Kalevala's ethno- emplary acts of the gods, saints, culture graphic trustworthinessisalittle more heroes, founders of clans, and so on, based complex. The problem is whether the cus- on a common religious world view. As a toms and manners, tools and materials, result of these deeds the world, nature, cul- means of transport and weapons that ap- ture and society, and everything that goes pear in the Kalevala bear any relation to on in them were born and received the or- the folk culture of any particular area or der that still exists at present. Thus myth is time. It is certainly true that the objects and the justification of the world order: on it customs mentioned in the Kalevala have to are based customs, social institutions, moral some extent had their counterparts in living rules and norms, the efficacy of religious folk culture; in other words, they are not rites, and the sacredness of cults. History all fictive or poetic. But there are two major is, in other words, secular time, which myth obstacles to the wholehearted acceptance destroys and replaces with sacred time. of theKalevalaas a reliable source of eth- Myths are more persistent than their nographical information. originalritualcontexts, and associated The first concerns Lonnrot's method of modes of thought, too, can last for a long working, which has already been described. time even in the absence of real religious It resulted in a patchwork of colorful pieces, activity. From this point of view the con- any one of which might for a moment re- cept of myth gives the reader of the Kale- flect an aspect of a folk culture that actually vala as well as of folk poems some impor- existed at some time; but even slightly more tant keys. Many of the stories and their extended pieces cannot be regarded as details become easier to understand if we trustworthy. do not try to force them onto the level of Secondly, it must be remembered that it historical time and everyday experience but is by no means certain that even the origi- listen to the voice of myth as it speaks to nalpoems givea completelyfaithful the man who lives in mythical time. impression of the folk culture in which they That method of listening starts from the were born. Between the reality experienced acceptance of folk poems as they are. For by the singer and the reality of the poems instance, it is not necessary to carry out there was always a distance, and to gauge textual criticism, compare variants, or seek that distance demands both a knowledge of distant parallels of a genuine folk poem. the singer's actual culture and a critical The starting point is that in its own context

Folklife Annual 198678 of performance and t. ,e it was meaningful our problems, our fears, and our hopes. But and belonged to a complete and living world it is important to not. that this process of picture. If there is enough information about giving meaning is constantly structured by that context, the poem can reach us over the old myths, many of which also found boundaries of culture and language. their way into the Kalevala. Scholars, too, What of the Kalevala? Is it possible to may in their interpretations adhere to some approach it in the same way? The answer mythical motif. Behind the historical inter- is undoubtedly yes. The myths of the Kale- pretations of the Kalevala there seems to vala are, of course, LOnnrot's variants, but lurk the myth of a Golden Age, and what through them it is possible to reach the basic is more, in two variants. Romantic scholars structure of the mythand that is enough. applied this myth to the birth of the epic in The message of these ancient myths reaches speaking of a special heroic era without us through both the Kalevala and folk which the epic cannot exist. They have fol- poems. A certain bask structural meaning, lowers in our own age. The competitive in- that we are not perhaps always able to put terpretation is the Marxist view of the pre- into words, remains constant from culture feudal, classless society manifest in the to culture, and it is with reference to this Kalevala and folklore, the basic unit being that we understand the meaning of the par- the family or tribal community based on ticular poem at hand and create our own common ownership. The conflict between variant of its significance. The abundance these two interpretations has had far-reach- of variants is an essential part of the life of ing consequences in folkloristics and Kale- myth. Myth is passed on through a series vala research. Fundamentally the difference of encounters between performer or source in interpretations is concerned with the na- and audience. In giving and receiving myth, ture of the society producing the poems. In both performer and audience create their both interpretations the trend is toward a own interpretation, their own new variant. state of wretchedness: the Golden Age so- There can be no grounds, therefore, for :e- ciety vanished, but the oral tradition pre- jecting Lonnrot's Kalevala because it is "in- served an unbroken vein of tradition that authentic"it is, on the contrary, an au- carried on the message of the existence of thentic follower in the tradition of creative that ancient society. And this message is variants from which myth receives its life. still taken up by new generations of schol- The question of the messages of the Kale- ars, artists, and politicians in their desire to vala and folk poems is thus tied to the reinforce and mould the Finnish or the Ka- present moment, our ability to receive it, relian identity.

81 The Kalevala Process 79 ft S S. ed!'> ^,t5"' s^ a :+k Partial Repentance ofaCritic The Kalevala, Politics, and the United States BY WILLIAM A. WILSON

W. . enever I write or talk about the doubly so for the foreigner like myself who Kalevala,I remember the words of the poet chooses to write about theKalevalaor about Eino Leino, written in preparation for the Kalevalascholarship. Almost from the day annual"KalevalaDay" celebration in 1917: of its publication theKalevalabecame for Tohonor theKalevalais to us Finns the the Finns a major witness to the country's same as honoring one's own deepest being; noble past and the primary evidence that to come to know theKalevalais the same Finland, long considered a backward and as rjoicing over the swelling, streaming untalented nation, merited a place among sunshine of one's own breast, over faith in the civilized nations of the world. Consid- life and over fulfillment. If a Finn does not ering the immediate and enduring symbolic care to read theKalevala,then that testifies that he does not care to glance at the pages significance achieved by theKalevalaand of his own book of destiny; if a Finn does the great national pride in the work, the not like theKalevala,then that testifies that Finns have taken with something less than he does not like anything nor anybody, for good cheer any aspersions cast on theKale- only one who loves his own pruneval self valaor its compiler by outside writers. can radiate love around him. But if a Finn For example, in 1902, on the occasion of ridicules theKalevala,then that is a sin against the Holy Ghost.' Elias L8nnrot's hundredth birthday, the Swedish scholar K. B. Wiklund published If the burden of paying proper homage articles on theKalevalain both Sweden and to theKalevalais heavy for the Finn, it is Germany, pointing out what Finnwh folk- Copyright © William A. Wilson 1986 lorists had known for several dc:ades but

83 Partial Repentance of a Critic 81 what the general Finnish population would Previous page: Joukahm- one, to my knowledge, seemed unduly nen, restrained by his not fully grasp for some years to come troubled. But when I said essentially the same mother, sets off to avenge namely, that Finland's national epic was the thing, when I argued that the image of the the death of his sister Aino literary creation not of the Finnish folk but past reflected in the mirror of Finnish folk (poem 6). Oil painting by of Elias Lonnrot and that it had been com- poetry has very often been shaped by the Akseli Gallen-Kallela, posed not in some distant antiquity but in political predisposition of the scholar hold- 1896. Courtesy of the Em- bassy of Finland, Washing- the 1800s at Lonnrot's work table.= The ing the mirror, I raised the hair on the backs ton, D.C. Finnish popular press responded to this at- of several Finnish necks. tack on the integrity of the Kalevala an- Writing about the Kalevala as a for- grily. An editorial writer in Uusi Suometar, eigner, I certainly have no desire to sin a leading nationalist newspaper, declared: against the Holy Ghost, to deprive the Finns of any honor which is justly theirs, or to That scientist [Wiklundj who serves Upp- stir anyone to anger. I would like instead, sala University, [and) who in his two pub- first, to pay brief tribute to what I consider lications has particularly wanted to oppress the uncontestable contributions of Elias the Finns, knows well how to serve other than scientific ends. And now the sourness Lonnrot and his epic and, second, to reas- he has sown is spreading in Germanyit sess criticisms I have made earlier of the has already pretty well poisoned Scandi- Finns and, where possible, to apply these navia;it will movefrom Germany to France, criticisms now to the United States. As Elli to England, and so on; and in a few years 'Congas Maranda has noted, speaking of my no foreigner will any longer believe that the Finnish nation has its own national epic. work, "It is easier to criticize one's col- But that must not happen! Dr. Wik- leagues in a far-away country than it is to lund's doctrine offends the national self criticize colleagues closer to home, or one- consciousness of every Finn. It damages self."7 In what follows I will focus on col- those good opinions which the educated in leagues closer to home, and on myself. Hence foreign lands hold about our people. There- the title of this essay. What I am repenting fore, our scientific and professional men must pick up the pen and prove this "Wik- of, and why that repentance is only partial, lundism" to be without doubt a fabricated will, I hope, become clear as I proceed. scientific lie.3

Wiklund's sin, in my opinion, was not so much that he had questioned the authenticity of the Kalevala, but that he had done so as a foreigner. Finns might quarrel among But first, my tribute to theKalevala: themselves about the nature of the Kale- Perhaps the greatest conolution of the epic vala, but foreigners were supposed to ad- has been its impact on Finnish cultural mire and praise the work. awareness and national identity and on the I have had some experience in this area country's movement toward independence. myself. When I published Folklore and Na- At the beginning of the nineteenth century, tionalism in Modern Finland,4 I was soon Finland faced an uncertain future. Lacking taken to task for saying what I had heard the binding ties of a common language, a Finnish scholars say with impunity. For ex- national literature, and a recognized his- ample, in 1914 Kaarle Krohn abandoned tory, the Finns were ill-prepared to face the his mythological interpretation of Finnish century of attempted Russification of their epic poetry and began to view the heroes country that lay ahead. Then in the 1820s, of the poetry as historical figures who had under the influence of Romanti.: ideals de- once walked as free men on free Finnish veloping in the land, Elias Lonnrot began soil and had with the sword won fame and the fc-qk poetry collecting expeditions that honor for the fatherland.5 When Jouko would eventually help reverse these circum- Hautala, in his history of Finnish folklore stam.c.s and give the Finns sorely needed faith scholarship,pointedout thatKrohn's in themselves and hope for their future. changed view was motivated in part by the On the basis of information contained in politically charged spirit of the time,6 no the poems he had collected, Unnrot began

84 Folklife Annual 198682 gradually to develop in his mind a picture of Julius Krohn, pronounced three decades of a noble Finnish antiquity, a vision of two earlier: great nationsKalevala and Pohjolaof renowned Finnish heroesVainamoinen, Let us imagine a poor, unknown boy raised llmarinen, Lemminkainenand of their fa- in the wilderness, who steps out into the mous deeds. Using lines drawn from the world with a burning desire to take part in poems, almost as one uses words drawn mankind's great battle for the promotion of everything beautiful, good, and noble. from his own language, Lonnrot stitched But all look at him with amazement, laugh together a poetic narrative which brought at his unfamiliar movement, ask with scorn his own romantic vision of the past to the who he is that he imagines himself able to awareness of his countrymen and gave them stand beside so many high-born and expe- in the process a priceless possession, a na- rienced heroes and [ask] how he can prove his ability [to perform] such great tasks. And tional epic.8 then a good spirit suddenly puts in his hand What Lonnrot did was create poems sim- a beautiful, brightly sparkling sword, a leg- ilar to what he imagined the poets of an- acy of his father, at the same time an un- cient Finland had once sung. He never questionable witness of his royal lineage and claimed that he had reconstructed the orig- a powerful weapon for his own future he- inal poems nor that from fragmented parts roic deeds. And ...[then] the scorn and laughter change to respect [and] fascina- he had restored to the people a once unified tion, and the young man himself feels his epic whole. But his enthusiastic country- shyness giving way to hopeful bravery. Let men, seeking grist for their romantic-na- us pcture all this; only then can we fully tionalistic milts, believed he hada belief know what kind of gift Lonnrot has given that persisted among scholars for several his people in the Kalevala.1° decades and among the general populace well into this century. The Kalevala thus The second major contribution of the became the charter for the burgeoning na- Kalevala has been its influence on the de- tionalistic movement, providing impetus, as velopment of folklore scholarship. Imme- Lauri Honko has noted, for a wide variety diately following the publication of the epic, of activities: collecting efforts waned somewhat. But when questions of the authenticity of Lorin- It cannot be denied that particularly in the rot's work began to surface, collectors took spheres of political history...[the Kale- to the field again, this time in search of the vala's] impact has been greatto say noth- evidence that would exonerate Lonnrot. And ing of the fact that it was strongly influen- tial in virtually all areas of science, that it thus began the collecting efforts that have gave birth to new branches of science, that continued to the present. The results have it enriched the Finnish language and laid been, first, the establishment of one of the the foundation stone for Fhmish literature, world's largest, and certainly one of the best, and, finally, that for the first time it drew folklore archives; second, the publication the name of Finland on the world map. An from 1908 to 1948 of Suomen kansan van- epic and only an epic could achieve this [it could not have been achieved] by even hat nowt (The Ancient Poems of the Fin- the best of some other form of folklore nish People), a thirty-three-volume collec- publication.9 tion of genuine folk poetry that speaks more eloquently of the Finnish people's spiritual No one can know, of course, what might and intellectual heritage than the Kalevala have happened had Lonnrot not published ever could; and, third, the development of the Kalevala. What does seem clear is that an internationally recognize(' method of the epic ^nd the cultural and artistic works folklore research. based on it contributed significantly to me As (rly as the late 1700s, Lonmot's pre- national self-awareness that made it possi- cursor Henrik Gabriel Porthan had noted ble for Finland to take advantage of unset- "that by comparing the differing variants tled world conditions in 1917 and to be- [of poems] with each other, one can restore come an independent nation. At that time them to a more perfect and more suitable the Finns might have well recalled the words form."" As the collecting efforts in the sec-

Partial Repentance of a Critic83 and half of the nineteenth century brought particularly at the troubled period follow- in an increasing number of variants, schol- ing Finnish independence between the two ars like A. A. Borenius and Julius and Kaarle world wars. I did not like what I saw. In Krohn put Porthan's suggestion to the test my judgment, during those years both Fin- as they attempted to discover the age, ori- nish nationalism and the folklore study that gin, and distribution paths of the poems. In supported it in some instances shifted to- the process they developed the historical- ward extremism. Briefly, the criticisms of geographical, or Finnish, method which for this era I eventually published were three- decades dominated scholarship in Finland fold: first, that Finnish scholars knew per- and in the folklore world in general)'- To- fectly well that the Kalevala was an epic day the method has fallen from favor, as created by Liinnrot but in their patriotic researchers have sought answers to differ- utterances to the general public often kept ent kinds of questions. Still, we cannot alive the romantic view that the Kalevala gainsay the contribution of the method to was a folk epic sprung from the heart and the development of our discipline; it was soul of the Finnish people and therefore re- the Finnish method that gave scientific revealing best what it really meant to be a spectability to subsequent folklore study. Finn; _econd, that these same scholars tended A third contribution of Lonnrot and his at times to be patrie s first and scholars followers was a self-sacrificing devotion to second and therefore reached politically ex- duty that could serve as a model for us all. pedient research conclusions; and third, that I think, for example, of the y1/4,ung Daniel some scholars and a host of propagandists Europaeus, the great collector of Karelian used the Kalevala and the images of the and Ingrian poetry. When a friend wrote past they found reflected there to rally peo- urging Europaeus to put aside his collecting ple to the political causes they espoused. and return to the university, he replied: "It Lying behind these criticisms was my un- would be wrong to put off to some indefi- stated assumption that the world is best nite time the work [of collecting], particu- served when the scholar remains in his study larly now when there is a desire in my blood and does not soil his hands with what Eu- that will grant no rest until its demands ropeans today might call folklorisnzus and have been met."13 Most of all, I think of what Americans would call applied folk- Lonnrot himself. During his lifetime, Lonn- lore or public-sector folklore. Folkloris- rot made elevencollecting expeditions, mus, or "folklorism," briefly stated, is the traveled some thirteen thousand miles, much process through which authentic folklore is of the time on foot and in backwoods areas, drawn from the social settings in which it and collected sixty-five thousand lines of naturally occurs and then is presented, or poetry. In 1835, with the first edition of the performed, in a variety of different settings Kalevala finally completed, he wrote to the to satisfy political, economic, religious, en- chairman of the Finnish Literature Society tertainment, educational, or artistic ends. these simple and revealing words: "A lot of Today, ten years after publishing my book work these poems have been, but I'm not and, I hope, ten years wiser, I still do not sorry, if they are at last suitable."" like what happened in Finland in the 1920s and 1930s. But I have come to hold a less judgmental view, and I have learned that what I observed in Finland is in many ways not so different ffom what exists in my own hen I first 5egan to study the inter- country. relationship of folklore studies and na- it did not take me long after publishing tional aspirations in Finland, I intended to thz brnk to realize that probably no one focus primarily on the nineteenth cc itury, writes free from political ideology, myself on the very praiseworthy contributions included. The distaste I had felt for the ex- folklore study had made toward Finnish cessive Finnish nationalism of the interwar culturalandevenpoliticalindepend- period was surely heightened by what I be- ence. Almost as an afterthought, I decided lieved to be an excessive American nation- to look briefly at the twentieth century, alism that had led to American imperialism

Folklife Annual 198684 E G in Southeast Asia. And this belief probably sonian Institution. Perhaps most important, influenced my writing. I did most of my the number of state folk arts coordinators research during the late 1960s, when Amer- has continued to increase. Some forty states ican activity in Vietnam was escalating. Each now have coordinators, all of whom are morning, as I carne to my desk in the eth- engaged in public folklore work. nological library of the Finnish Literature Equally remarkable, for me at least, has Society, my good friend Matti Sarmela been my own involvement in public folk- would greet me with the question, "No, mi- lore activities. In 1971 I voted against the tenka Vietnamissa menee?" (Well, how are applied folklore proposal. In an article pub- things going in Vietnam?) Never able to lished in 1975, I wrote: come up with a defense for what seemed to me an indefensible policy, i would turn to the books laid out on my desk and read in Should the folklorist be content simply to study the folk and their lore, or should he them statements that seemed equally inde- use his research to bring about social, po- fensiblepatriotic, rhetorical statements in litical, economic, or religious change? Should which Finnish scholar-patriots, using the he use the lore he collects and studies only Kalevala as their historical justification, ar- to increase our affiderstanding of and sym- gued for a militaristic posture and an ex- pathy for the human condition, or should pansionist foreign policy. I find those state- he attempt to use that lore to hut rove the lives of the people?... My own view isthat ments no more palatable today than I did the folklorist's best course lies in always then, but I have come to see them in a little being a scholar first and a patriot or special less sinister light and realize that in many pleader secondnot because the cause one instances they were made by men and pleads is not worthy, but because his duty women motivated by a genuine and heart- to it too easily clouds his vision and allows him to see only that which serves his ideo- felt concern for their ethnic kinsmen on the logical ends.I6 Soviet side of the border. One reason why it was relatively easy for me to scorn applied folklore when I did my I had scarcely sent these words to the research was that in the United States work printer when some ironical god decided to in applied and public folklore was only be- change my life. Early in 1976, the same year ginning and was generally seen in negative my book on folklore and nationalism in terms. In 1971, for example, in the Amer- Finland was published, I received a call from ican Folklore Society's annual meeting in Suzi Jones asking me to locate Utah folk Washington, a proposal was put forth to artists and crafts people to perform in the set up an applied folklore section of the Bicentennial Festival of American Folklife society. The proposal was defeated. From in Washington. My life has never again been that time to the present, in what Richard the same. Since 1976 I have received two Dorson called a "folklore boom,"15 there grants from the National Endowment for has been a remarkable turnaround. As early the Arts to find local folk artists and present as 1967 the Smithsonian Institution began them in folk festivals; I have worked on its annual Festival of American Folk life, and several projects for the American Folklife the same year the first state folklorist was Center; I have served three years on the hired in Pennsylvania to develop and co- Folk Arts Panel of the National Endow- ord'nate public programs. But the big push ment for the Arts, and a fourth year as its came in the 1970s. In 1974 the Folk Arts chairman; I serve currently at; chairman of Program was added to the National En- the Utah Folklife Center and on the board dowment for the Arts, and federal money of directors of the Utah Arts Council; I am was thus made available throughout the on the American Folklore Society's Centen- country for a wide range of public folklore nial Coordinating Committee, whose task activities; in 1976 the American Folk life is to plan a year-long celebration of the so- Center was created with the passage in .tv and of American folklore; and I have Congress of the American Folk life Preser- done more consulting on public folklore vation Act; and in 1977 the Office of Folk- projects than I care to remember. life Programs was established at the Smith- Through this work, I have come to be-

8'; Partial Repentance of a Critic85 lieve that the statement I made in 1975 is profit. I have come to believe, therefore, that wrong. What one should be first and fore- since applied folklore, like it or not, is going Bur lon Craig demonstrates his skill as a potter at the most is not necessarily a scholar, a patriot, to remain part of the American folklore Smithsonian's Festival of or a special pleaderbut a human being suite, professional folklorists have an ob- American Fo &life on the who responds humanely and sympatheti- ligation to enter the arena, to make sure Mall in Washington, D.C. cally to the needs of other human beings: that work done is the very best possible and Mr. Craig was awarded a the need to take pride in one's heritage, the that the picture presented the public is as National Heritage Fellow- need to find value in and recognition for ship by the Folk Arts Pro- accurate as it can be. gram of the National En- creative and artistic achievement, the need This is not to say that I have not on oc- dowment for the Arts in to keep alive and to pass on to others the casion had to sacrifice my purist principles 1984. Photograph by Dane traditions that will enrich their lives. I ha% e or make compromises that have come back Penland. Copyright C.' also learned that there are a lot of charla- to haunt my night hours. Indeed, after Smithsonian Institution tans in our field, people who will traffic working all day on the Folk Arts Panel and 1981 with these needs for their own pleasure and awarding a variety of public folklore grants,

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Folklik Annual 198686 68 I have sometimes come back to my hotel Question 2: How do we pull folklore from and lain awake wondering if we should have its context, as we do in almost every public awarded any grants at all. And it has cer- presentation of folklore, and still give the tainly seemed to me that there are some public a fair notion of what folklore is? In issues those of us in public folklore should a recent publication, Matti Kuusi, speaking struggle with more directly. We get so in- against those who "still look to Lonnrot's volved in the work that we forget to stand epic as a source of information about an- aside now and then and ask some questions cient Finnish poetry," said, "the results are about what we are doing. On the basis of as reliable as if Liszt were used as a primary my earlier study of folklore pursuits in Fin- source for research into Hungarian folk land and my ten years' work in public folk- music."18 I often wonder if American folklore, here are some questions I would ask: lore, separated from the context which gives it life and meaning, and presented on the Question 1: Who speaks for folklore? This concert stage, at a folk festival, or in a mu- is the question Richard Dorson asked dur- seum display, gives a picture of American ing the debates over applied folklore. It is tradition any more accurate than Lonnrot's still a good question today. In Finland dur- Kalevala gives of Finnish folk poetry. We ing the 1920s and 1930s, as I have pointed use these presentations to awaken public out, the political right, using the Kalevala interest in folklore, to strengthen identity, as part of their argument, advocated build- or to build pride in heritage; but, as most ing a strong military machine and expand- folklorists will know, we awaken public in- ing Finland's borders to include the song terest and build pride in something that does lands across the Soviet border from which not in fact exist, except on the performance Lonnrot and others had collected the old stage or at the festival. This does not strike poems. The political left, using the same me as too different from Finnish scholars Kalevala, argued for the creation of a also to strengthen identity and build pride workers' paradise, a classless, communistic in heritagehelping keep alive among the society. And each side made vitriolic attack general populace an image of the Kalevala on the other. as a mirror of the ancient Finnish spirit In this country the issues have perhaps which the scholars themselves knew was not been less dramatic but nevertheless just as accurate. real. In 1978, when the Department of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers Question 3: Are we sufficiently aware of asked the American Folk life Center to con- the ideologica! or value systems that shape duct a folklore project that would mitigate our public folklore work? Most people per- the cultural damage resulting from the ceive the past in terms meaningful to them Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Project, in the present. Thus Lonnrot saw in the old American folklorists lined up on each side Finnish poems a glorious Finnish past that of the issue. Former allies spoke hot words would give his countrymen, struggling to- against each other, and to rrner supporters ward national awareness, a model for fu- of the center threatened to withdraw their ture national development. Other Finns with support. In 1984, when the American Folk- other dreams have found in the Kalevala lore Society, in its informational booklet, historical justification for other hopes and published a statement on organizational aspirations. folklore,I7 some members of the society, Don't we do the same thing? Archaeol- claiming that research in organizational ogist Mark Leone, speaking of living his- folklore would provide management with tory exhibits, states: information that could be used against labor, charged the society with unethical be- As visitor you take all this folklore and this havior. It is fine to argue for applied folk- symbol mongering and imagine yourself to be the native of Williamsburg or Mesa lore, but what happens when that lore is Verde....And because the data are rela- applied to ends some of us don't !ike? Who tively mute...,they are then more easily speaks for folklore? made to give the message of those doing

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O the reconstructing....The tourist [at Wil- he would use Finnish proverbs to identify The Ana Martinez fla- liamsburg] does not really become im- menco dancers performed the Finnish national character and to cast mersed in the eighteenth century at all; he in September 1985 on the it in sharp relief. is spared the shock of the filth, degradation, Neptune Plaza in front of and misery common to that era, and is led In America our focus is not so much on the Thomas Jefferson into a fake eighteenth century, a creation the national character but rather on the Building of the Library of of the twentieth. While in this altered frame character of the different groups that make Congress, with the dome of mind he is faced with messagesthe re- of the U.S. Capitol in the up our pluralistic society; however, the at- inforcementofmodern American values like background. Part of the tempt to discover the uniqueness of the those surrounding the myths of our own group is closely parallel to the attempt to celebration of Hispanic origin as a nationthat come out of today, Heritage Week, the pro- not two centuries ago.19 discover the uniqueness of the Finnish na- gram was one of a series tion. Thus the brochure for the Folk Arts of outdoor events spon- Program of the National Endowment for sored by the American Archaeology in the service of national goals Folklife Center and held is not particularly offensive, says Leone, but the Arts states: "The folk and traditional throughout the summer what is offensive "is the areleologists' un- arts have grown through time within the months on the plaza. Li- awareness of this function."2° Leone was many groups that make up any nation brary of Congress photo- groups that share the same ethnic heritage, graph by Reid Baker speaking of living history presentations, but what he says applies equally well to public language, occupation,religionorgeo- presentations of contemporary folklore. graphic area. The homegrown traditional Again, I ask the question: How aware are artistic activities of such groups are some- we public folklorists (and I include myself times called folk arts, and they serve both in the group) of the ideological values that to identify and to symbolize the group that inform our work? When I did field work originated them."22 for the American Folklife Center in Para- There is nothing wrong with either Kuusi's dise Valley, Nevada, I soon discovered a statement or the statement in the Folk Arts number of cracks in paradise. I was told by Panel brochure. They fall squarely in the my supervisor that if I included negative center of mainline folklore study. But it statements in my report, he would edit them seems to me there are better approaches to out. We cannot, he said, give negative take. Instead of focusing on what makes us impressions in a study funded by the public different from each other, why not stress and made available to the public, including that which unites us. In Folklife Center the people of Paradise Valley. In our public News, Alan Jabbour said that "our profes- presentations of folkloreitis common sional field has tilted too far in rerent years practice, I believe, to focus on the positive, towardemphasizingtheethnographic on the smiling aspects, of traditional cul- present and stressing the group-factor over ture and to "edit out" the rest. When we the time-factor in tradition."23 I agree. The do so, what are the messages we are giving? great value of the Kalevala is that it illu- It is time, I think, to stand aside and take minates not just the Finnish spirit but also a calm, detached look at the ends we are the human spirit. Like all good literature it serving. Good intentions do not always bring confronts again and again those enduring good resultsin Finland or in the United human problems with which human beings States. have always struggled. For me, the great value of folklore is that it does the same thingthat's why folklore is essentially a Question 4: In our presentations of folk- humanistic discipline. When we focus our lore, have we put too much emphasis on attention primarily on what it means to be the particular groups that keep the lore alive? a Finn or on what it means to be a member In the introduction to a book on Finnish of a particular American ethnic, occupa- proverbs, Matti Kuusi once wrote: "What tional, religious, or regional group, we limit kind of people actually are we? What is the our vision and miss that which is most im- Finnish national character?" He continued: portant in what we study. "There really is something that separates us I am convinced that we generate and from Italians, Americans, Russians, even transmit folklore not because we belong to from the Swedes."23 He then explained that a particular nation or to a particular group

Partial Repentance of a Critic89 91 but because we are human beings coming larly as I have struggled with some of the to terms with recurring human problei'in same problems in my own work. Perhaps traditional human ways. To be sure, this if Elias Li nnrot were to return for amo- folklore is expressed in and is given color ment and look at the problems still facing by the groups to wh',-11 we belong; it call us, he would give no advice to help us find serve, therefore, as a means of understand- our way but, with considerable sympathy, ing and increasing our sympathy for these would simply recite again the words with groups. But the source of the lore, we should which he closed his epic: always remember, lies not in the groups, Tlingit dancers front the not in our differences, but in our common humanity, in our common human struggle Siitapa nyt tie menevi, village of Angoon, Alaska, Ura uusi urkenevi to endure. perform during "Celebra- Laajemmille laulajoille, tion 84," a biennial event My repentance, then, is partial but not Runsahammille runoille sponsored by the Sealaska complete. Istill greatly admire both the Nuorisossa nousevassa, Heritage Foundation. The Kalevala and its creator, Elias Lonnrot. I Kansassa kasuavassa. Traditional Native Arts Program at the Alaska still admire the work of Finns who created State Council on the Arts almost an entire artistic culture on the basis From here now the road goes on, prompted the first celebra- of the Kalevala. I still look askance at the A new path opens up tion in 1982 by providing For more capable singers, political uses made of the Kalevala in the For more abundant songs seed money for the pro- 1920s and 1930s. But I have come to view duction of a regional event Among the rising youth, that would promote tradi- these years more sympathetically, particu- Among the growing generation. tional Native dance in southeast Alaska. Since NOTES 1980 the program has directly supported and en- 1. Eino Lento, "Kansallisviikko: Kalevala jolt- Martti Haavio (Porvoo, 1949), 248. couraged the development totahtena," Sunnuntai, February 25, 1917, pp. 11. Henrik Gabriel Porthan, Suomalatsesta and preservation of Alas- 1 -2. runoudesta, in Henrik Gabriel Porthanin tut- ka's traditional Natwe 2. See K. B. Wiklund, Kalevala: Fin- kimuksia, vol.1of Suomalaisuuden syntysa- arts. Photograph by Surt names nationalepos, och forskn:ngarna rorande noja, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toi- Jones, Alaska State Coun- detsamma, Foreningen Heimdals Folkskrifter, no. miriksia, no. 105 (Helsinki, 1904), 99-100. 71 (Stockholm, 1901). 12. For a discussion of the Finnish school, see cil on the Arts 3."Kalevala-tutkimuksentulokset,"Uusi Hautala, 62-171. Suometar, November 6, 1901, p. 2. 13. A. R. Niemi, ed., D.E.D. Europaeuksen 4. Wii!iam A. Wilson, Folklore and Nation- kirjeitd ja matkakertomuksia, Suomi, 4th ser., alism in Modern Finland (Bloomington: Indiana vol. 3, no 1 (Helsinki, 1905), 97. University Press, 1976). 14. Letter to C. N. Keckman, February 6, 1835, 5. Kaarle Krohn, "Kaleva and seine Sippe," cited in Kaukonen, 59. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seurat: Aikakauskirja 30, 15. Richard M. Dorson, "The Folklore Boom," o. 35 (1914). Krohn developed these ideas in Journal of the Folklore Institute 12 (1975): 152. full four years later in Ka/eva/ankysymyksiii: 16. William A. Wilson, "The Kalevala and Opas kansan vanhojen runojen tilaajille kayt- ish Politics," Journal of the Folklore Insti- tajille yi:a suomalaisen kansanrunojen opiske- tute 12 (1975): 152. lijoille ja harrastajille, 2 vols., special issues of 17. American Folklore Society, "Folklore and Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Atkakauskirja 35- Organizational Life," Folklore/Folklife (Wash- 36 (1918). ington, 1984), 14. 6. See Jouko Hautala, Finnish Folklore Re- 18. Matti Komi, "Introduction," Finnish Folk search 1828-1919 (Helsinki, 1969), 117, 134, Poetry, Epic: An Anthology in Finnish and 140. English, ed. Matti Kuusi, Keith Bosley, Michael 7. Elli Kogas Maranda, "Review of Folklore Branch (Pelsinki, 1977), 32. and Nationalism in Modern Finland," Western 19. Mark P. Leone, "Archeology as the Sci- Folklore 37 (1978): 66. ence of Technology: Mormon Town Plans and 8. The best treatment of Liinnrot's composi- Fences," in Research and Theory in Current Ar- tion of the Kalevala is Vainii Kaukonen, cheology, ed. Charles L. Redman (New York: rot ja Kalevala (Helsinki, 1979). John Wiley 8. Sons, 1973), 130-131. 9. Lauri Honko, "Suomalainen kansallisee- 20. Ibid., 133. pos," Seulottua sanaa: Kirjoituksia sanataiteen, 21. Matti Kuusi, Vanban kansan sananlas- ja kansanperinteen alalta, Suomalaisen kuviisaus (Helsinki, 1953), v. Kirjal!isuuden Seuran Toimituksia, no. 269 22. National Endowment for the Arts, Folk (Helsinki, 1960), 209. Arts 85/86 (Washington, 1985), 1. 10. Cited in Martti Haavio, "Kalevalakultti," 23. Alan Jabbour, "Director's Column," in Kalevala kansallinen aarre: Kirjoitelinia kan- FolklifeCenter News 7,no. 4 (October- salliseepoksen vaiheilta, ed. F. A. Hastesko and December 1984): 3.

Folklife Annual 198690 't ope:a_

93 Partial Repentance of a Critic 91 Immigrant to Ethnic Symbols of Identity Among Finnish-Americans BY YVONNE HIIPAKKA LOCKWOOD

The United States is a country of many ethnic groups, each of which has maintained its separate identity. These communities, however, are not identical to ones in their countries of origin and, like all culture, are in a constant state of change. Sub- sequent to the resettlement period in this country, and in fact even during immigration, new settlers were influenced in many ways that resulted in a change from immigrant to ethnic status. The Finns, for example, were no longer Finns nor were they Americans, but rather they were Finnish- Americans. Ethnicity and ethnic identity are topics that have occupied the attention of scholars for almost two decades, and folklorists have Sauna of log construction examined how traditions of ethnic groups in the Upper Peninsula. are a gauge of acculturation and culture Photograph courtesy of the maintenance and how folklore is used to Folk Arts Division, Michi- differentiate one group from another. Spe- gan State University Mu- seum Copyright 0 Yvonne Hiipakka Lockwood 1986

92 94 Folk life Annual 1986 4:.

:95 Immigrant to Ethnic93 A sauna in Michigan's Up- per Peninsula. Especially in rural areas, the sauna tefids to be a separate building located behind or to the side of a house, and the siding on the sauna often matches the siding on the house. Photograph by Yvonne Lockwood

Folklife Annual 198694 cific traditional culture traits often repre- Because of the sauna's traditional asso- sent different stages of acculturation and ciations with the life cycle, it is not sur- degrees of cultural maintenance. Sauna, prising that during the period of immigra- pasty, and St. Urho are markers of Finnish- tion and resettlement, the 5tsr building American ethnic boundaries, and individ- constructed was often a sauna. It was here uals identify themselves and are identified that mothers gave birth, boys and girls by others as Finnish-American according to bathed in preparation for marriage, and their participation in these cultural forms elders were prepared for burial. The sauna of expression. The Kalevala, on the other provided a sense of order and stability in hand, is a part of Finnish national culture; the disrupted lives of immigrants, but Finns but during the sesquicentennial year of the in the United States quickly became aware publication of this epic, questions have been of how others perceived sauna behavior. raised about its role in Finnish-American Because Finns rolled in the snow, jumped culture. into icy lakes and rivers, or at the very least stood naked outside the sauna to cool down, non-Finns were suspicious and reported to local authorities that the newcomers wor- shipped pagan gods and performed dances here has never been a question about while naked outside their strange log houses. sauna, the Finnish hot air bathoften called This association, although no longer re- steam bath in colloquial English (the term garded as religiously motivated, still con- refers both to the place where one bathes tributes to a certain stereotype of tough and and to the act of bathing): sauna is one of gutsy Finns, as well as to an awareness by the most common and essential expressions Finnish-Americans of their own unique- of Finnish-American culture. ness.

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Hilda Hellen in front of her sauna, Gogebic County, Michigan, 1931. Photograph by Yvonne Lockwood

97 Immigrant to Ethnic95 .; A

Above: Lauri Lipponen at the door of a sauna dressing room with a homemade sauna dipper. Photo- graph courtesy of the Folk Arts Division, Michigan State University Museum

Above right: The interior of a sauna in the Upper Peninsula. Photograph courtesy of the Folk Arts Division, Michigan State University Museum

Below right: Interior of sauna in Kaleva, Michigan, 1985. Photograph by Yvonne Lockwood

Folklife Annual 198696 98 Associations with life cycle events and rites indenselypopulatedFinnish-American of passage are seldom linked to sauna to- communities has not waned. Despite show- day. However, Finnish-Americans believe ers and bathtubs, individuals sauna often that sauna bathing transforms situations of and regularly. And one sees along lake- disorder to orderfor example,it can shores a growing number of save saunas, change illness to health, drunkenness to so- romanticized smoke bath houses of the im- briety, anger to calm, and weakness to migrant generation. In areas where there strength. In cases of illness and drunken- are fewer Finnish-Americans, sauna is ex- ness, for example, sauna is the recom- periencing a revival and is also being ac- mended folk remedy. The degree to which cepted by other Americans. But there it is such a transformation is merely psycholog- usually not an integrated part of the regular ical and temporary is not relevant. Rather, pattern of liferather it is a special enter- the point is that the belief in the magic of tainment and an act of self-conscious Fin- the sauna is widespread, and to particinate nishness. in sauna is the Finnish way to restore o. Ler. Sauna also provides the context for learning about other aspects of the Finnish worldview. As in many cultures, adults are the agents of social order. In the sauna, hereas sauna is a Finnish cultural adults teach young children values and at- transplant, the eating of pasty is a cultural titudes about health, cleanliness, morals, and trait adopted from another ethnic group, behavior. Thus sauna, as a place and as an the Cornish. The pasty is a turnover of pie- enactment, is important in the encultura- like crust filled with a variety of food com- tion of Finnish-American children. binations. Wherever else the Cornish set- There has been a proliferation of saunas tled, the pasty is regarded as a Cornish in the western world since the 1950s, and specialty. What is called a Cornish pasty they can be found in most urban centers of elsewhere is an Upper Peninsula pasty in the United States. In Detroit, for example, Michigan, for pasty's symbolic meaning one sees Bangkok Sauna, Pancho's Siesta changed from ethnic to multiethnic and fi- Sauna, and Japanese Sauna, and there are nally to regional. But pasty is often re- also those found in motels, hotels, and garded as Finnish, and the explanation can physical fitness centers. From the perspec- be found in the history of the region. tive of Finnish-Americans, however, these After Michigan gained statehood in 1837, are not real saunas: the users talk too loudly, the state's Upper Peninsula experienced the wear bathing suits, and in general behave first major mining boom in the United improperly. Moreover, these places are not Stateseven before the gold rushand early hot enough. Cornish immigrants played a major role. The adoption of saunas by the main- Arriving in the United States with deep- stream American culture has strengthened mining techniques and experience, they set a conscious association with sauna among the pattern of mine work in the Upper Pe- Finnish-Americans,wherebythesocial ninsula. By the time of mass migration at function of the Finnish-American sauna has the end of the nineteenth and the beginning become the manifestation and reassertion of the twentieth centuries, the Cornish were of Finnish-American ethnic identity. But it well-establishedinthe mines as skilled is important to distinguish between the role workers, foremen, and mining captains. The of sauna in areas of dense Finnish-Ameri- later immigrants (Finns,Italians,Poles, can population, such as the Lake Superior Croats, and Serbs) provided the unskilled region of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Min- labor. The Cornish also established the pat- nesota (where approximately 80 percent of terns of social and cultural life, and new the Finns have saunas), and in areas where immigrants looked upon the Cornish as es- Finnish-Americans are not numerous and tablished Americans. They had status and are, perhaps, more assimilated into main- their lives became models for what was re- stream American culture. The role of sauna garded as American life.

99 Immigrant to Ethnic97 Cultural geographers and anthropolo- immigrants went to work. In the Upper Pe- gists have argued that in the United States ninsula the influence of earlier immigrants the first European or American white pop- on the emerging ethnic culture is most ap- ulation to establish itself in an area usually parent in the pasty. defines the cultural patterns of the region. The pasty is the national dish of Corn- In Michigan the earlier immigrants of wall, and it continues to play an important northern Europe sometimes established the role in the diet of Cornish-Americans wher- cultural patterns adopted by the later-arriv- ever they settled. It was quickly adopted by ing immigrants from southern and eastern newer immigrants who worked with the Europe. It was their neighborhoods into Cornish in the mines of the Upper Penin- which new immigrants settled, and they who sula. Not just a recipe but an entire cultural were most likely to be the foremen and su- complex passed from individual to individ- pervisors in the mills and mines where the ual and from one ethnic group to another:

Right: cizzlandia Bakery and Restaurant in Mar- quette, Michigan, where pasty is a specialty. Photo- graph courtesy of the Folk Arts Division, Michigan State University Museuni

Opposite page, above: Making pasties. Photo- graph by Yvonne Lock- wood. ------Opposite page, below: Maxine Tarvin, a former Upper Peninsula resident who now lives in Ohio, in her kitchen with a tray of pasties. Photograph by Yvonne Lockwood

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160 the uses, the way of eating, the practice of marking individual pasties, and so on. The particular use of the Cornish pasty was an important reason for its being so readily adopted by members of the other ethnic groups in the Upper Peninsula. Both in Cornwall and among Cornish-Ameri- cans, the pasty was traditionally associated with work and, in particular, with mining. A pasty is easily carried in a pail or spe- cially made sack, it retains its heat for a long time, it is eaten with the hands, and it makes a hearty meal by itself. Little wonder that the Finns, Italians, and Slays who saw their Cornish foreman eating pasty soon were demanding it for themselves. The Cornish, however, are a relatively small component of the Upper Peninsula. The first of the more predominant immigrants, the Finns, began to arrive in 1864, well after the main Cornish immigration but thirty years before the massive Finnish immigration. By 1880 foreign-born Finns numbered over one thousand. It probably was from these earlier Finnish immigrants, rather than from the Cornish themselves, that later Finnish arrivals adopted the pasty. ONIIMENIENN 0. Some Finnish immigrants may have had their first experience with certain regional dishes of Finland in the American context. For example, piiraat and kukko resemble pasty. The existence in Finland of this similar food may have meant easier adoption :464;i Wet. ,avient /.. of the pasty in the Michigan context, How, for example, was a newly arrived Finn to know that the pasty in the lunchpail of a fellow countryman who arrived some thirty years before was not merely a regional val.:- ant of food in Finland that he was already familiar with? In this way many Finns came to believe that pasty was a Finnish food. Because of education and mass media, the pasty is known in the Upper Peninsula to be of Cornish origin. But its popular association with Finns cannot be totally ignored. For example, Raymond Sokolov, a former Michigan resident and ethnoculi- nary journalist, writes of the "Finnish fla- vor" of the pasty. Among some Upper Pe- ninsula Finns themselves, the pastyis regarded as Finnish food. This belief is per- petuated by family tradition, Finnish "ethnic" church suppers, and annual Finnish

101 Immigrant to Ethnic99 ...

Jean Kay holds a tray of pasties, Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1981. Photo- ...e.. graph by William G. Lockwood

traditional celebrations, where pasty is a we know the role, if any, it played in the featured Finnish specialty. In addition to lives of Finnish immigrants. What we do the historical role of the Finns in the dif- know is that new arrivals faced intellectual fusion of the pasty and the existence of a racism and political oppression in their new similar food in Finland, the Finnish asso- homeland that was fueled by a growing na- ciation is further reinforced by the predom- tivism among the established citizens. Op- inance of Finns in the Upper Peninsula. Here, pressed from without, the Finnish com- then, is an example of cultural influences munity was also polarized within by a rivalry melting and mixing to shape a culture trait. between the white Finns(conservative, Pasty is transformed from a monoethnic bourgeois, and church-oriented) and the red (Cornish) food to a multiethnic food, and Finns (left-wing socialists and later com- concurrently to a regional specialty. munists). Finns found strength and comfort inorganizations suchascooperatives, workmen's circles, temperance societies, benevolent societies, and the churchor- ganizations that often were aligned with one faction or the other. It was in the context ecause of the sesquicentennial cele- of these organizations, with their choirs, bration of the Kalevala, increased attention theater groups, and sports clubs, that Finns to this epic has raised questions about its maintained and reinforced their identity as role in Finnish-American culture and iden- Finns and as Finnish-Americans. Their dif- tity. By the time of mass migration from fering ideologies very likely influenced their Finland, the Kalevala had become the sym- attitude to the Kalevala as well. The more bol of the Finnish character and soul. It was conservative had a tendency to look to the evidence of a heroic people and proud past past for meaning and direction, whereas that was studied by school children, Other those with left leanings tended to look to than its presence in the schools, we do not the future and a new and ideal society. know its effect on average Finns. Nor do One of the early conservative organiza-

Folkhfe Annual 1986 100 102 tions in the Finnish community was the are singular examples of awareness of the Lodge of the Knights and Ladies of the Kal- Kalevala. In Michigan and Minnesota, for eva. The lodge was modeled after the secret example, one finds towns named Kaleva and society of the Masons and was created in streets named after heroes and places in the 1887 in Belt, Montana, by a small group epic. Kaleva, Michigan, was plotted in 1900 of men who were concerned about the im- by one Jacob Saari, a land developer who age Finns were projecting of themselves to advertisedthroughaFinnish-language their neighbors. Too many Finns, they be- newspaper to attract Finns already in the lieved, indulged in drinking, brawling, and United States and Canada and in Finland political struggle and held in contempt the to settle this new town. He named the town old cultural values that the organizers cher- and the streets after the Kalevala. Six two- ished as basic to Finnishness. The resulting by-eight-foot murals painted by the WPA Knights of the Kaleva saw themselves as for the public school depicted scenes from brokers of Finnish culture. Like the scholar- the Kalevala. patriots of Finland, they turned to the Kale- I once asked a sampling of individuals in vala as a reflection of the genius of Finnish Michigan about their awareness of the character, that is, wisdom, endurance, and Kalevala so as to get an indication of the bravery. Clearly the lodge founders, if not extent to which the Kalevala has or has not a product of this teaching, were influenced become part of their lives. They included by the symbolism of the Kalevala. Ph.D.'s and grade school and high school At its zenith, there were some sixty lodges graduates, activists in cultural organiza- in the United States. Today there are about tions and Finnish-American studies, indi- twenty-four. The fact that the lodge was a viduals who no longer live in Finnish com- secret organization worked against its goal munities, first generation to third generation, of unifying the community and eventually Finnish-Americanpoets,andaverage led to its own decline. According to Finns, working-class family members. In general, ministers of churches attempted to dissuade the Kalevala was known to be the national their congregations from joining the lodges, epic of Finland, a fact some learned only as and workers joined temperance societies and middle-aged adults. Only a few had read workmen's circles instead. Churches and the epic and then only in the last ten years. political organizations began to sponsor their In the case of a second-generation poet, the own summer schools and camps where Fin- epic was brought to her attention by her nish language, history, and culture were non-Finnish college professor. taught. While the Kalevala has not been impor- On the other hand, the lodge promoted tant to a great number of Finns in the United the Kalevala among its members and the States, some individuals have been inspired general public. Copies of the epic, for ex- by it and regard it as a source of culture. ample, were given to initiates, and the lodge's For example, pride in the Kalevala has been fraternal magazine, the Kalevainen,in- expressed by some in terms of its link to cluded articles and information about the Hiawatha, regarded as the epic of North Kalevala. The Kalevala was also donated America, and significantly, that part of to public and school libraries. Lodges around North America where the largest number the country have sponsored annual proof Finns settled. It is believed by some that grams that include readings from the epic Longfellow depended heavily on the Kale- and skits performed on the basis of it to vala when co nposing his epic. Such a belief commemorate the Kalevala on the anniver- has significant implications for Finnish- sary of its publication. These events are open American identity. If the Kalevala does, in to the public and even in the early decades fact, contain the truth and wisdom of Fin- were well attended by the Finnish com- nish culture, reliance on it to express the munity. However, there is no evidence that soul of another culture further validates the these annual celebrations had a significant worth of Finnish culture and of the Kale- effect on the general Finnish public. vala as an example of venerable world lit- While the epic has not been popular, there erature.

103 nunigrant to Ethnic 101 Longfellow, however, was only partially ten in the 1950s by a Finnish-American St. Urho. carved by a chamsaw sculptor after a influenced by the Ka levala. The meter of psychology professor in Minnesota. St. Urho tontest was held to luck Hiawatha is after the German adaptation is said to have saved Finland's vineyards the best image, 1Ienagha, of the Finnish, and the texts are based not from a plague of grasshoppers or frogs. As Alumesota. Photograph by on the Kalevala but on Schoolcraft's col- a joke, a small group of Finnish-Americans Ion Berquist lection of Native American legends and transformed this legend into a community myths. Longfellow did select some of these celebration of Finnish-Americanness.St. legends over others because they were sim- Urho is called the patron saint of Finnish- ilar to the Kalevala, which made structur- Americans; he is not known in Finnish tra- ing his epic easier because he too arranged dition, yet his deed of bravery is set in Fin- unlinked narrative in linear structure, a lit- land. erary license that gave unity to otherwise Over the years, activities commemorat- discrete unrelated narratives. Ultimately, ing St. Urho have expanded to fill an entire Longfellow's Hiawatha is an example of day and evening with parades, Finnish- nineteenth-century Romanticism, and the American food, toboggan and ski races, Kalevala was just a convenient model. "Finlander" joke telling, dancing to Fin- With accelerated publicity about the ses- nish-American music, drinking green beer quicentennial of theKalevala,Finnish- and grape juice, and dressing in outrageous Americans are becoming more aware of this green and purple costumes. In the Great epic and its importance in world literature. Lakes region, one sees motels, beer, bumper Finnish cultural centers are sponsoring study stickers, T-shirts, and buttons in the name circles on the Kalevala that are facilitated of St. Urho. In Minnesota a larger-than- by local college and university non-Finnish life-size sculpture commemorates this folk professors. In Finland people admire the epic hero. Fifty states have recognized March 16 greatly but read it very little;its role in as St. Urho's Day, and Finnish-Americans Finnish-American life may well take the same are now lobbying to make this day a na- course. tional holiday. The symbols for St. Urho's celebration are intentionally the same as the Irish St. Patrick's: the color green, the saint as hero, and his rescue of a country from devasta- he legend of St. Urho offers another tion. Most important, however, is the fact example of the weakness of the Kalevala that St. Urho's Day is the day before St. influence in this country. When Finnish- Patrick's Day. The manner in which festiv- Americans of Minnesota created this cul- ities are enacted is also of interest. Much tural hero, their model was not a hero from of the activity is in jest; people act silly and the Kalevala but rather St. Patrick. And St. speak in exaggerated dialect stereotypic of Urho looks more like a Finnish-American the immigrant generation. The jokes, if told Paul Bunyan than an ancient Karelian hero. by anyone other than Finnish-Americans, As details of this hero developed, legends would be ethnic slurs. explained that he was buried on the grounds Although some Finnish-Americans are of the Finn Creek Open Air Museum in outraged by the celebration and refuse to Minnesota. Unlike Vainiimoinen and heroes participate, and even some Irish- Americans of other cultures who retreat to secluded have voiced complaint, the popularity of St. places from which they will reappear when Urho's Day continues to grow. St. Urho has needed, St. Urho was not expected to reap- become a symbol of Finnish-American cul- pear. Recently, however, and possibly as ture whose celebration is intended to at- the result of increased awareness about tract attention to Finnish-Americans and to the Kalevala, a "rumor" emerged that St. differentiate their Finnishness from Anglo- Urho's bones were scattered in a river. Sup- Saxon influences. Despite its contrived or- posediy, with a bit of magic, he can be igin, the celebration and the hero have brought back to life. become traditional through collective cer- The pseudo-legend of St. Urho was writ- emony.

1G4 Po lklife Annual 1986 102

Festivals can be the context in which ethnicity is expressed symbolically. Festivals can also be an expression of the new ethnic- itythe quest for a meaningful past. It is not an indulgence in nostalgia or a romanticizing of the past, but rather a struggle for identity and a resistance against the perceived homogenization with mainstream American culture. People consciously attempt to revitalize their cultures by reestab- lishing ethnic differentiation based on cultural traits they have borrowed, inherited, reshaped, and even newly created. The festival celebration of St. Urho is just such an pry example of the new ethnicity. it becomes an a;:tidote for cultural assimilation or social alienation. Celeinations and ceremonies are ways to deaf with the past. Historically the Finnish- American community was divided between "church" and "red" Finns, divisions rooted in political and class ideology. St. Urho's celebration brings together both factions and mediates the difference between them. The celebration's license for outrageous behavior and laughter momentarily destroys the differences and allows for a new beginning. Just as the celebration has revitalized the Finnish-American community, it is also encouraging participation from other ethnics. In the Upper Peninsula, for example, an Irishman has maintained St. Urho tradition in one town for a decade by planning and f hosting the celebration. In another town, local Irish participate in the festivities dressed in shamrock green and protest St. Urho's Day in good fun. St. Urho's celebration, as collective cer- Al Jokela, with a green History cannot be ignored in the mean- emony, has certain power to propagate and beard, tells a "Finlander" ing of this event. We are reminded that in shape ideas. Not only does the celebration joke at the annual St. Ur- the mining and lumber industries of the ignite feelings of Finnishness, it also has the ho's Day celebration, north country, the English and Irish often potential to revive resentments caused by Rock, Michigan, 1981. had the better jobs, better homes, andpo- past interethnic relations. However, Irish Photograph by Jenny sitions of power, whereas Finns felt like Lancour participation seems to deflect strong nega- second-class citizens. And the pressuresto tivism. Laughter and funmaking exaggerate conform to the way of life established by the collectivity and cooperation, and the the earlier immigrants were great. Thus, St. juxtaposed symbols give a sense of unity. Urho is the Finnish-American response to St. Urho's celebration is a convergence of the Irish. By exaggerating cultural traits different traditions that reflect a stage in the designated as Finnish-American, partici- ethnic process and inform us of regional pants momentarily express freedom from history and culture. The event provides the foreign influence and stress Finnish heri- context for the performance of a variety of tage. Finnish-American traditions and sets the

106 &Mile Annual 1986 104 a

Mike Aa lto, Ruth Winkel- baiter, and Gary Wellman judging the Finnish joke- telling contest, Rock, Michigan, 1981. Behind the judges is a poster of St. Urho chasing a grasshop- per. Photograph by Jenny Lancour

Jerry Maki dressed as a frog, his wife, Sharon, dressed in purple and green colors as a cheer- leader, Mary Westlund dressed as a bunch of purple grapes, and her husband, Craig, as green grapes, St. Urbo's Day cel- ebrat ion, Rock, Michigan, 1981. Photograph by Jenny Lancour

Immigrant to Ethnic 105 107 stage for Finns to come together and pub- ferent levels. For example, the Finnish claim licly declare that they are "proud to bc Fin- to pasty will rarely be made in a context nish-Americans." when it could be argued that it is regional or Cornish. The influence of theKalevalaon Finnish- American identity is in a process of change. The recent attention to theKalevalahas fostered claims that the epic has nurtured Finnish-American values, but the evidence he legacy of the change from Finnish proves quite the oppositea very small immigrant to Finnish-American ethnic sta- proportion of the Finns in the United States tus is presented in a selection of Finnish- are (and were) familiar with this epic. But American traditions: sauna, an immigrant the publicity has generated new interest. The transplant; pasty, an adopted and adapted rhetoric of some educated leaders of the food; and St. Urho, a fictitious folk hero. community is not unlike that of nineteenth- Sauna and St. Urho are unquestionably Fin- century Finns who strove to create a sense nish-American traditions and reflect differ- of Finnish national identity. Disregarding ent degrees of acculturation and Finnish the shamanistic implications of the epic, the cultural maintenance. The ethnic associa- Finns in the United States and Canada are tion of pasty, on the other hand, is second- discovering a heroic heritage that they claim ary to that of region. Although deeply rooted as theirs. This wave of new ethnicity em- in Cornish ethnic tradition, it has become phasizes another step in the ethnic process, symbolic of the entire Upper Peninsula, as that is, an attempt to develop stronger cul- well as being adopted by and attributed to tural ties with the country of origin, per- Finnish-Americans. Despite this apparent haps at a time when the link seems weak, ambiguity, regional and ethnic identities arc by acknowledging the sharing of an ancient seldom in conflict, because they exist at dif- tradition.

FOR FURTHER READING

Before the work of Fredrik Barth, systematic an- phen Stern, "Ethnic Folklore and the Folklore thropological studies of ethnicity were not nu- of Ethnicity," Western Folklore 36, no. 1 (1977): merous. Barth focused anthropoi.ogical atten- 7-32. tion on this area of study, bringing together I wish to acknowledge the contribution of diverse ideas and establishing a foundation for William G. Lockwood to the development of the subsequent research. See Fredrik Barth, Ethnic ideas on pasty in this paper. They are more fully Croups and Boundaries (Boston: Little, Brown, developed in an article we coauthored,The 1969). For further reading on ethnicity, see Jon- Cornish Pasty in Northern Michigan," hiFood athan Okamura, "Situational Ethnicity," Ethnic in Motion: The Migration of Foodstuff's and and Racial Studies 4, no. 4 (1981): 452-65 and Cookery Techniques, ed. Alan Davidson (Leeds, Herbert Gans, "Symbolic Ethnicity: The Future England: Prospect Books, 1983), 83-94. See also of Ethnic Groups and Cultures in America," my study "The Sauna: An Expression of Fin- Ethnic and Racial Studies 2, no. 1 (1979): 1-20. nish-American Identity,"WesternFolklore 36, For an excellent overview of the subject, see Ste- no. 1 (1977): 71-84.

Folklife Annual 1986 106 Right: Al Joke la(right), organizer of the St. Urho's Day celebration in Rock, Michigan, partying with a friend, 1983. Photograph by Randy Lancour

Below: Al Soyring of Mc- Farland, Michigan, first place winner in the best costume contest, St. Urho's Day celebration, Rock, Michigan, 1983. Photo- graph by Jenny Lancour

Immigrant to Ethnic 107 evrt- /4 tit 7fr, .17 4 t. 4:11.11111.1111.11i

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-41 Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 A Photographic Series by Russell Lee

SELECTED AND INTRODUCED BY CARL FLEISCHHAUER. BEVERLY W. BRANNAN, AND CLAUDINE WEATHERFORD

Alumbering boom swept the great stripped by logging, and the farm problem wooded tracts of the East following the Civil was particularly great for families who oc- War, denuding the southern Appalachians cupied land that had been logged. Such land and much of the northern Great Lakes re- has little productive value in any case, but gion. By the 1920s and 1930s, virtually all the families' circumstances were made more of the timber had been cut and most of the difficult by northern Minnesota's short lumbermen had moved west. According to growing season and the generally depressed photographer Russell Lee, Minnesota's im- conditions of the 1930s. mense white pine forests were cut to serve The Resettlement Administration,re- the needs of the railroads. "It was beyond named and expanded to become the Farm comprehension what they did up there," he Security Administration during the very said, "and there was no effort at conser- month most of the following photographs vation or anything like that.'" were made, carried on an active public re- But the aftermath of logging was a mat- !ations program. Its Information Division ter of concern for the federal government's contained a film unit headed by Pare Lor- 4 Resettlement Administration, a New Deal entz, whose well-known 1937 documen- agency primarily responsible for improving taryThe Riverdescribed the floods and their the lot of the nation's farmers. The agency causes and cried out for improved land use was particularly troubled by flooding along and conservation practices. The division also the Mississippi and its many tributaries, contained a still-photographic unit called which reached a peak in the spring of 1937, the Historical Section. The section was and by the plight of farmers who occupied headed by Roy Stryker and included such the cutover land. A major cause of the famous photographers as Dorothea Lange, flooding was increased runoff from land Walker Evans, and Russell Lee.

Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 109 The floods and the plight of farmers in thea Lange's famous Farm Security Admin- the northern logging region were an im- istration ph itograph Migrant Mother, which portant part of Russell Lee's first long-term tells us little about its subject, Florence photographic assignment. Lee joined the Thompson, but is universally understood Historical Section in mid-1936, completed as signifying a failure of our society. a couple of short trips and, in the autumn, began a Midwest trip that was planned for a matter of weeks but became a nine-month expedition. In February 1937, he photographed flooding on the Mississippi River; in April, May, and June, he trekked through y 1937, the big operators had moved northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Mich- on, and Lee's subject is a relatively modest igan; and in August and September he re- pulpwood outfit in Effie, Minnesota. The turned to the northern Great Lakes, where photographs portray the men moving logs these pictures were made.2 out of the woods, performing various chores, There are a number of letters in Stryker's preparing and eating food, bathing, and files concerning Lee's two visits to the re- whiling away their leisure. Although this gion. Uppermost in the minds of the two series does not show Lee at his most thor- men were the problems facing farmers on ough, it does give evidence of his affection cutover land, some of whom were being for describing processes and picturing de- resettled by the government, and Lee made tail. Stryker later referred to Lee as a tax- many photographs of farmers in the area. onomist with a camera.6 It is likely that the Stryker always sought published outlets for men joined Lee in identifying items to be his unit's photographs, and his letters to documented; the.sidelong glance in the pic- Lee refer to possible articles in Scribner's ture of the dinner horn, for example, may and KEN magazines and a book about the indicate some collaboration between Lee and cutover lands.3 In addition, Stryker was as- the cook in the making of the photograph. sembi.'ng photographs for a poem by Archi- When the pictures were filed at the agency, bald MacLeish, and the work was pub- the photographs of the camp at Effie and lished in 1938 in somewhat revised form most of the scenes from the nearby town under the ironic title Land of the Free.4 This of Craigville were placed in two different project gave Stryker a broad social frame storage lots, an arrangement which prob- for photographs from the region. "I am not ably reflects Lee's own separation of the sure how best to portray it," he wrote Lee subjects.? But five pictures filed with the Ef- in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, "but I wish fie series lead us to think of the two subjects that as you move across this area you would as one: a pair of stray pictures from the try to picture the remnants after the empire Craigville tavern and three photographs of builders have finished,"5 referring to cop- the lumberjack with a bandaged eye. The per and iron as well as timber. captions for the pictures of the injured man It is impossible to see this series of pic- inform us that he had been "beaten up and tures either as a statement about "the log- `rolled' in a saloon in Craigville, Minn., on ging problem" or as an indictment of rail- Saturday nite."8 As if to bring home the road-building robber barons. And, although point, the stray tavern shots were next in the lumberjacks may have been underpaid the file. and overworked, our present-day exami- Lee, more than any member of Stryker's nation of Lee's empathetic photographs re- team, photographed life whole and as he veals only a group of hard-working and found it. It is characteristic that Lee's cov- hard-playing men. The abstractions of Stry- erage included the consumption of alcohol ker's social concerns, rather than having been in its social setting, a subject eschewed by brought home by the particulars of Lee's most of his colleagues. Some of the men photographs, have been lost to or absorbed share a bottle in the bunkhouse, while others within the humanity they depict. This con- are seen drinking and gambling in a nearby trasts with the effect of images like Dor ,- tavern. The content of the pictures is con-

112 Folklife Annual 1986110 sistent with a September letter in which Lee Photographs in Series wrote rho: 'Ix,--)tild be in Craigville for "pa, day in the lumber town."9 Loggers were sometimes described in terms reserved for the Wild West; the 1938 Federal Writers Project guide to Minnesota describes nearby Bemidji (in its earlier heyday) as "one of This series has been selected from the the most lawless lumber centers in the Farm Security AdministrationOffice of War Northwest." ° Information (FSAOWI) Collection in the For Roy Stryker, the tavern was clearly Prints and Photographs Division of the Li- part of a working man's life. Earlier in the brary of Congress, which contains about year, he twice requested Lee to go to the one hundred thousand photographs. The notorious town of Hurley, Wisconsin"see photographic unit which created the collec- what you can get," he wrote, "and you'd tion was formed within the Resettlement better keep an eye on your virginity." An Administration in 1935. This agency be- April letter asks Lee to go to International came the Farm Security Administration in Falls, Minnesota. "Not so many months ago 1937. In 1942, the photographic section [it] was one of the toughest towns on the moved to the Office of War Information, border," Stryker wrote. "It is a meeting place where it continued its work until 1943, when of lumbermen, Indian traders, trappers, Stryker resigned from the c:,evernment. smugglers, immigration refugee smugglers, The collection at the Library of Congress and so on. They used to kill a man every includes 107 photographs made at the camp morning before breakfast and one just be- near Effie, Minnesota, and in the nearby fore supper, just for amusement. "12 town of Craigville. Lee almost certainly ex- Although we cannot be completely cer- posed more film than this, but Stryker only tain that he was referring to this series, an kept the pictures he considered successful. October letter from Stryker praised a recent We have selected twenty-one for presenta- submission from Lee, saying, "The set on tion here. Lee never identified the camp or life in the lumber camp is tops." 13 The fol- any of the men by name, but the letters, the lowing week he wrote, "Your saloon pic- contiguousness of the negatives, and the tures are superb," adding, "but I doubt if content of the pictures lead us to the con- we are going to be able to use them as we clusion that our selection represents a sin- have no releases from the people. Here is a gle logging operation. problem, unfortunately, that we are going At Effie, Lee did not photograph the first to have to work out."" steps of the logging process: felling the trees Photographic historians often use words and trimming and sectioning the logs. In his like humane to describe the documentary pictures, the process begins with the pulp- images created by Russell Lee and the other wood being pulled out of the woods behind photographers in Stryker's section. Often, a caterpillar tractor or a team of horses. this reflects an assessment of the team's deep Other images show the logs being loaded concern about social issues and the way in onto railroad cars for transport to the mill. which the photographs were used to define The notes which accompany the series do problems and to motivate attempts to solve not explain whether the mixture of horses them. This series shows that many of the and machines is evidence of an operation photographs may also be characterized as in the throes of mechanization or one with- human; they portray fully rounded human out the means to purchase much motorized beings. It is easy to imagine a photographer equipment. assigned a story about logging who would Some of the pictures were made with a limit his coverage to the work itself, and Leica (negatives with an "M" suffix), a small, thus depict the men two-dimensionally, as handy camera which offered as many as workers. Lees photographs show men as thirty-six exposures per roll of 35-mm film. they actually livedin the woods, at camp, Other pictures were made with a 3 1/4-by- and in town. 4 1/4-inch Speed Graphic press camera (nega-

Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 111 .t 113 tives with a "D" suffix). This camera was tion regularly show up in publications and larger and clumsier, and the film packs which exhibitions, and certain photographs from Lee used were limited to twelve exposures. the FSA period have become virtual icons But the Speed Graphic could be fitted with of the Depression years. We are selectinga a flashgun, which Lee used for virtually all number of photographic series from the of the interior views in the series, andas collection for a book and an exhibit at the a rulethe larger negatives would be sharper Library of Congress which will mark the than the small Leica negatives. fiftiethanniversary of Stryker's photo- The August-September trip, as far as we graphic section. can determine, was Lee's only venture with The project's underlying concept is that an 8-by-10-inch view camera. Its large sheets a series of pictures conveys the variety and of film would yield exceedingly sharp im- complexity of a subject more fully than a ages, but the camera was cumbersome and single image. A series' pictorial description each setup was very time-consuming. Lee's can be further enriched by an accompany- experiment with it probably reflects the in- ing text which delineates the circumstances fluence of his colleague Walker Evans, who of photography and characterizes the pho- favored the instrument, and Stryker's ex- tographer's conception of the subject and pressed desire for photographs which could working method. This approach to pre- be enlarged to mural size. We have in- senting FSAOWI photographs contrasts cluded Lee's 8-by-10-inch photograph of with that taken by most of the recent books Craigville's main street (negative with an and exhibits that have drawn upon the col- "A" suffix). In a Septerntuer letter to Lee, lection. These have usually presented single Stryker called the image "most excellent." images in a context which emphasizes the The FSAOWI photographs have had a photographer's artistry and offer only the major impact on the history of documen- slightest reference to the subject matter or tary photography. Images from the collec- the era portrayed.

NOTES

1. Russell Lee, interview by Richard Doud, 4. Archibald MacLeish, Land of the Free (New June 2, 1964. Archives of American Art, Wash- York: Harcourt Brace, 1938). ington, D.C. 5. Stryker to Lee: April 16, 1937, Stryker Pa- 2. Jack F. Hurley, Portrait of a Decade (Baton pers. Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972; 6. Hurley, Russell Lee: Photographer, 14. New York: Da Cap, 1977); and Jack F. Hur- 7. The photographs are from collection stor- ley, Russell Lee: Photographer (Dobbs Ferry, age lots 1141 and 1143. At the Library, the ac- N.Y.: Morgan and Morgan, 1978). tual photographic prints are kept in vertical files 3. Roy Stryker to Russell Lee: January 30, which are arranged by broadly conceived sub- April 3, April 10, ca. April 21, April 27, May ject categories. In contrast, the microfilms of the 1, June 10, June 15, June 16, August 10, 1937, original storage lots generally reflect the original and other letters cited below. Roy E. Stryker assignments and shooting trips. Papers, University of Louisville Photographic 8. Caption for negative LC-USF33-11352-M3; Archives (hereafter cited as Stryker Papers; FSAOWI Collection, Library of Congress. available on microfilm). 9.LeetoLocke: September15,1937, Lee to Stryker: March 20, April 28, May 2, FSAOWI Textual Records. 1937, Stryker Papers 10. Federal Writers Project, Minnesota: A State Lee to Edwin Locke: August 12, 1937, Stry- Guide (1938; reprint New York: Hastings House, ker Papers. 1947). Stryker to Leo Nicholas: January 15 and Feb- 11. Stryker to Lee: April 17, 1937, Stryker ruary 15, 1937, Box 2, Correspondence, Gen- Papers. eral, 1937, FSAOWI Textual Records, Prints 12. Stryker to Lee: April 23, 1937, Stryker and Photographs Division, Library of Congress Papers. (hereafter cited as FSAOWI Textual Records; 13. Stryker to Lee: October 2.1, 1937, Stryker available on microfilm). Papers. Stryker to Mrs. D. A. Levine, April 3, 1937, 14. Stryker to Lee: October 30, 1937, Stryker Box 2,Correspondence,General,1937, Papers. FSAOWI Textual Records. 114 Folklife Annual 1986 112 In the Woods Near Effie, Minnesota

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2 7 Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 125 MUM,- In camp. The men at right stage a mock fight for the camera; the man on the left told the photographer that his injury resulted from having been beaten and "rolled" in nearby Craigville on Saturday night. (LC- USF33-11352- M2)

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". 1 2 Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 127 Saturday in Craigville, Minnesota

Steam bath. This sauna points to the presence and cultural influence of Fin- nish-Americans in the region. All of the photographs in the series are dated September 1937 except this one, which is dated August. (LC-USF34- 30318-D)

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View of the main street (LC-USF342-30632-A)

1 31 Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 129 4 4-14r .7",.

Left, below: Saturday night in a saloon. In the captions for some of the photographs made in Craigville's saloons, women are dubbed "at- tendants." (LC-U.51'34- 30584-D)

Below: A man at the bar on Saturday night (LC- USF34-30587-D)

Minnesota Logging Camp, September 1937 131 Via Dolorosa BY ARVID ASPLUND

heard the words "via dolorosa" for the many years of laboring in mines and quar- first time about fifty years ago when they ries, lumbering, and farming, he died at the were used in a sermon preached by Pastor age of sixty-three. Walter Haase in St. John's Lutheran Church, My retirement in 1973 provided me with Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Deeply impressed, time to reflect upon my early family life. 1 I bad a feeling of being linked to them, and had thought about writing a story for my I was inspired to write a hymn. The words children to read; and with this in mind, I constantly revisited my mind. approached the director at the Senior Cen- Perhaps it was the hardship of our early ter, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, concerning the family life. Both of my parents were impossibility of creating a creative writing class. migrants from Finland. In an effort to es- Several weeks later I we notified that Mr. cape from adversities of their homeland, they Robert Gard, an author from the Univer- came to America where they hoped to find sity of Wisconsin, Madison, was coming to better conditions. But it was a mirage. Their Manitowoc to organize a class. Ten people, lives ebbed away before they reached their including myself, met with him, at which goals. My mother died from tuberculosis in time he advised me to write about Finland. 1914 at the age of twenty-eight. She left my A retired English teacher, Miss Agnese father with two small children. In an effort Dunne, vohniteered to teach the class. We to stabilize the family, he remarried a woman met with her at the Manitowoc Senior Cen- he did 'lot know. The introduction oc- ter for one afternoon weekly for two years, curred through a fellow workman who evi- and this is where my story developed. Be- dently thought it would help the family re- cause I felt that my early family life repre- Arvid Asp lund, taken in cover from misfortune. Unfortunately, my sented ',inch sorrow, I entitled my story "Via 1977 father's future path failed to improve. After Dolorosa."

13,1 Folklife Annual 1986 132 0 * 4ww.o . OW 04,31,

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tA i wt timt 4,4 i The sun rarely sets beyond the horizon. During the summer wombs they have day- This story is not strictly genealogical. light for twenty-two hours. It is known as Besides the tracing of my ancestors, it is a the "land of the midnight sun. story of long family hardships. It is a story Fifty thousand lakes glisten day and night. about Finnish immigrants who came to the The country is bounded on the north by United States in the early 1900s. The hard- Norway, to the east by Russia, and to the ships they endured in the Old Country did west by Sweden. It is one of the Scandina- not end as they had hoped in the United vian group of countries. Russia ruled the States From antiquated farming in the Old country for one hundred years. Sweden ruled Country, they immigrated into antiquated it previously for six hundred years. methods of mining iron ore in northern The Finnish people are truly an ethnic Michigan. Candles and carbide lights were people. There have been no immigrants to then used to light the deep caverns r.:-.ltlw. Finland in recent history. Their culture re- Picks, shovels, and dynamite were used to mains unadulterated. loosen the iron rock from the earth's belly, -1) e country is divided into fifteen prov- Miners' consumption, or tuberculosis, was inces. One of these provinces, Karelia, was a common disease that took many lives. At taken by the Russians during World War the age of twenty-eight my mother died of II. Four hundred and twenty thousand tuberculosis, evidently from poor living the complete population of Kareliabe- conditions. I was six years old at that time. came war refugees. They fled westward into My sister, Ethel, was two years old when Finland leaving all their possessions behind our mother died. Later on, my father mar- them. They were welcomed into the homes ried again. This time to an illiterate Finnish of the other Finns. The move was accom- woman. He hardly knew her but married plished very smoothly, without any need her shortly after being, introduced to her by for refugee camps. They lived in this man- a friend. Because she had previously worked ner until their resettlement could be worked in a lumber camp as a cook, the family out. Eventually all Karelians %%,ere given moved up into the lumber woods. Most of homes of their own. The Finns also gave of my story is based on life in the wilds of their money, jewelry, and any other valu- northern Michigan. able possessions to the Karelians. They har- The characters described in this book are bored no enmity toward the Russians, feel- not fictitious, and since they are all de- ing the act was due to their system of ceased, I'm using their real names. government. The Finns are a nation of rugged individ- ualists. They are a quiet, meditative people, noted for hard work and achievement. They T excel individuallymostly in winter sports. My father had purchased a piece of land I. have never been to Finland, the home in the early 1920s in northern Michigan. It of my ancestors. However, I have gathered consisted of forty acres of mostly wooded some facts about that country from a Fin- and untillable soil. It was located about two nish cookbook. miles from a little village called Feick I often The territory comprises an area greater walked to this land from the village with than Great Britain. It is as big as the states my father. We spent many long days clean- of Minnesota and Iowa combined. The ing away the stumps, stones, and brush, population is thinonly four and one-half getting it ready for cultivation. I was about million people. It has the same latitudes as thirteen years old at that time. One day, Alaska. One third of the area is north of during a rest period, I became rather in- the Arctic Circle. However, the ocean cur- quisitive about my father's Scandinavian rents keep the country warm. The climate accent. "Where were you born, Pa?" I asked is much like the climate around the Great him. "Oh, so you want to know ver I vas Lakes. born? I vas born in Kvevlaks in Finland,"

r1 ,.1)c.: L, Folk life Annual 1986 134 he answered. "Farming vas tuff in Finland, "Would you know if any of the Trewar- too. I tink I find it better here," he said. tha family is still alive?" I asked him. Then I asked, "What made you think it "Sure," he said, "Bill Trewartha is still would be better in America?" "Vel," he said, living. He's a bachelor and lives alone at "Ve read newspapers in Finland about many Forbes Mining Location. If you would like good tings in America. All the young fellas to see him, I'll tell you how to get there." in Finland say ye go to America to make After a few simple directions we left the big pay. Lots of gold mines, silver mines, cemetery and drove on a winding, uphill and iron ore mines pay big. Potatoes grow road to the Forbes location. We arrived and big like watermelons and the land is cheap found it to be a small settlement of houses, to buy. Lots of Finns come here because de but we did not know which house Bill lived vas starving in Finland and dey did not vant in. A street repair crew, working nearby, to fight in the Russian Army. I vas about provided the answer. As we drove over to twenty years old and got the fever to come his house, we found him polishing his car to America." "How did you earn the money in his garage. He looked at us in bewilder- for the trip?" I asked him. "Oh, I could not ment when we stopped across the street. I make enough money for the trip in Finland, walked over to him and asked him, "Are so I write to my friend, John Waisted, who you Bill Trewartha?" I could not identify vas in America before me. He vas vorking him as the boy I used to know. I was look- in a mine in Iron Mountain, Michigan. He ing at a white-haired old man. tell me he vas making lots of money, and "Yes," he responded. "And who are you?" he send me the money to come to Amer- "I'm Arvid Asplund. I lived around here ica." "Was it a nice trip?" I queried. "No, when I was a kid," I informed him. it vas not a good trip; it take us three veeks." "Well I'll be doggone," he retorted as he "How come it took so long?" I asked. "Vel," grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. he said, "Ve take train from Kvevlaks to "I remember you," he went on. "You lived Flango in Finland. Den ye go in small boat next door to us but your family moved away to Hull in England. From Hull ye take train after your mother died. What is the pur- to Southampton. Ve vait der for great big pose of your visit?" boat and den ye sail to New York." "Do I told him then about my recent retire- you remember the name of the big boat?" ment and that I intended to search for some I asked. "Ya," he answered. "It vas the NUE family history and write a story about it, STAR. About two hundred Finns ver on dis how I had come to see him becwse I wanted boat, and de vas eating hardtack de bring some information about the mining oper- vit them from home. Storm came and ye ations in this area, where my father had get a rough ride. Some people very sick. In once worked. dat time lots of sick people in Finland too. "Well Arvid," he said, "I have been a Finland vas in poor shape," he said. "What bookkeeper all my life and have never been did you think of New York?" I asked. "Oh, down in the mines, but Mr. Fredlund who ya, I vas fraid; I never before see so big lives around the corner should be able to place. Ve vas checked over like horses; den give you all the information you want. His de put us on another train. Ven I get to Iron father was the captain in the mine your Mountain, Michigan, I meet my friend, John father worked in. He also has custody of a Waisted again. Den I vas happy," he said miner's museum. I'll call him on the phone; with a smile. perhaps he'll ue at home. Won't you come in while I call him?" We accepted his invitation and sat down while he went over to the phone. I admired his spacious living room and everywhere I 'Yrears later while my wife and I were looked there was evidence of good house- visiting the cemetery where my mother was keeping. Unusual, I thought, for a bachelor. buried, I met a man who I thought might He returned from the phone and said, be able to give me some information. "Mr. Fredlund will be here in a few min-

t.." 1,37 ; 1'. Via Dolorosa 135 - **4.1 r

1 *. a 1 utes." While we were waiting for him we My father, Edward As- picked up some tools and began to toil with plund, checking his potato began talking about the old Davidson lo- picks, shovels, drills, and hammers. They crop onis land near cation where we had once lived. The cluster drilled holes into the iron rock like human Pack Michigan. This is a of homes near a mine was called a location. moles. This rock was dynamited loose and piece of land that I had "Is the Davidson location still there?" I hoisted to the surface in chunks. It was later helped hint with clearing asked. "If so, I would like to visit my old melted into iron and used to industrialize and plowing. This picture was taken about 1927. home." the New World. This was the world these "No," he said. "All the old homes have men had strived to reach. They were young been moved out. The land around them be- and vigorous men. Their eyes sparkled with gan to cave in. It became a dangerous place hope, although the burden of this world to live. This house was moved here from was on their backs. Davidson. The one you lived in is now across Such was the beginning of my father's the street from mine." life in this country. "Will you show me which one was ours?" Across the road from our house at Felch, I asked eagerly. "I'd like to take a picture Michigan, lived an old Finnish couple in a of it." log home. Several hundred feet away from We stepped outside on his back porch their home stood another smaller log hut. and he pointed it out to me. It seemed to I often wondered what the but was used be in good shape, I thought, but I could not for. I became extremely inquisitive one day relate to it because it had been remodeled. whenIsaw them carrying wood and The open front porch that our hired girl sat branches into this hut. I asked my father, on with he -boyfriend- on -b-almy summer "Whar are-they-doing- in-tharhut?" evenings was gone. (An old thought flashed "Oh," he said, "Dey is getting ready for back. I remembered how I enjoyed spying a bat. Dat is de kind of bat dey have in on her when she thought I was asleep in- Finland. Old man Coypaleen he get dat idea side.) I walked around the house snapping from de people in Finland. Every farmer in This is a picture that was found torn up in the bot- a few pictures. Then I took a picture of old Finland have a building like dat vun. Some- tom of an old trunk in our Bill Trewartha standing on his back porch. times dey build dem by a lake ver de vater homestead at Felch, Michi- Mr. Fredlund then arrived and said he is handy." gan. It was taken in the would take us to the Miner's Museum. It "Do they have a bathtub in there?" I asked early 1920s. I am the boy was located about two miles out from Iron him. on the left. We are eating River, Michigan. He showed us a replica of watermelon. We had been "No," he said, "only a vooden tub made to the State Fair in Detroit, an iron ore mine. It was a model showing from a hollow log. It is filled vit cold water." Michigan, with the Dick- the surface buildings, the shaft, the engine "Do they take a bath in cold water?" I enson. County agricultural house, and the workings underground. He went on. agent. He bought a new flipped a switch and the mine was flooded "No, dey make hot steam in der. First Ford while we were in De- with light. Miniature machinery began to dey make hot fires in da stove. Dey have troit and drove us home in it. We were wearing 4-H operate in the depths below the surface. An stones on top of stove and dey get hot, too. caps. ancient picture came back to my mind. I Ven it get so hot in der, dey take off all could see some men with my father being clothes and de svet come out like dew drops. lowered into the mine in a cage. They were Den dey have some birch branches dey put dressed in oilskin clothing to protect them in the vater. Dey sprinkle dis vater on de from the dripping water below. Carbide hot stones and da room is filled vit steam. lamps were attached to the fronts of their Den dey dip de birch branches in de vater oilskin hats. Down, down, down they went, again and splash der bodies vit dem. Dey one thousand feet into the belly of the earth. rub some soap on and do dis again. Den Then the cage would stop and the men filed dey sit on de bench by de vall to get cool. out, one by one. Silly silhouettes marched Some tuff Finns yump in de lake to cool along the walls of the tunnel as the men off. Dey tink it vill make them helty. In de walked forward. The flickering flame from vintertime dees tuff Finns yump in the snow. their carbide lights magnified the determi- Do you tink you could do dat?" nation on their faces. Coming to a large "No," I answered, "when I jump in the excavation at the end of the tunnel, they snow I want to have my boots on."

3 9 Via Dolorosa 137 This is my father and ing alone terrified me the first day. I felt mother, taken in 1907. MI like making a stampede for home. I can photographs courtesy of In the early 1900s, miles of boardwalks recall no schoolmates. The teacher was very Arvid Asplund lined the streets of Iron Mountain, Michi- kind to me. gan. It was customary for the local gallant My school days in Stambaugh were cut swains to stroll aloag these walks on Sun- short when we moved to the Davidson day afternoons. Not that these sports were Mining Location in Iron River, Michigan. "in need of exercise" they got plenty of Here the days were more pleasant. I had that in the mines, but they were hoping to some neighbor kids to go to school with meet the lassies who were eager to flirt with me. The location was made up of about ten them. average-looking homes where the miners It was in this manner that my father met lived. The superintendent of the mine, Ru- my mother. A friend introduced her to him dolph Erickson, lived at the end of the street on the boardwalk. Her name was Mary in a more attractive home. Herrgard. Mary was also an immigrant from Finland, speaking the Swedish language. She had some relatives in Iron Mountain who had arranged for her passage to this country. She and father were both young and felt lonely in a new world. After a few The Davidson Mine was nearby and a months of courtship, they decided to enter trail through the woods led to the James wedlock. She was twenty-one and he was School. This school opened in November twenty-two years old. The marriage certif- 1913. The principal was Miss Margaret icate at the courthouse in Iron Mountain Flanagan. A family of Italians lived across gives the date, August 19, 1907. It was the road from us. They had two pretty girls signed by John E. Quarnstrom, who was about my age, also a group of very noisy the county clerk at that time. Mary gave boarders. I enjoyed walking to school with her father's name as Abraham Herrgard. these two girls. For some mysterious reason, she did not The boarders at the girls' home played a know her mother's name. My father listed clamorous, shouting game on their off-time his father's name as John Svarven, his called Bo-Chee, a bowling type of game, mother's as Tilda Svarven. It was custom- played with large hardwood balls and one ary for immigrants at that time to change small ball. It was played on a cinder-packed their names when they arrived in this coun- court in the yard. A small ball was placed try. 'My father took the name of Asplund, in the distance. The object seemed to be to probably because he knew some nobleman strike the small ball by rolling a large ball by that name in Finland. In Swedish the toward it. It was a typical Italian game. name means "Poplar Grove." These boarders were a very thirsty bunch. The wedding ceremony was held in the They drank wine avidly during the game. Saron Lutheran Church at Fourth and Vul- The more they drank, the louder their can Streets in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The laughter and the higher their shouts rang clergyman was the Reverend Carl Almen. out. The beverage that fired their enthusi- Oscar and Mathilda Shoberg attended the asm was called "Dago-Red," a homemade bride and groom. very sour wine made from grapes. I can A strange course for the two young peo- remember seeing these grapes come in by ple was set on this day. the truckload to the home. Courthouse records at Iron Mountain, There were other sights to see at the Michigan, indicate that I was born there on boarding house. Rows of bread dough in March 14, 1908. I do not recollect any of loaves were laid on boards near the ceiling. my childhood in that city. I do remember The warmth up there helped the dough rise, starting school in Stambaugh, Michigan. It ready for baking. was a huge red brick building at the east A long dinner table was needed to ac- end of Main Street. Entering that big build- commodate all the boarders. A bottle stood

140 Folk life Annual 1986 138 11111Pli., 44N,71114.14

4 by each plate. Wine and beer was served he was born in New Jersey. We calledmy with every meal. playmate Jack. He and I played around the The evening chore for little girls was to local mine looking for excitement. tap beer from large kegs into quart bottles. When the big, black locomotive switched I watched them do this in their cellarmany iron ore cars around, we were there to hitch times. I was very fond of these two girls a ride. The step at the rear of the locomo- and enjoyed their company. tive was our favorite stand. We would jump Later on a neighbor boy next door to us on when the train was moving slowly, and joined the scene. On wintry nights we would then jump off as it picked up speed. I can't take a gunny sack over to the engine house remember ever being caught by the engi- at the mine. In the dark, we would fillit neer; perhaps he saw us but didn't want to with coal. Then we carried it over to the spoil our fun. girls' house and were treated with a bottle Chipmunks were plentiful around the of beer. I was eight or nine years old at this mines. They played games with us in the time. piles of logs and rocks. The little rascals On our trip over to the mine at night, we would sit on their haunches and make faces discovered a window opened about three at us. When we threw a stone at them, they inches at the bottom for ventilation. A would dart into a hole, scamper back ina package of tobacco usually rested inside the few seconds, and resume their antics. Jack sill. Wizen the engineer wasn't looking, we'd searched the brush nearby and madesome sneak up under the window and stealsome thin poles. We pulled a few long black of his tobacco. We would put the package strands of hair from the tail of a grazing back in place, and he never seemed to_ catch horseWe_improvised.long.snares_with this on. strong hair and tied them to one end of our The first time I smoked tobacco, I be- poles. This contraption proved to be an ex- came very ill. Coming home pale and vom- cellent trap. Slowly we moved our snares iting, my parents thought I had contracted over the heads of the chipmunks. They a serious disease. Eventually they discov- seemed to be blind to the black snare. When ered tobacco in my back pocket. My father we had it circled around their heads, we tried to cure me with spanking, but it didn't raised the pole with a quick jerk. The chip- work. Tobacco intriguedme. I gradually munk was caught like a fish. became accustomed to it. Carving whistles from branches that had Another of our exciting pastimes was soft bark was another trick I learned from collecting empty carbide cans from the mine. Jack. Our favorite source of whistle wood A residue of carbide was usually left in the was the rubber tree. By hammering the bark bottom of these cans. By adding water to with the handle of a knife, it would slide this carbide, it would create a form ofgas. off quite easily. Quietly we would hammer down the cover Summer afternoons were usually spent at and scamper away to a safe distance. When the swimming hole. It was a sunny spot in the gas inside built up enough pressure, it the woods where a little lazy creek mean- blew the cover off in a striking explosion. dered. We had no bathing suits. On one What dangerous fun we had. occasion, some little girls surprised us with a visit. Nude and red-faced, we scampered to shore for our clothes. Hurriedly I pulled on my knickers and slipped into my shirt. I felt a sharp sting on my back, another, and then another. I screamed at the top of His tombstone reads, "John Trewar- my lungs. I ripped off my shirt and saw a tha, born 1904, died 1967." I knew John bee fly out. To this day I am deathly afraid well as a child. His family lived next door of bees. to mine. His mother immigrated from Three children were given life by my Cornwall County in England. His father mother before she passed away. I was the came from Rhodesian ancestors; however, first, born on March 14, 1908. A brother,

142 Faille Annual 1986 140 Albert, was born in 1910. He died three looked me over and said, "That boy has years later from spinal meningitis. Sister, scarlet fever." The house was quarantined Ethel, was born May 10, 1912. for several weeks thereafter. This siege of We were living at the Davidson Mining scarlet fever left me with a perforated ear- Location in Iron River, Michigan, when my drum that bothered me intermittently for mother died; the year was 1914. I was six many years. years old, and my sister was two years old. A paternal uncle arrived in this country I remember very little about my mother or from Finland in 1909. He was a tailor by any attention she must have given me. Who trade. Werner was his first name and he taught me the little Swedish prayer that I adopted the last name of Smith. Being a still recite? Perhaps it was my mother. My good cook besides being a tailor, he was a only vision of my mother was that she was great help in our household. In 1914 after bedridden. She had tuberculosis. my mother died, he decided to take me with Mr. and Mrs. Sundquist, friends of my him back to Finland. However, World War father, came to help out with the family. A I broke out, and he had to change his plans. premonition must have come over Mrs. Germany was sinking our ships at sea, and Sundquist one morning as she got me ready it was too dangerous to be out in the ocean. for school. "Why don't you say good-bye My uncle Werner proved to be my best to your mother?" she asked me. I went to benefactor. No one ever gave me so much her bedside. She looked very ill; with some affection and attention. He bought clothing effort she stretched out her arm and clasped for me and things with which to play. I my hand in hers. It was cold and damp. promptly got into trouble with a "BB" gun "Good,bye,..Arvid," she_ whispered. -I-then. he -bought-for me. He took me to a pho- ran off to school. Arriving home that after- tographer, and we had our picture taken (I noon, a veil of black crepe was hanging on standing in front of him). Werner was a our door. My mother died at the age of bachelor at that time, a teetotaler and a twenty-eight. very religious man. He stood out like a saint in that rough and tough mining settlement. I came to respect him and revered him the rest of his life. I can still picture him kneeling at my bedside praying. It was a black day for me when he left After that tragedy, many different us to work at the Stolberg Tailor Shop in people came to visit our house. Mr. and Iron Mountain, Michigan. After that part- Mrs. Oscar Shoberg came, and he would ing, I saw very little of my good uncle, Wer- bring his violin. He said he was going to ner Smith. teach me how to play his violin, but we A young hired girl came to help in our never reached that point. He became an at- household. She had a boyfriend, and I was traction playing in the saloons downtown. in their way. My father was working on He often mentioned being at Piccolino's Sa- the night shift. Her boyfriend took her to loon in Stambaugh. a carnival one night, and I had to tag along. Once after a day of cold and heavy rain- She gave me some money and said, "Go fall, I went out barefooted to play in the and ride on the Merry-Go-Round." When water. A sore throat and an earache beset I had used all my tickets, I had to get off me that night. The infection in my tonsils the ride. I looked around for her, but she made them so large I could not swallow was nowhere in sight. She and her boy- food. My ear ached so much I cried and friend had disappeared. It was dark. I didn't could not sleep. An old miner who smoked know the way back home. I was being a corncob pipe was visiting with my father. pushed around by crowds of people. The He came to my bedside and blew smoke strange faces and the excitement around the into my ear. It affected me like an anes- carnival filled me with horror. I began to thetic. My pain went away and I fell asleep. cry, and I cried and cried. Finally some peo- The next day a doctor came to see me. He ple asked, "Are you lost, little boy?" I said,

143 Via Dolorosa 141 4 444 Arvid Asp lund at age six, "Yes, I don't know how to get back to the so I had to tell the men that she wanted standing on the steps of a Davidson Location." "Come with us, we'll some blood. They looked at me with this home in Iron River, Michi- take you home," the lady said. Now I felt big lady and began to laugh. gan, Davidson Mining Lo- safe. I had met some good Samaritans. "What are you going to do with the cation. My father is on the blood?" they asked. "To make blood bread," far right holding my sister I answered. Ethel. Next to him is Oscar Shoberg holding a We watched them kill a cow by hitting puppy. On his right is his her on the head with a hammer. The cow wife with me standing in It was 1917, the war was over, but an- fell down and they slit her throat with a front of her. The Shobergs other fight was just beginning for me. My knife. The blood gushed out. They took our took care of us after my father had been away for several days on a pails and held them under her neck. Soon Mom passed away. I can't recognize any of the other mysteriousmission. A large,heavy-set they were full of blood and we set out for people. woman accompanied him on his return. "Is home with our bloody booty. she going to be our new hired girl?" I asked. My stepmother mixed this blood into "No," he said, "Dis is your new mudder." mac bread dough, formed it into flat, round I looked her over suspiciously. She had a loaves, and baked it without pans in the large stomach, and I thought she looked oven. When finished and sliced, it was a mean. very dark brown bread. We ate a lot of this This match had been arranged by a friend bread in the years that followed. of my father's who knew my stepmother. Evidently my father thought this marriage would solve his family predicament. The first few days were uneventful. This is me standing in A big boy arrived at our house a few days front of my Uncle Werner Smith. He had instructed later, and he was about five years my senior. me to keep my mouth shut One day while playing around the mine, y stepmother had previously been while the picture was a man called to me and said, "Hey kid, how a cook in the lumber camps in northern taken. The time was in would you like to have a puppy?" Michigan. So with the arrival of fall, a man 1914, shortly after my "What kind of a puppy?" I asked him. by the name of Matt Blomquist came to our mother died. "An English bulldog," he said, "I have house. He was setting up a lumber camp four of them, and if you come over to my and she had to take over this duty. Her son house tonight you can have your pick." was to be the choreboy and my father would I was delighted and that night I hurried work in the woods cutting logs. over to his house to look at the puppies. Our meager household goods were sold, One of them was pure white. I decided to and we prepared to move into the timber take him home with me. I was sure he would country. We made the trip from Iron River grow up to be a champ. to Metropolitan, Michigan, by auto. Then He was not destined to live very long. we transferred to a supply wagon pulled by A few days later, I came home from school a team of heavy horses. After what seemed to find my puppy floating in a tub of water like hours of plodding, we arrived at the in our backyard. My stepmother assured camp, late in the afternoon. It consisted of me that the dog jumped into the water and two long log cabins end to end. A breeze- drowned, but I had some misgivings about way in between the cabins was filled with the incident. With a heavy heart, I buried firewood. One cabin was called the men's my prize in the backyard. shack. The other one was called the cook Blood Bread became my next curiosity. shack. We unloaded our supplies and set My stepmother said she wanted to make up our beds in the cook shack. some blood bread, but she would need some There was no schooling for me that win- fresh blood. My father told her about a ter. I had left the fourth grade behind me slaughterhouse in town where fresh blood at the James School in Iron River. One me- might be available. The next day she and I, mento I have savedit is a Certificate Award each carrying an empty pail, set out for the for not being absent or tardy in 1915, signed slaughterhouse. She could speak no English by Myrtle L. Champion. She was my sec-

145 Via Dolorosa 143 and grade teacher, and a vision of her beauty chewer and could spit between my teeth. A still lingers in my memory. box of snuff became my steady companion. The first day at the camp was spent in Logs had to be hauled out of the woods exploration. There was a barn made of logs on roads built up with ice when the cold for the horses; a couple of hogs in a pen weather season came. This was done by nearby; and an outdoor privy and a creek hauling large tanks of water over the roads from which we carried water. This scene and flooding them with water at night. The became my lonely playground for the next icy roads enabled a team of horses to pull several months. At nightfall I would crawl a load of logs out of the woods to a place under the blankets and cry softly until the they called the landing. The sleds loaded sandman carried me away. with logs would gain too much speed when I would be awakened before daybreak to going downhill. When the horses had dif- help set the table for breakfast. Fifteen men ficulty controlling the loads, sand was came in to eat at the sound of a gong. They thrown in the ruts, ahead of the advancing devoured flapjacks, sausages, and coffee, and load of logs. The man who did this was then set out for work. These were strong called the sandhi!! man. His work was to men who worked with crosscut saws, axes, prevent the load of logs from crushing the and cant hooks. After they left for work, horses that pulled it. Andrew and I would do the chores, carry Hauling all the logs out of the woods in fresh supplies of firewood and water, before the ice melted w. a constant strug- sweep out the men's shack, and clean the gle. The roads were repeatedly watered at lamp chimneys, help do the dishes, and then night to keep them hard and slippery. When clean out the barn and feed the hogs. An- spring finally arrived the camp broke up, drew would- often--find- an- excuse to leave and we moved into a little village called the camp and go to town. Then I would be Felch, Michigan. It was 1918, and I had left to do the chores alone. reached my tenth birthday. The bunks in the men's shack were made from boards covered with straw. A woolen blanket covered the straw and two extra blankets were used to cover them while they slept. The tidiness of these bunks was left to whoever occupied them. A large black n the spring of 1918, we migrated from iron stove squatted in the center of the shack. Blomquist's Lumber Camp to Felch, Mich- It had wooden racks on each side. The men igan. A narrow, graveled road ran through used these racks to dry their heavy woolen the village. Most of the homes dozed on socks or anything else that was wet. Some- their way to degeneration. The nearest doc- times they brought in horse collars to dry. tor, dentist, or !,rber was twenty-five miles A strong odor pervaded the men's shack away at Iron Mountain, Michigan. This was from these socks. Laundering was done on the village my stepmother had lived in be- Sundays, since each had to do his own. Some fore she joined my father. men neglected this duty. Water had to be It was a quiet village of about a hundred heated in an iron pot over an outdoor fire. Scandinavian immigrants. These people Each man had a gunny sack for his per- made their living mostly from the lumber- sonal effects. This gunny sack also served ing business. The male element worked in as a pillow at night. the tall timber during the late fall and win- Tobacco was used by most of the lum- ter months. In the spring and summer, they berjacks. Some of them used snuff. I had to sought jobs on road constrl .Lion and usu- try it. During the day, when the men were ally had some cattle and a little land which away at work, I would explore the stuff on brought in some food. There was very little the shelves in the bunks. Finding a box of sign of life in the village except around the snuff, I would take a pinch and put it inside stores. One store was called the Felch Sup- my lip. This became a daily habit. Before ply Company, which got its name from its the winter was over, I was a steady snuff function to the lumber camps. The other

1466 Folklife Annual 1986 144 store was Ryan's, and they also ran the post floor. The house was located on a half acre office in their establishment. of land, surrounded by a variety of trees, On lazy summer days, it was a common and an abundance of wild flowers. Our sight to see a group of men and boys loung- water was pumped up from a well. A hog ing in front of Ryan's Store. They would pen, small barn, a privy, and a woodpile be swapping tales and telling jokes while also made up the scene. waiting for the arrival of the daily mail. For those who looked at us from the out- After that event, they would disperse, van- side, it must have seemed an idyllic home, ishing like thin smoke. but for those on the inside, it was a churn- The mail came in daily by train. How- ing volcano. ever, the train also came in for other rea- "Get out of my way, you tubercular bum. sons. There were loads of logs to be pulled Put that book away and get the barn cleaned out and occasionally a load of stone from out." She slapped me and grabbed my book. a local quarry. The high point of a dull day I had been reading it by the light of the oil would be to wait down by the depot and lamp near the stove. This was my step- watch the train come chugging in. mother's way of greeting me in the morn- A deserted saloon and three dance halls ing. increased the town's image. An old tale was repeated about a man who was killed in that saloon, and how the owner had fled to Canada. Ryan's had a dance hall above the garage across the road from their store and country hotel. Another hall was known as he winter mornings were dark and the Runeberg Hall. It was owned by the cold. My duty was to be the first to rise and local Runeberg Society. I don't remember start the fire in the kitchen stove. The oil the name of the third dance hall. All of these lamp hung in a bracket on the wall near buildings were of the wood-frame type on the stove. I would stand up and read by wood post foundations. These dark and this lamp until the rest of the family awak- gloomy halls were vacant most of the time. ened. Occasions did occur when one or the other My father would be away at work in some would burst into life with some local func- lumber camp and came home only for the tion. Accordions and concertinas were the weekends. My stepbrother had a job in the favorite instruments for the dances. My ears village. He worked on the railroad as a sec- still ring with the concertina music played tion hand. by Caviani from Iron Mountain, Michigan. I would leave the house and out to the A little ice cream store snuggled near one barn 1 would go. There 1 shoveled manure, ofthese dance halls.It was opened on and fed the cows with hay and middling. weekends by the Matt Backlund family. The mice in the barn would sneak over to The most distinctive building in town was the sack of middling for their breakfast. I the two-story, red brick township school. would stand still and watch until I saw some All twelve grades were taught in this school movement in the sack. Then I would raise by 1929. A Sunday School class also used my shovel high and with one quick blow I this building. A kindly gentleman by the would exterminate one mouse. Then back name of John Sundstrom was the principal- to the house I would run to get my break- teacher. He also owned the local garage. A fast and some more tongue lashing. portly young lady named Miss Minnie Ryan "Here, eat this, you tubercular bums." was his assistant on Sundays. It was my stepmother again, growling at This was my hometown for the next nine us while she was setting the table. Our usual years. The first house we lived in was owned breakfast was a bowl of cultured milk with by the Fetch Supply Company. It was a well- a slice of blood bread. Our two cows kept built house and had a kitchen, dining room, us supplied with plenty of milk.I often and two bedrooms on the first floor. The churned the cream by hand into butter. attic remained unfinished except for the "Come along with me to the barn, you

. 147 Via Dolorosa 145 tubercular bum. You can hold the cow's heating in our home. We spent many hours tail for me while I do the milking." My with an axe and a saw to provide enough stepmother would shout in Swedish. She wood for the winter months. We had to spoke no Erg lish. hire someone with horses to pull it home "You... get those disheswashed before for us. you go to school." That command went to We also hir2d a team of horses to help my sister, Ethel, who was about seven years clear our land of stumps, logs, and rocks. old. The rocks were hauled to the edges of the In the barn, I would stand by, holding field on a stone boat. There we piled them the cow's tail to keep it from switching on up along the fence line. Brush, stumps, and my stepmother's face while she was milk- other debris were piled up and set on fire. ing. Back to the house we went with the As a young boy, I worked with my father milk. My little sister, Ethel, had the table on this land. He was a very tough and de- clean and had washed the dishes. termined worker. He was thin and of me- A few reminders of my father's first mar- dium height. When his hands were free, he riage were stored away in the attic in our walked straight as a stick. We cried food house at Feick There were some pictures, along out to the land for our lunch at noon. books, and some jewelry. One day my sis- After our lunch, my father would stretch ter, Ethel, was helping my stepmother clean out on the grass, lie flat on his back, and up the attic. A Swedish Bible lay in with close his eyes. some other books. My stepmother opened "Better days are coming," he would sigh. it and saw some handwriting inside the I can recall driving the horses while he cover. She asked Ethel to read it. It read, would guide the plow. The land was very "To my little daughter, Ethel, may God be stony, and he would get a jolt whenever-the with you always." plow hit a rock. We managed to clear about "Your mother died from tuberculosis," four acres with a lot of perspiration and my stepmother said. "That book is filled frustration. Finally we had it ready for cul- with germs; take it downstairs and throw tivation. We planted potatoes and the grain it in the fire." was sown by hand. The soil was rich, and Downcast, Ethel took the Bible down- the crops flourished. When the time came stairs. She opened the lid on the kitchen for the harvest, the grain was cut witha stove and pretended she had thrown it in. horse-drawn mower. Then it was raked into Then she took the Bible and hid it under bunches, tied into bundles, and shocked. her bed. Later on she moved it to a different My father taught me how to do the shock- hiding place. She still has the Bible to this ing. The trick was to pile the bundles on day. end, and lean them against each other in the shape of a wigwam. The tops had to face the sun so that the grain would ripen. Making the shocks stand up was a dis- appointing experience for me. 1 would dream about this at night. One night I had a night- My father had saved a little money mare, got up, and began shocking grain in from his job in the lumber woods during my sleep. the winter of 1918. That spring he decided One threshing machine served all the lo- to buy a p!.:ce of land about one mile from cal farmers, and we helped each other thresh. the village. His plan was to develop this I went over to help our neighbor, big John land into a farm and build a home on it. it Mattson, with his threshing. At the end of covered forty acres, with about one acre the day he said, "Arvid, you handle those cleared for cultivation. One half of the land bags of grain just like a man. I'm going to was a tamarack swamp. The remainder was pay you a man's wages." He made me feel covered with brush and stumps. The tama- important. Our soil was rich and our crops racks proved to be a good source for fire- were bountiful. Besides potatoes and grain, wood, which we used for both cooking and we grew red clover and alfalfa hay. We built 140 i 1., ,..? ^ "A" Folklife Annual 1986 146 a protective cover for our hay. It was noth- won a trip to the Michigan State Fair at ing more than a roof made with boards and Detroit. The trip was sponsored by the supported with posts and braces. county to the three boys with the highest I helped my father to plant a little or- grades. The County Agricultural Agent was chard on our land. We had about a dozen our escort. We left Iron Mountain, Michi- apple trees and a few plum trees. gan, by train in a sleeping car. The drawing There was no time for play during our room was assigned to us. This was a private school vacations. We were busy every day room, accommodating several people in one raising food in some way. My sister and I end of the car. picked a lot of berries. Raspberries and Three days were spent at the fair viewing blueberries were easy to find in that area. all the shows and exhibitions. On the fourth Many berries missed the pail by being tossed day we left for home in a new Model T into our mouths. Most of the families in Ford. The County Agent bought this car the village had a cow or two. These cows while we were in Detroit and drove us back were allowed to roam at will. They were home in it. I can remember passing through not fenced in. Each cow had a bell around Manitowoc on our way home. We stopped its neck so that we could find them at milk- at a restaurant on Eighth Street for a lunch. ing time. We had a cow that seemed to be While we were eating we saw a young man a leader. Other cows would follow her dash out of the restaurant without paying wherever she would go. She loved to eat his bill. wild onion and would go deep into the woods searching for it. When this happened, it was hard to find where the cows had gone. That's when the bells caninto play. I developed an car for music trying to SL_ chool did havesome exciting mo- locate our cowbell. I would listen intently ments. During recess time, we played a game for a tinkling sound somewhere in the dis- called scheeney. It was a game similar to tance. Often I found they had strayed far hockey but played without skates. To pre- away from the quiet village. After many cow- pare for this game, each boy had to have a hunting trials, 1 learned to distinguish our club with a hook on the towel end. A nearby bell, even when it was mixed with many woods provided us with these clubs. By cut- other bells. ting the sticks off below the ground along Once in the early morning, and then again the roots, we found the desired hook for in the evening, a young, barefoot by in our clubs. A tin can was used in place of a tattered overalls could be seen bringing a puck. In the process of a hard hitting game, herd of cows into the village. this can would be hammered into a ball Rain or shine, I was that boy. shaped puck. It was not unusual for some- Although I missed the fourth grade by one to be injured when struck by a club or being in the lumber camp, I was placed in by this flying can. the fifth grade with the other kids my age In the wintertime, we often had to start in the Fetch Township School. our game on a field of fresh snow. After Miss Novak was my teacher throughout playing for some time, the snow would be the fifth and sixth grades. Besides teaching packed into a hard surface. us the three R's, she taught us manual Another picture of my school days lin- training. There were no male teachers at gers in my mind. A girl with pitch black that time. It was an amusing sight to see hair sat in front of me in school. I could see Miss Novak sawing and planing boards, but the head lice crawling around in it. Some- she did teach us how to make things from times a louse would fall off her head onto wood. She also taught a course in agricul- my desk. I would crush it with my pen. ture. I seemed to excel in this course. Help- Bathing facilities did not exist in our home ing my father on our farm and my daily job nor in the homes of my schoolmates. Swim- of getting the cows seemed to help me with ming in the summertime was the only way this study. As a result of my good marks, I we had a chance to 1athe.

-S. 149 Via Dolorosa 147 I began to feel very illin school one catalog of pins showing various colors and morning. Miss Novak noticed my discom- designs. We made a selection and soon we fort and came over to my desk and said, were sporting some fancy pins with the in- "Arvid, you better go home. I can see you scription, "S.S." are getting the measles." "What does that mean?" the kids would I was glad to be excused and sadly dragged ask us. myself home. My stepmother was standing "It means we belong to the Silent Seven," on the back porch near a rain barrel. we would tell them. "It's a very secret or- "What's the matter with you?" she asked ganization." in an angry voice. Our gang holed up in the old saloon and "I'm sick and I want to go to bed," I whiled away many ha _s shooting pool. replied. A group of the local girls got their heads "Hand me that empty pail by the pump," together and cooked up an idea to use the she commanded with a sly look. Silent Seven for some entertainment. Esther I got the pail and passed it up to her on Lindstrom was the spokesman for the girls. the porch. Quickly she dipped the pail into She approached Albin and said, "We girls the barrel, pulled it out, and dumped the would like to go for a hayride with the Si- water over me. She said nothing more, but lent Seven." We discussed the possibilities her eyes blazed with hatred. I dawdled into at our next meeting. One of the boys, George the house, undressed, and tumbled into bed. Wickman, said, "I'll ask my dad for the horses and a rack full of hay." By the following Saturday night we were all set for the ride. When the girls arrived, George asked Esther, "Where do you want to go?" "Let's go to Foster City," she answered. an you imagine me being a member "Foster is only five miles from here. We can of a notorious gang? Well here is how it have some ice cream and pop there and then happened. we'll come back." Albin Hegman, a classmate of mine, as- "Okay," we said, and we set off with the pired to become a leader. He was our "idea" horses on a trot. We had a good time for a man. while singing songs like "Oh! What a Pal "Let's organize a gang," he said. "There was Mary," "The Old Gray Mare," "It Ain't are seven of us, so we'll call our gang the Gonna Rain No More," and "Barney Goo- Silent Seven." gle.VI "Where can we meet?" 1 asked 'dm. When we arrived at Foster City, we pulled "We'll meet in the old pool hall," he said. up in front of the ice cream parlor. A gang "Harold Solberg has a key that fits the back of boys came out to meet us. They were door. We'll meet there tonight." very friendly with our girls, and it soon be- The pool hall was an abandoned saloon came evident that they had been expecting with two pool tables in it. The front door this visit. The girls climbed out of the hay had a large padlock on it, but the back door rack, paired up v ith the boys and vanished could be opened with a skeleton key. We into the darkness. Surprised at this turn of got together and sneaked in at dusk. There events, rejected and dejected, we turned the were no lights in the old saloon, Our meet- horses around and headed for home. ing was a very spooky affair. We must have Now we were a very Silent Seven. frightened the rats out of the building. Members at that time were: Albin Heg- Albin was elected president. I became the man, Axel Hegman, Harold Solberg, Pally treasurer. It was my duty to collect five cents Solberg, Arvid Asp lund, Wally Brand- per week from each member. In due time strom, and George Wickman, our treasury swelled to several dollars. We The Zion Lutheran Church was the only decided we ought to have some appropriate established church near our home. The pins to designate our membership. Albin membership was all of Scandinavian de- answered an ad in a magazine and got a scent, and the services were held in the

150 Folklife Annual 1986 148 Swedish language. Although my father was spent working as a chore boy. There were not able to give any financial support to about thirty men working at this camp. I this church, he did urge me to become a had to keep the men's shack clean, carry in Lutheran. wood and water, clean the barn where the horses were kept, and also helped the cook by setting and waiting on tables and washing the dishes. When the camp broke up that spring, I received a check for $120. The summer of 1923 was spent going Until then I didn't know the amount of my to confirmation school. We had to study pay. It was one dollar per day plus board. and memorize the Swedish catechism. My I went home and gave the whole stake to confirmation took place on October 14, my father. He cashed the check and gave 1923. A Swedish Bible was given to me at me some of the money to buy some new that time. It was signed by the Reverend clothes. I got a ride to Iron Mountain in G. A. Ostergren, and my memory verse was my stepbrother's new Ford. We went to from the first book of Corinthians, chapter Solberg's Tailor Shop where my Uncle 1, paragraph 30: Werner worked as a tailor. He fitted me out with a new suit and then took me to a store But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of for shoes and a cap. I went home feeling God is made unto us wisdom, and right- like a millionaire, for up to this time I had eousness and sanctification and redemp- been wearing cast-off clothing. tion.

The pages of my Swedish Bible have turned yellow with age. With grammar school and confirmation behind me, I decided to try to earn my own In the fall of 1924, I went back to school. living. At home my sister and I were being It was a small high school, and the ninth tongue-lashed and buffeted constantly by grade was taught by Miss Olga Johnson. my stepmother. The house had become She was very proficient in Latin. She could crowded by two new additions to the fam- speak it, read it, and write it, as well as ily. 1 was anxious to get out. I learned about English. She would drive to school in a a man who was building a new lumber Model-T roadster. During the cold, winter camp, and I went to see him. months, she would ask me to warm the car "Do you need a chore boy for your new up for her. It had to be cranked and it was camp?" I asked him. rather difficult to get started. Only one boy "Yes, 1 do need a chore boy," he said. besides myself attended high school. It %vas "But you are too young; you should go back unusual at that time in that area for boys to school." to go to school beyond the eighth grade. "I don't want to go back to school;I It was deemed necessary for boys to go want to earn some money," I answered. to work to relieve the poverty of their "Well," he said, "I'll talk to your father families. about it." By the time I finished the ninth grade, my A few days later my dad told me John clothes were in a deplorable condition. I Mattson talked to him and said he would was wearing clothes that had belonged to like to have me as a chore boy for his camp. another uncle of mine. He had been killed "Can I go?" I asked him. in an auto accident, and his clothes were "Yes," he said, "You can go. You will passed on to me. The fact that they were get lots of good food at the camp and you much too big made no difference. That'sall can earn some money for your clothes I had to wear. I also was chumming around you sure do need some clothes." with boys who were working and had money I lost no time walking up to the camp, to spend. I had none. This bothered me, so about six miles from home. That winter was I decided to go to work again.

1 5 Via Dolorosa 149 There was an opening on the railroad for This is the sawmill at Sa- and face powders. My father worked at this gola, Michigan, where I a section hand. I got that job. It paid four quarry as a driller and dynamiter. He would worked in the winter of dollars per day. That was big money to me. drill holes into the cliff, fill them with dy- 1927. This is a copy of a My stepmother seemed pleased that I would namite and blast down big chunks of rock. 1911 picture. now be able to pay for my board. It occurs Our job was to break down the big rocks to me now that I never noticed my step- Tins is a pictureofthe into smaller pieces with a twelve-pound Boarding House for the brother paying for his board. I suspect that sledge. The rocks were then loaded into a employees of the sawmill he was allowed to save all his money for a car on a narrow gauge track and hoisted at Sago la, Michigan. It was new car. He bought a new Model-T and up to a crusher. The dust in this crusher taken in the 1920s. 1 paid for it in cash. was so thick it was hard to see for more worked there in 1927. Working as a section hand on the rail- than two feet. In those days, men were not This is the boarding house road was hard work. We had :o lift steel required to wear protective masks. The re- 1 slept in while working at rails and heavy hardwood ties. Spikes had sult was that we had difficulty in breathing the sawmill in 1927. I'm to be driven into these ties with a heavy when our nostrils became caked with dust the boy with his head in the window. Some of my sledgehammer. Tracks had to be lined up from crushing stone. I didn't feel any ill roommates are sitting on with jacks and crowbars. I was glad to be effects from this job at that time. However, the roof of the porch. a:Jle to earn the money, however. forty years later I got a jolting surprise. I A dance was held each Saturday night had been to the sanatorium at Whitelaw, somewhere in the area. I hung around but Wisconsin, for a routine TB test required was too bashful to try to dance. Then one for my job. I was notified a week later to night someone gave me a couple drinks of come back for another check. Anxiety crept moonshine. It made me feel hilarious; it gave over me. me courage; I asked a girl for a dance. I "Have you ever worked in a very dusty enjoyed the night immensely. A trip to get place or a foundry of some kind?" the nurse some more moonshine became a Saturday asked me. night ritual thereafter. "Yes," I answered, "I spent some months My work on the section ended with the working in a stone quarry crushing rocks arrival of the fall season. I soon found an- when I was a very young man." other job as a chore boy at Ryan's Camp. "That's what must have caused it," she Walter Rodomski was the cook for this said. "You have silicon spots in your lungs. outfit. Besides being a very good cook, he We'll place you on our outpatient treat- was a cheerful man who loved to play itis ment for one year." cornet. He would use his horn to call the Several checkups followed, and I was fi- men at mealtime. When the men worked nally released, but I was advised to have an too far away from camp to come in at noon, annual checkup thereafter. I would haul the food out to them in an old Model-T. Riding that car over the rough logging roads was like riding on the back of a bullfrog. When the teamsters came in at night, I had to pump water for their thirsty horses. They would suck it up as fast as I It was 1927 and the Stone Quarry had could pump it up. The well was very deep, closed for the winter. The holidays had and it was hard to pump. Sometimes I grew passed. The days were cold, and the village so tired from pumping I felt that I might was desolate. Some of my friends had gone faint. away to find jobs in a sawmill at Sagola, With the coining of spring, the camp broke Michigan, about thirty miles from Felch. I up and once again I went home with a stake decided to strike out for Sagola. The hiring of about $120. boss at the mill assigned me to a cleanup A stone quarry had begun operations near job on the night shift. I got a room at the the village, and I went there for a job. It company boarding house, which I shared was a white granite type of rock, and when with three other boys. Two of the boys crushed it was used for stucco and also made worked on the day shift, so they slept in into various kinds of powder, like talcum this room at night. The other boy and I

Folklife Annual 1936 150 I9.) rf4, l oc:,.1... 11411114

""161 fir -

it worked nights so we used the same bed We located our friend at Two Rivers and during the day. arranged for room and board at the same The mill was running twenty-four hours place. It was Sunday, the middle of March, a day and employed about fifty men. This 1927, and I had reached my nineteenth large crew made the condition at the board- birthday. ing house very crowded. The bed linen and Monday morning we began to search for woolen blankets were never changed, and some work. We trudged to all the local in- the place became a nightmare with bedbugs dustries but found the answers negative. and lice. Rats were a common sight, feed- "We are not hiring today," the employ- ing around the piles of garbage at the out- ment managers would tell us. We made the door privies. A perpetual poker game was rounds daily for five weeks without any going on in a dirty lounge. The characters success. By this time construction work was playing poker looked like aimless, hopeless, opening up. The Streu Construction Com- homeless men. I would fall asleep in my pany was paving Forest Avenue. The Mu- chair, watching them play, avoiding my nicipalHospital was being built. The lousy bed as much as possible. Washington Street Bridge was under con- When spring arrived, the hauling of logs struction. We were standing by watching slowed down, and the mill began to lay off the progress on the bridge one day when workers. We were notified that the night the foreman looked at me and said, "Hey, shift would be discontinued. Once again I you, big boy, do you want to go to work? was faced with a dilemma. Where should I I have a job for you, but I can't use the go now? Lawrence Bishop, a friend of mine, other two because they look too young for gave me the answer. He said, "I know a this work." boy who went to Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The next day I went to work at the bot- He writes to me and tells me that jobs are tom of the coffer dam digging out the dirt easy to find down there." to make way for the foundation of the "Let's go down there and look things bridge. My two friends, Bishop and Fill- over," I answered, with a ring of hope in back, became very discouraged and decided my voice. to go back home. A man who lived at our "Sure, and we'll take Fillback along with boarding house had a car. He said he would us," Bishop said. take them as far as Green Bay. Having no Fillback was another roommate of ours. money they decided to hitch a ride on a We got together and decided we ought freight train going north. After dark, their to get cleaned up and deloused before we opportunity came along; and they climbed left Sago la. We did some shopping for some into an open box car. They made it home. new clothes at the company store. Then we went to the clubhouse showers. It was the first bath for any of us since we had been swimming the previous summer. We put on our new clothing and tied up our old ones in a bundle. Not knowing where to discard our old clothes, we carried them outside Thereafter my life began to change. 1 and placed them on the porch. Then we had a job, and I was no longer a derelict. I went back into the clubhouse for some ice soon found a girlfriend who loved me, and cream. When we came out, a pair of dogs I loved her, but that will have to be a dif- were having a tug of war in the street with ferent story. our old clothes. That solved our problem. My mother and a brother are buried at Literally, we gave our clothes to the dogs. Iron River, Michigan. On Memorial Day, We boarded a train at Sago la which took some years ago, we decided to visit the grave us to Green Bay, Wisconsin. After a long site. Since we had traveled the main route wait at the depot, another train came and many times, we changed our plan of direc- we rode it to Manitowoc. At Manitowoc, tion by taking a new route. Changes in the we got a ride on a streetcar to Two Rivers. scenery soon began taking place. We dis-

4 r ft Folklife Annual 1986 1t) 41 152 covered some small picturesque lakes for attendant asked. "The old one or the new which the north country is noted. A deep one?" sense of nostalgia crept over me like tin- "It must be the old one," I answered. gling wine. it seemed as if I could smell the "My mother died here in 1914." We were logs as we drove by a logging operation. not far from it, and after following his sim- Summer was approaching and the logs were ple 6 -ctions we soon located the place. being hauled by trucks. I remembered the After searching the area, we came upon my days that I had spent in the lumber woods, mother's grave. I was surprised to find it when logs could only be hauled in the win- had not been neglected. The grass had been ter time on logging sleds drawn by heavy cut and a rosebush grew near the monu- horses. ment. It stood a silent symbol of devotion. As we drove into Stambaugh, Michigan, The years had caused the ground around we passed the school where I had attended the stone to settle and it leaned forward as kindergarten. The old red building beck- if it were begging for a lift.I found some oned to me, but my wife didn't seem to small rocks and by pushing the stone back- notice it. It was recess time and I could hear wards, I tucked the rocks underneath. That the shouts and laughter of the kids. It took made it level again. As I stood by mother's me back more than sixty years. Seeing the grave, I thought what a proud grandmother new buildings near the old one brought me she would be today! She would be telling back to reality. I had been away for a long everyone about her seven grandchildren, time, cutting my wisdom teeth and turning their schooling and their successful careers, gray. and the great grandchildren who followed. We drove into Iron River, Michigan, Then I know for certain she would not for- which is situated below Stambaugh Hill. The get to tell you how good the Lord has been city seemed very strange to me. Since I didn't to her family. know where to find the cemetery, I inquired I said to myself, "Mother, yours was a at a filling station. short .mci hard life, but you did not die in "Which one are you looking for," the vain."

1 1*-- 0--

Via Dolorosa 153 Symposiumon the Life Story BY EDWARD D. IVES, ROGER E. MITCHELL, JANE C. BECK, BARRY LEE PEARSON, JEFF TODD TITON, JUHA YRJANA. PENTIKAINEN, AND YVONNE HIIPAICKA LOCKWOOD

Introduction

An old and battered copy of Baron de Jomini's Szonnzary of the Art of War. It had once belonged to one Edwin S. Bab- cock, and I had picked it up for a dime, not for any particular interest I had in Jomini or in Babcock either, whose name meant nothing to mebut for what I had found penned on the flyleaf under Babcock's military pedigree:

I was in the column which crossed the Long Bridge from Washington to Virginia in the spring of 1861, and threw up Fort Runyon Long Bridge, Washington, at the junction of the Orange & Alexandria D.C., the 1860s (B8184-B- Roadsand also in the column of Weitzels 266). Prints and Photo- Division, 25th Army Corps which entered graphs Division, Library of Richmond on the morning of April 3rd 1865 Congress d' bivouacked at Confederate Battery No 9 of the Defences oi Richmond.

156 Folklife Annual 1986 154 ) 7 Symposium on the Life Story 155 The hand that wrote that note was older shadow of that approaching iniquity, is one than the one that had neatly and proudly more expression of what Wallace Stevens laid out his rise from private to acting field called our "blessed rage for order," and a officer; the writing is crabbed and the words very touching one it is. crowded, almost running off the page at the Given wellsprings as deep and powerful end. In my mind's eye, I saw an old man as all that, it is not surprising to find the consideringthatyouthful and abstract autobiographical impulse very much alive pedigree and wanting to leave something on all levels of society and in all walks of more, something that said "I was there.... life. Always and everywhere there are those I ate the dust of that road," like wonderful whofor any number of complex rea- old Bernal Diaz del Castillo's "That which sonslook on life as something not only I have myself seen and the fighting." Who to be lived but also to be told about, not was Babcock writing for, I wondered, that only as experience but also as the raw ma- I should come upon him amongst an odd terials for their art. For most such people lot in an outdoor bookstall a century later? the oral tradition"yarning"is the only That was beyond all conjecture, but I doubt medium in which they work; the best de- that it mattered much compared to his need velop local reputations as great storytellers, simply to get something down against the the worst are known as bores. But occa- approach of what Sir Thomas Browne called sionally there are thoseand they are not "the iniquity of oblivion." "1 was in the always the yarners eitherwho seek a larger column...." For Babcock, evidently that canvas. They want to show mere than the was enough, but, whether it was or not, oral anecdote can offer: sequence, connect- that was all there was. edness, even causality. These are the ones However, it has not always been enough, who turn to the written word, who decide and consequently autobiography is a well- to "write a book"; they sit down at the established literary genrean account either kitchen table, pencil in hand, and in the of one's entire life or of a significant part course of a week or a month or a year they of it.Traditionally autobiographies are grind out a smallthough sometimes not written by the illustrious or demi-illus- so smallpile of manuscript. Once in a while triousit is almost aresponsibility for such a manuscript gets published, or a friend statesmen to write their "memoirs"to- or relative will type it over for handing ward the end of long and busy lives, and around the family or the neighborhood; but their overt motives have been many: to set most likely the manuscript is put in an en- the record straight, to justify their ways to velope marked "Grampy's 'book' " and put men, to make money for themselves or their away somewhere, because while no one posterity, etc. Always, of course, they are really wants to throw it away, no one quite backward looks, and inevitably that means, knows what the next step should be. And as both Jeff Titon and Barry Pearson point there it sits until, as fortune may fall, some- out in their commentaries, fictions, things thing like a junketing folklorist happens made to show how the authors see them- upon it. selves or wish others to see them. In no sense does that mean that such documents are not "true"; it means that no one can either "tell it all" or "tell it like it was," simply because there is far too much to tell. One must select, presenting as coherent and sequential what was at best inchoate and 14Herein Maine, that is how it was for confusing. No account of the past will be Fleetwood Pride. Convinced he had lived as complex and multiple as that past was an adventurous life as a woodsman, he sat when it was present, and thereforewhat- down at age ninety to write about it. "I ever motives one may have or claim for have worked shoulder to shoulder with men writing itautobiography, hammered out who were men," he said. "They smoked as it usually is late in the game under the pipes and wore braces and didn't spend half

1 0.- r.,o Folklife Annual 1986 156 their time lighting cigarettes and hitching sons for concentrating so exclusively on the up their pants."' Five years later, when 1 hardships of his early years, and that leads was up visiting him for the first time, his him into a discussion of the differences be- wife handed me a big envelope full of tween biography and autobiography as ap- manuscript, wondering what the chances proaches to a life. Jeff Titon touches on this were of getting it published. And that was same subject, emphasizing how the work is also how it was for Wilbur Day, hunter, both a historical document (i.e. "true") and guide, and poacher, who wanted to make a fiction, and then he goes on to show the it clear to the world that he was not the importance of stepmother and separation "great big spill blood desperardo repre- imagery to the narrative. Both he and Jane sented by some" and therefore dictated his Beck discuss the increasing interest folklor- story to his wife just before he died. Then ists are showing in individual life histories, for forty years the manuscript sat in John and then Beck points up the special value and Alice Bacon's shed, stuffed into an old of the written as opposed to the oral life wooden ammunition box, until one of my history. Yvonne Lockwood and Juha Pen- students happened upon it.2 And that is al- tikainen emphasize the ethnic dimensions most how it was for Arvid Asp lund, except of the narrative, while Barry Pearson brings that he took matters more into his own us back for further looks at the author's hands. shaping spirit, which selects and arranges Mr. Asp lund says that he originally while "telling the truth." All six pay Mr. thought of "Via Dolorosa" as a story for Asplund the compliment of taking his se- his children to read, but he admitted to rious effort very seriously indeed, respect- Roger Mitchell that always in the back of ing it for what it is without subjecting it, his mind he had known "I got a story to say, to some precious and irrelevant standard tell." After he retired he got busy on it, of literary excellence. In this they show seeking help from his local senior center to themselves good folklorists. begin with and then taking that mysterious If our scholars come through as good "next step" himself by following up a no- craftsmen, Arvid Asplund comes through tice he had seen about Folk life Annual. Li- as a good human being, one of E. M. Fors- brary of Congress archivist Gerry Parsons ter's aristocracy of the decent and plucky. suggested the format to editor Jim Hardin Against the dark of that always coming on that of text with commentaries. Mr. As- iniquity, his "Via Dolorosa" glows as a plund found that agreeable, and here we are. candle, and such small affirming flames as The commentaries cover a number of im- hisand the even smaller one of that old portant matters and can offer the reader soldier Edwin Babcockcan light our way some good examples of the range of inter- by letting us know we go in good company. ests folklorists can have in a document like "Via Dolorosa." Roger Mitchell gives us an account of his visit with Mr. Asp lund, which EDWARD D. IVES he undertook to explore the author's rea- University of Maine at Orono

NOTES

1. Edward D. Ives and David C. Smith, eds., 2. Wilbur Day's "Autobiography" will be Fleetwood Prude 186-1-1960: The Autobiogra- published soon as volume 26of Northeast Folk- phy of a Maine Woodsman. Northeast Folklore lore. 9 (Orono, Maine: 1967), 16.

5 9 Symposium on the Life Story 157 Despite All That greater part of Asplund's working life did not appear to weigh heavily on his mind. He did them successfully, brought up his family, and prepared for old age. The De- pression he also disposed of with a few words: "I did anything I could. I had four kids and always had in the back of my mind: a wife to support, but we made it." I got a story to tell. After I retired, I had During the time spent in a creative writ- time to tell it." ing class, Asplund prepared as assignments Thus, with words as lean and fit as his written histories of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, frame, Arvid Asplund responded to my and his local church, along with an account query as to what inspired him to retrace his of what it was like to be a family man dur- youth in "Via Dolorosa." Yet as the morning the Depression years. In our long inter- ing wore on, it became apparent that there view, Asplund and I matched stories of was much more he could have told. His lumbering in Maine (my home state) and well-kept house, yard, and car ("Do my own in Michigan. We shared many points of work."), his quiet pride in his children's similarity, and Asplund came through as a success, his graciousness as a host, his poise man who knows the art of old-fashioned during a long interview, all evidenced a man lumbering well. But both in person and in who was at ease with his several competen- his autobiography, he does not appear to cies. be a man to dwell on the mechanics of hard He has worn many hats throughout a long work and hard times. What it boils down life at work. In addition to the tasks de- to is, that which could be solved with hard scribed in "Via Dolorosa," Asplund la- work and careful planning, he had always bored thirteen years in a furniture factory. been able to do. ("We worked a fifty-hour week. Five nine- Nor does Arvid Asplund appear much hour days and five hours on Saturday. It drawn by ties of ethnicity. When we dis- seemed like heaven to hive Saturday after- cussed the Swedish background of his Fin- noons off.") Came World War II and he nish ancestors, he observed that therewas moved to a defense-related job in a ma- a fairly large Swedish-speaking minority in chine shop. ("I had four kids and a perfo- Finland, but gave little indication that he rated eardrum. The Army just didn't want saw this as having any particular signifi- me.") After the war, he sold insurance for cance. ("Father said it was because of some awhile and drove a school bus. But his wife war a long time ago. It was before his time.") didn't like all the evening hours. He then So much for Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion tried his hand as a shipping clerk for Mirro of the North, centuries of Swedish domi- Aluminum Company. ("I didn't like that.") nance, and the counter-currents of Finnish His last job was working in a hardware nationalism. Like many contemporary fam- store. ("That included two nights a week, ilies of immigrant backgrounds, the As- and I was able to work my hours so as to plunds have recently gotten in touch with keep driving the school bus.") He contin- relatives in both Finland and Sweden, and ued this double routine until 1972, when a daughter and granddaughter are planning much to his surprise, he had a heart attack. a trip to Europe to visit relatives this sum- ("It was then I realized I was getting too mer (1985). But Arvid's recounting of all old to work two jobs. So I slowed down this was restrained. Ethnicity was a starting and my heart hasn't bothered me since.") point and influenced his early years, but he He dropped the bus route and retired a has outgrown it. year later (1973) from the hardware store. A major reason for my arranging an in- But not completely. He still works one day terview with Mr. Asplund was to see if I a week at the store and fills in when some- could gain some perspective as to why he one is sick or on vacation. His comment: had devoted so much attention to the early "It makes it nice for everyone." portion of his life and so little to the latter. But these several jobs which took up the Once he had met and married the present

IGO Folklife Annual 1986158 Mrs. Asp lund, things became, according to fair day's work for a fair day's pay. "But "Via Dolorosa," another story. you made your position very clear in I'm a Asp lund's choice of title tells it all. It was Manthat Works,"he protested. (Roger E. indeed a hard beginning and, saddest of all, Mitchell,"I'm a Man that Works": The there was precious little he could do during Biography of Don Mitchell of Merrill, his early years to escape. But once he had Maine, Northeast Folklore19, 1978.) started a family of his own, he and his wife Father's response was, "Sure, I said those could, through devotion, hard work, and things at one time or another. But the boy planning, mold events much more to their put them together. If it'd been left up to liking. When Arvid stopped to look over me, it never would have got put together. memory's shoulder, it was that early por- I'm no good at that sort of thing." tion of his life that violated his concept of Had he put it together, he doubtless would how things should be, and his telling of it have left out many parts that I as his son became an expiation of sorts. He could say felt were necessary to the full story. And he to his posterity, "I didn't have the best of probably would have built up others that starts, but I made it." would have emphasized things about him that I missed. Here we have the basic difference between biography and autobiography. My biography of my father has a lot of me in 1 it. But Arvid Asplund poured out himself his brings us to the value of the life in "Via Dolorosa," and, in so doing, re- history, or the folk autobiography, if you veals another facet of the hard story of im- will. Unlike such disciplines as sociology, migration. So very often the immigrant with its highly quantitative approach, we found only more hard work in the land of who work with folklore- folklife materials opportunity, but he could at least hope that are vulnerable to prejudicing our data along his children would do better. However, As- the lines of whatever took us into the field plund's father was in a doubly difficult po- in the first place. If ethnicity is our focus, sition. His wife had been long sick, and in in our interviewing of the Arvid Asplunds her passing left him two children to rear, we concentrate on this topic; and then writ- an impossible task for a day laborer. He ing up the results, we may well make more turned to a traditional solutionthe mar- of our modest ethnic data than Arvid would riage of convenienceand got the tradi- himself. tional resultthe unkind stepmother, one In addition to imposing our own focus of the oldest motifs in world folklore. on our subjects' memories of things past, As Arvid Asplund looks back from his we doubtless make a longer and more nearly comfortable middle-class perspective, he can complete story of it all. With our academic say, "But despite all that, I made it." And training, we want a beginning, a rising ac- in telling his story, he can reaffirm the old tion, a resolution, an end; and with enough values of perseverance and hard work. As interviews, we can make it come out that he pointed out to me, he had originally way. But we can very easily in our crafts- meant this story for his children and his manship overshadow the basic chapter that children's children, but he didn't doubt there may well have made the man. were some things of value there if others When a visiting Israeli sociologist, dis- wanted to read it. turbed by the waning of the work ethic in There are indeed. Israel, began to probe my father about his attitudes concerning self-sufficiency, he was somewhat upset that Father did not come ROGER E. MITCHELL through with a ringing statement about a University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

1; G 1 .... Symposium on the Life Story 159 ,

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162 Folklife Annual 1986 160 Within the Family been made available to himis the written life story. These narratives are usually coin - piled because the author wants to leave a record for his children and grandchildren. Mostly these dor...4mm are treasured within the family, and they seldom reach a wider or some time now folklorists have been audience. interested in collecting individuals' life sto- While interviewing extensively in Ver- ries.' These stories, told by a diverse as- mont, I have been made aware of a number sortment of men and women, are usually of these documelas. Almost all are written selected because the folklorist sees them as late in life, widr an emphasis on what an keys to understanding a particular group or individual has doneincidents and events community. Although each individual has he has taken part in rather than his inner unique qualities, he shares lifestyles, work thoughts and feelings. The written life story and social patterns, and traditions and cus- appears to be less obviously concerned with toms which link him to a larger group. presenting a self-conscious image of the A life story cuts across the various genres narrator than that which emerges from a of folklore and places such genres in a nat- series of oral interviews .3 Perhaps this is ural context. It underscores the values and because the writer's audience is his family attitudes that lie at the inner core of the who already know him well. individual and expresses the view of the A typical introduction is: narrator as he depicts those incidents that were important to him and that he holds Living in two worlds as I have, is aprivi- most significant to his life. legefew can share. The generation now A number of life stories within a region growing up has no idea what life was like to live with no telephone, no electricity, no weave a pattern, much like a memory quilt, gas engines, not any radio, no television and produce an understanding of the area. where we could watch a murder a minute. For that reason, when interviewing for the Neither was there any waxedpaper, and Vermont Folk life Center's archives I look no plastic. for the individual who might be represen- In this little collection ofincidents, one tative of a particular occupation, like farm- could hardly call them stories, I have tried to tell those that came after me what life ing or slate quarrying, and who is willing was like when I was growing up. to talk about his life in relation to his oc- I dedicate this to my great grandchildren, cupation. Preferably, I want a narrator who and all the clan.4 Daisy Turner, 102-year-old native Vermonter, whose needs little prompting and is descriptive and life story has been col- knowledgeable in his detail. A number of The written life story has certain obvious lected by Jane Beck. Daisy such interviews help the researcher better differences from its oral counterpart. It is Turner's father came to understand the traditional culture of Ver- solely the work of the individual who lived Grafton, Vermont, in 1872 mont. the lifehis own unprompted reflections. with a number of ex-slave:. to work in the lumber Frequently the folklorist takes a number Although primarily written for those clos- woods. Her family history of these tape-recorded interviews, edits them, est to him, the account also serves as a graven spans two hundred years, adds chronological order, and presents the image of his life for future generations. It from Africa to a farm in whole as an autobiography of the narra- consists of a collection of incidents that the Vermont which is the set- tor.2 To my mind such life stories are im- individual feels are the most significant to ting for her own life story. portant to folklore scholarship, but one must him and to his life as a whole. Because of Photograph by Jane Beck be aware of their shortcomings: the influ- the mediumthe written %%ordincidents ence of the interviewer and his questions, are more clearly articulated, although fre- the selective editing process, and the per- quently without the wealth of detail con- sonality of the narrator himselfhow he versation might evoke. Perhaps of greatest views his own life in retrospect. interest to the folklorist is the way the nar- A second type of life story to which the rator views his life, what he considers im- folklorist has given little consideration in pormt and how he interprets various in- the pastlargely because few of these have cidents. This meaning is derived by filtering

Symposium on the Life Story 161 items through traditions and attitudes shared tional and physical hardship. Asplund's with those people he is writing about. parents came to this land of promise only "Via Dolorosa" is an excellent example to face a life of continual trial and endur- of the written life story. Arvid Asplund, after ance. His mother succumbed at the age of retiring from work, writes of his first twenty twenty-eight while his father encouraged his years. With retirement comes time and the son with "better days are coming." The first inclination to search out some of his family two decades of young Asplund's life did not histo1y and to tell the story of "long family seem to give much credence to this hope hardships." For the folk;orisi the expres- and consisted of hard work, loneliness, sion of the immigrant and first-generation poverty, and hostility at home. Despite the experience is of interesthis schooling, the hardships of his early life and those of his jobs he held, the activities he singled out, parents, by his reth,ment Asplund can re- detaili about the food, folk cures, and folk affirmthe importance of his iong-dead speech. Bur of even greater interest is the mother and the successes of her grandchil- meaning Asplund gives his own life in ret- dren. His mother did not live in vain. De- rospect. Interestingly, he has little knowl- spite the painful beginning, the family has edge of Finland; in fact he must turn toa triumphed. They can take their placeas cookbook to give him the details he feels Americans, hold their heads high, andac- he needs. His father's story starts with his knowledge their debt to those forebears who trip to this country, or at least this is what made this possible. Asp lund's memory recalls. By writing this account of his first twenty years, Asplund has dealt with what it meant to be the son of Finnish immigrants. He has gi..,en us an insider's view of his way of life, and in his last years he has come to terms with that life, giving it meaning for himself Athe end of his life Asplund is in- and future generations through the percep- terested in knowing more details. He had tions of his own folk culture. been away a long time, cutting his wisdom teeth and turning gray. Now he can put his first years into some perspective. What re- JANE C. BECK mains with him are those years of emo- Vermont Council on the Arts

NOTES

Life story is defined icy jeff Titon in "The Wayne Rend Bean, ed., Ale and Fannie, North- Life Story," Journal of American Folklore east Folklore 14 (1973); Julia A. Hunter, ed., 93(1980):276, as "a person's story of his or her Anna May: Eighty-two Years in New England, life, or what he or she thinks is a significantpart Northeast Folklore 20 (1979); Jane C. Beck, To of that life personal narrative ..." Titon Windward of the Land (Bloomington, Ind.: In- is interested in its value as "a fiction" in dis- diana University Press, 1979). tinction to its value as a historical document. 3. During the interviewsI conducted with 2. Some examples arc Jeff Titon, From Blues Alexander Charles, a West Indian fisherman, he to Pop: The Autobiography of Leonard "Baby presented the image of himself as hero to me. Doo" Castor, JEMF Special Series,no. 4 (Los Often he would say to me, "If I wasn't a hero, Angeles: John B. Edwards Memorial Founda- I don't believe you would see me today." See tion, 1974); Bruce Jackson, A Thief s Primer Jane Beck, To Wiwi:yard of the Land. p. 268. (New York: Macmillan, 1969); Alan Lomax, 4. Bernice Douglas Reed, "The Old Birchard Mister Jelly Roll (New Yr,rk: Crossett and Dun- Place" (mannscn,1 typedfor children and lap, 1950); M. G. Smith, Dark Puritan (Ja- grandchildren's Christmas present, 1973). maica: University of the West Indies, 1963);

Folklife Annual 1986 162 Through Selective tives and private musing. His saga bows to Memory the conventions of the written word, but because he is a relatively entrained writer, it would probably be labeled "naive autobiography" by literary scholars. Like so many autobiographical documents, it focuses on how he became what !though most people do not write he is and then stops. In fact we could retitle such lengthy manuscripts, autobiographi- it "The Early Years of Struggle," because cal statements of some form, written or it essentially ends when his life took a turn spoken, longer or shorter, are fairly com- for the better. We assume there was more mon. People tell their story to set the record to his life, but perhaps his later experiences straight, to confess, to promote a cause, or did not tie in with the overall theme of to fulfill a sense of obligation to detail their hardship. Or perhaps he thought they would family history. If they happen to be celeb- not make good reading, or maybe he sim- rides or public figures they are likely to be ply got tired of writing, In any event he asked about themselves, and so they con- chose what to include, what to delete, where struct a version of their past which re- to start, where to stop. sponds in part to common questions they In contrast to his father's immigrant lore, encounter regarding their motivations, their which includes such common motifs as the influences, and the products for which they image of America as the land of milk and may be known. honey, the help of fellow countrymen who For example, my own work has been with have gone on ahead, details of the crossing blues musicians who not only maintain a and of rejoining the ethnic community public profile but are also typecast in rela- which project a sense of optimism even in tion to popular beliefs about their art form the face of failurethe author's story and their lifestyle. Since they are constantly presents a pessimistic view of immigrantlife, being asked about their lives, most have put where only the strong and the lucky sur- together cohesive and entertaining stories vive. He gives us a story of personstrug- detailing their musical adventures. Since their gle and endurance organized as a series of stories develop in part as a response to in- work experiences. From the mine, to the terviews, the stories corm: in spoken form. timber, to the farm, to the quarry, we see Moreover, the common questions enable the the round of life and work in terms of life's bluesman to develop a predictive awareness trials: cruelty, exhaustion, dirt, vermin, dis- of what pars of his lifeor rather his ease, and death. Although there are positive storyseem to turn people on. And since imageschildren's games and pastimes, he tells his story to an audience of sorts, drink, dancing, courtship, marriage, and the audience's immediate responses provide educationthe emphasisfalls on the hard further guidelines for what works, what en- life. tertains, or what confuses the listener. This, of course, reflects the author's e::- Mr. Asplund claims he wrote his account perience as well as his philosophy of life or to tell his story, the story of his family's his view of what his experiences mean. But hardships and the story of Finnish im- it also reflects his interpretation of what migrants. From this perspective his auto- makes for a good story. Looking back he biography embraces self, family, and re- reorders the past, bringing it into congru- gional ethnic group. However, it remains ence with his present self-image, his pur- essentiallyintrospective,apersonalac- posein writing the document, his narrative count written later in life when leisure and persona,and the extent of his ability to ma- spare time allowed it. nipulate the tone and style of the docu- Unlike the blues musician who tells his ment. What we see is the end result, expe- tale to an interviewer, Mr. Asp lund wrote rience translated through selective memory his autobiography on his own initiative, and onto the printed page, reworked, revised, it appears to be the result of personal mo- and edited into a coherent, workable text.

re 5 Symposium on the Life Story 163 Although the author stresses the work's tail to items in the artist's repertoire,pro- historical dimension"it is," he writes, viding a context of sorts for the materials "truth not fiction"historians may be un- they perform. Today folklorists aremore easy with his methods. For example, he uses apt to accept autobiography as a type of a cookbook for his primary source con- traditional document inits own right. cerning Finland. More to the point, he uses Nevertheless we still encounter a wide range his memory, or on occasion his memory of of approaches to the subject, dependingon his father's memories of the past, to recon- the folklorist's specific interest. My work struct his story. To supplement what he re- focused on the life story as a form of oral members, he introduces several documents, narrative. I found that blues artists drew along with other devicessite visits, con- heavily on tradition when they put together versations, and artifactsto help him call their stories, and as a result one musician's up the past. Yet even in these cases we are story shared much in common with that of unsure if these props triggered his memory another. While bluesmen present us with a or are better understood as literary devices special caseafter all, they are professional generating flashbacks or otherwise holding entertainers, storytellers in song, and both the narrative together. victims and beneficiaries of a highly developed stereotypetheir stories, like Mr. As- plund's, illustrate a common need to order and communicate the experiences which then represent an individual'slife. Obviously countless choices have to be made, and I Folklorists have become increasingly am intrigued by why people consider cer- aware of the value of autobiographical tain experiences or events noteworthy and documents whether written or spoken. Over how they interpret the events they wit- the years their methods and goals have nessed or the forces which acted on their gradually changed to reflect a broader shift lives. Mr. Asplund's overview of his lifeas in interest from folklore items to the people a sad road reminds me of the blues verse and communities who maintain various "I ain't going down that dark road bymy- traditions. In the past folklorists essentially self." His story engages us and future read- mined autobiography for references to rec- ers in his life, at least along those roads ognized traditions such as songs, tales, cus- where he cares to take us. toms, beliefs, or occupational techniques. Or, if the writer or speaker was a tradi- BARRY LEE PEARSON tional artist, they tied autobiographical de- University of Maryland

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Folklife Annual 1986 164 Virginia Bhtesman john Cephas performing at the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folk life in 1985. Barry Pearson is currently working on a study of the life and art of John Cephas and Archie Edwards. Pho- tograph copyright :0 Lisa Falk 1985

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167 Symposium on the Life Story 165 Of Separation and However, Mr. Asplund's story comes to Survival us, so far as we know, as an unadulterated literary autobiography. He may have had some help writing it, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary I will assume that the story is, finally, Mr. Asplund's. The In the past twenty years or so, many narrative is continuous, coherent, chrono- American folklorists have become more in- logical, and of Mr. Asplund's making. As terested in people's stories of their own lives a folklorist I am interested in it both as a and less interested in people's stories of historical account and as a "fiction"or ghosts, fairies, talking animals, and the like making that reveals how Mr. Asplundsees the body of material that traditionally has himself. The autobiography offers aper- been thought of as folk narrative. Therewas sonal history of a boy and young man who a time when folklorists felt the need to jus- belonged to a folk group of immigrant Fin- tify studying the purportedly true, personal nish families in Michigan and whowas experience story, :.at no longer. Now folk- caught up in the traditions of suchoccu- lorists seek out such stories for their value pational groups as miners, lumberjacks, as history and as personal history, and railroad workers, and stone quarry work- sometimes for their value as literature. In- ers. He sets the scenes of the lumber com- terested in what life is (and was) like for pany towns in northern Michigan, and he folk groups that share traditions, folklorists writes also of children's traditions as he re- regard the reminiscences of members of those calls his boyhood hijinks with his friend John groups as useful historical documents. Trewartha. Finally, he presents a great many I am writing this, on invitation from the of his family's traditions, including the editors ofFolklife Annual,not so much as Swedish traditions of his stepmother, like an interpretation of Mr. Asplund's narra- blood bread. This is useful and interesting tive, although I will offer one, but on the historical documentation that helps the role life history plays in the work of the folklorist understand some of the folk tra- folklorist. In "The Life Story"(Journal of ditions of that time and place. American Folklore93 (1980):276-92), I I am interested in Mr. Asplund's pieceas suggested that we as folklorists have been a personal document as well. Like all life Brother John Shelley a bit cavalier in taking a person's stories preaching m his radio min- stories, it is a fiction, a making; and I am istry at the WRAA tudios, and information given in interviews and then interested in its shape: what it contains, what Luray, Virginia, Jul) 1977. editing them into a coherent, continuous, is emphasized, what is omitted, why it is Mr. Sherfey's oral auto- chronological, first-person narrative, as if put together as it is, what the impulse was biography may be heard the person had shaped it that way himself. for writing it, and what it tellsus about the on the record albumPow- To take an example from my own work: erhouse for God(Univer- author and, ultimately, about ourselves. The sity of North Carolina interviewing a minister several times about themethat is, what Mr. Asplund wants Press, 1982). The oral au- his life, I ranged back and forthover vari- usto come away with from reading itis tobiography and several ous periods in it as the conversation flowed. contained in his title, "Via Dolorosa." He hours of interviews with Putting what he said together later, in a emphasizes the hardships of his early life. his wife, Pauline, and chronological fashion, I was surprised to Actually, of course, it is a story of survival: members of his family are on deposit at the Library see that a statement about how as a boy he something bad happens, but Mr. Asplund of Congress's Archive of detested working on his parents' farm fit survives. Then some other misfortuneoc- Folk Culture. P1 ,tograph just before he had a vision in which God curs, but Mr. Asplund remains himself. by Jeff Titon called him to preach. Now it may very well Usually the hardships involve poverty and be that these two events are connected log- onerous work, but sometimes they com- ically as well as chronologically; but to edit prise unjust punishments, usually meted out them to follow one upon the other ina first- by his stepmother. He portrays her asa mean person narrative is to give the illusion that woman, constantly tormenting and ha- the minister connected them that way him- rassing him, calling him a "tubercular bum," self at the time. He may well have revealed giving him endiess chores, and preventing himself, but he did not do so artfully. him from engaging inhis favorite pas-

Folklife Annual 1986 166 V rat. 7,111 lip IS LT: ,40 t "`" s or - (,),:k1*,1,, 11, 411P , AMON' I Is tIr 11010. .414, 41 .11,4t to..4, I 22bir A. . 46, . oi 11 f '" th tttnte 44.4140,4141.,0414 .444. "".,'7,,,, 4 .!4444' ' ' '' 4' '-^*'.40,44 - I ' .7. \ ? .., .16 'AO F.F0 "Mt t Y timereading. But the portrayal is more Separation,then, becomes the most than that: Mr. Asp lund casts his step- poignant theme of this autobiography. The mother as a devil. Early on, he introduces point is underscored in Mr. Asplund'srem- her and follows that with the accou.n of iniscence about being abandoned at the his puppy's mysterious drowning, placing carnival. The family's young hired girl and suspicion on the stepmother. The very next her boyfriend have to take him along to the scene concerns his stepmother's cooking carnival, but he is "in their way" and, after "blood bread." He presents it in a perfectly giving him some tickets and telling himto plausible way, as a Swedish foodways tra- ride the merry-go-round, they disappear. dition; yet, coming where it does, after the Vividly, Mr. Asplund paints the terrifying death of the puppy, and with its name, it scene: carries overtones of witchcraft and bloody sacrifice. When she orders his sister to burn It was dark. I didn't know the way back their mother's Bible the portrait of this home. I was being pushed around by crowds stepmother-as-devil is complete. of people. The strange faces and the excitement around the carnival filled me with horror. I began to cry, and I cried and cried.

Tellingly, this is the only time that Mr. Asplund allows himself tears, and they are over separation and loss. It is an effective scene, and it reaches out to everyone who icked stepmothers are, of course, has experienced something similar. Isus- a stock ingredient in what we think of as pect that most of us have. But for Mr. As- the corpus of European folktales; as a folk- plund, separation and the loss of his mother lorist, I am not surprised to find that Mr. appear as the narrative's shaping forces and Asplund has, wittingly or not, used this tra- give it much of its human interest. Folklor- dition for his literary art. More interesting, ists are interested in families as folk groups; though, is how he uses it. He ends his story the family, it may be suggested, is the pri- at his mother's grave, saying, "Mother, you mary folk group, socializing the child from did not die in vain." Mr. Asplund's natural the very outset into its shared traditions. mother, portrayed as an innocent saint Folklore and personal history meet on this she must have taught him the "little Swed- ground; Mr. Asplund's narrative showsus ish prayer"; it couldn't have been his step- precisely how and even suggests why. mother who did sosuffers and dies; and the child must endure the torments of his JEFF TODD TITON stepmother, but he survives them. Tufts University

:170 Folklife Annual 1986 168 In the Promised Land tween autobiography and fiction: "All autobiography contains a percentage of fiction; and the fiction best worth attention tends to be autobiographical." "Via Dolorosa" by Arvid Asp lund be- Ein Menschenleben, ach, es ist so wenig. longs to the genre of written autobiogra- Ein Menschenschicksal, ach, es ist so viel. phies. As such, it is his own unique story Grilipa rzer consisting of oral traditions transmitted in family and immigrant society in the way he recalled them as well as his personal remi- Autobiography is one of the oldest niscences from his youth. An autobiogra- genres in literature. There were many au- phy is always the result of a personal choice. tobiographical writers in antiquity, and the Recalling and writing it down requires a ancient sources of most book religions con- long-lasting effort and is both a commu- tain biographical data. There is autobio- nicative and a creative process. "Via Do- graphical literature both in prose and verse, lorosa" can be regarded as a literary work, and the genre seems to have grown rapidly. written by a layman writer about his unique Religious and political leaders, writers and life experience. At the same time, it is an other artists, scientists, emigrants and im- expression of immigrant folklore and a de- migrants,representativesofminorities, scription of immigrant history. When in- common peopleall want to recall and write dividual pieces like this are put together and down what they have experienced in the compared with each other, scholars of im- world. I don't know if this desire could be migrant culture may have better opportu- considered a drive to produce an autobiog- nities for drawing conclusions on the shared raphy, but it is a very natural drive. As immigrant experiences than if they rely only Miguel de Unamuno has said: "Man is not on statistics of immigration and other hard born with a soul; he dies with one he has documents. manufactured. And the purpose of life is Surprisingly enough, there has been much that he should manufacture a soul, and that less interest so far in life-history materials soul immortal and his very own work. For, in folkloric circles than in psychology, an- in the hour of death, a man leaves a skel- thropology, and history, for example. When eton to the earth and a soula product I started my career in folklore as a research to history.... The life of the soulspirit- assistant in the Folklore Archives of the ual lifeis a struggle against eternal obliv- Finnish Literature Societywhich proba- ion." bly are the biggest in the world as far as According to one brief definition, "an the number of folkloreitemsiscon- autobiography is a narrative of the past of cernedI learned to know a signum F, in- a person by the person concerned." Ac- herited from the period of Kaarle Krohn, cording to Bates, this expression is "quite the famous founder of the Finnish geo- satisfactory as a definition, provided one graphic-historicalmethod.Itcontained has no need to apply it; but only so." In cthno- and life-historical data and other comparison to biography, which usually has "fabulated" materials and booklore, which been written by someone other than the could not be considered to belong to the person concerned, autobiography normally traditional generic categories of the pure begins several years later than biography, "Folklore." When folklore is considered to and, of course, ends earlier, too. An auto- be an anthropological discipline, it should biography is a verbally transmitted or writ- be as, or even more, interested in "folk" ten account of one's own life. At the same than in "lore." For that reason, it is a very time it is not only a life description or a life good time to find some keys to open the experience but a personal retrospective pic- door to the mysterious F of folklorists. ture of an individual's image of the way he Life history is an individual's view of the saw or rather wanted to see it. According course of his own life and its central events to Bates, there is no decisive distinction be- from childhood until the moment of their

Symposium on the Life Story 169 being recorded. It can be written down per- sonally (autobiography) or told orally in an interview with a researcher. Quite often a life history is the result of this kind of in- teraction between two people, the interviewer and the interviewee. My own experiences of the biographical method stein from ten years of field work with an illiterate White Sea Karelian informant, Mrs. Marina Takalo (1890-1970). My two books on her life history and world view, Marina Takalon uskonto (1971) and Oral Reper- toire and World View (1978), are the results of a tandem work. It was not myself but Mrs. Takalo who first proposed the idea of writing her life story. At the end of a long interview in 1962 she spontaneously suggested: "I tell you everything I remember. I want you to know all about Karelian life. You tell others what I have experienced and seen in the World that they understand what the life of a stranger is like."

JiarinaTakalo was a refugee from Russian Karelia. All her life she carried several minority Identities with strong feelings that she was a stranger, different from the others. As a Karelian she was ethnically different from most Finns; as an Old Believer her religious affiliation was different from Finnish Christianity with its Lutheran or Orthodox background. Besides this she was a citizen of Russia (or the Soviet Union) all her life, and finally she was illiterate in the almost completely literate country of Fin- Quarters of a foreman at a land. logging camp, Forest Mr. Asplund's autobiography is a good County, Wisconsin, April example of immigrant life histories with 1937. Photograph by Rus- strong feelings of ethnicity, in this case Fin- sell Lee. (LC-USF34- nishness. Being a Finn in America meant, 10777-D) Farm Security Administration Collection, at least in the beginning, in such places as Library of Congress the Upper Peninsula, strong feelings of to- getherness on the one hand, and long-lasting deprivations due to being different in language and culture on the other. I would have liked to meet Mr. Asplund to interview him about the details of his life history which he does not tell in his "Via Dolo- rosa." His life cycle seems to correspond to

Folklife Annual 1986 172 170 the average informant in Elli-Kaija Kongiis- Dolorosa," refers to a Biblical passage he Maranda's study "Finnish-American Folk- picked up from a sermon he once heard lore: Quantitative and Qualitative Analy- that appealed to him. Even when trying to sis" (Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1963): be as honest as possible in the process of "If a statistical profile of the average Fin- recalling and writing down, the author of nish-born interviewee were to be drawn, it an autobiography is dependent on the pat- would look like this: He/she had migrated terns above him. On the one hand, he de- from Finland to the United States at the age scribes something which is his unique life of 20 in the year 1910. He had graduated and his private property to the extent he is from primary school, has supported him- willing to open himself up; on the other he self and his family by manual labor and very well knows that he shares something now lives as a retiree`taking it easy,' now with the rest of the American Finnish com- that he has the 'chance.' " munity. The problem is similar to what Elli- Mr. Asp lund's literary work is not only Kaija Kongiis-Maranda writes in her post- his life story but a piece of another genre, humous article "V551-5115 puoen Atlanttia" that of family history as well. He expresses (On the Wrong Side of the Atlantic Ocean) this part of the work quite clearly in his in 1982: "The emigrant's problem is exis- statement of introduction: "Besides the tential. This was made clear to me by tracing of my ancestors, it is a story of long American Finns already twenty years ago family hardships. It is a story about Finnish by their repeating to the point of making it immigrants who came to the United States proverbial: 'Whoever crosses the Atlantic is in the early 1900s." In the course of the always on the wrong side of the ocean.' At transmission of this kind of family folklore its richest, the life of an emigrant means from generation to generation, nostalgic possession of two cultures`citizenship of narratives from Finland and about hard- two worlds.' At its poorest, it is timidity, a ships in the new country have taken the sense of inferiority, hunger on a diet of a patina of "sacred family history," so that black bread. The Old Country does not re- they might be characterized even as family member, the new one does not cam" myths. It is important for a family keeping I would encourage people whose life story up the interest in its roots to remember this is similar to Mr. Asplund's or who feel that kind of folklorecolorful tales of how the theirs is different either to write their au- forebears left the Old Country, journeyed tobiography or to tell it to someone to be from Liverpool to Ellis Island by boat, then recorded. These stories in which people tell by train to the Copper Country or the iron about themselves transmit to us both unique mines to work there and finally to the des- experiences and some of the universals of tination with a homestead or whatever more human mind and feelings. ordinary settlement in the New World, in their "Promised Land." JUHA YRJANA PENTIKAINEN The title of Mr. Asp lund's life story, "Via University of Helsinki

1 r, _i_ ld Sy»posiu»t on the Life Story 171 Both Unique and Arvid Asplund isa secG.Id-generation Familiar Finland Swede. He grew up hearing Swed- ish at home and among friends of hi3 parents. Despite his childhood environment, Asp lund does not describe himself as Fin- land Swede (or as Swede Finn, a term which Life stories or autobiographies are the is also commonly used in the Upper Penin- result of decision-making processes; infor- sula where he was raised). Even the Bicen- mation isrecalled(or forgotten), inter- tennial, which served as an identity catalyst preted, and finally selected, as it suits the for many ethnic Americans, does not seem author's purpose. Multiple voices make up to have influenced him. He presents his story history, and voices such as Arvid Asp lund's about "Finnish immigrants" without ex- contribute texture to conventional histories plaining the reason that his parents spoke that often generalize the past from the per- Swedish instead of Finnish. Also of interest spective of movers and doers. On the other is his description of first learning about hand, the question uppermost in my mind sauna. The entire passage differentiates him is what the texture of Mr. Asp lund's story from others: his father's speech (reported would have been if the story had been told in stereotypic Upper Peninsula immigrant orally, and the broader context could also generation's dialect) and his own remark have been studied. Without that opportu- that he would not want to sauna in the nity, however, I offer my thoughts on Arvid described Finnish way. To have reached his Asplund's life story, which is both unique teens in the Upper Peninsula and not to have and familiar. known his father's country of origin or about Arvid Asplund's story begins with "Fin- sauna are very curious. Rather than eval- nish immigrants"; this fact requires expla- uate this information as fact, however, it nation. Finland is an ethnically heteroge- would be more useful to approach it as an neous country with a population consisting expression of Mr. Asp lund's identity. As has primarily of Same (Lapps), Russian and been argued elsewhere,3 life stories com- Swedish speakers, and Finnish speakers. municate self-perception; they may be his- Swedish-speaking Finns came to the United torically false, but they are psychologically States as Russian subjects; they were called true. Arvid Asplund designates himself as Finns, and they spoke Swedish) different from those he describes. Similar As the country of origin, Finland played distancing is also expressed in his report an important role in the Americanization about the Italian boardinghouse. of the Swede Finns. They settled in the same areas as the other Finns, and they felt more at home with Finnish speakers from Fin- land than with Swedes from Sweden.'- This phenomenon has also been observed among Croatian-speaking Austrians, who attend What can one make of this? A ten- German-Austrian churches and German- tative explanation might be that he left his American social events rather than Yugo- family and the familiar ethnic milieu in the slav-Croatian events. Although bilingual Upper Peninsula before there was any con- speakers existed among both the Finnish- sciousness-raising among the working-class and Swedish-speaking Finns (some also Swede Finns. His physical separation prob- spoke Russian), language was an obstacle. ably led to accelerated acculturation. It is Eventually, language barriers became too not necessary to know whether he is gen- great and Swedish speakers began to form eralizing, romanticizing, or trivializing; the their own societies and churches, at first story is his interpretation of his past. It is applying the term Swede Finn to themselves an affirmation of his identity as a working and later Finland Swede. They are a proud American whose parents came from Fin- people who still distinguish themselves as land and, unlike him, spoke Swedish and Swedes from Finland. broken English. Despite a childhood of

174 Fa lklife Annual 1986 172 struggle and poverty, he has succeeded. His itis about working-class Finnish immi- life story explains what he had to over- grants; itis unique in that as a working come. He measures his success in terms of man he wrote it.'} his children: professionals doing very well in this adopted land of their grandparents. YVONNE HIIPAKKA LOCKWOOD Arvid Asplund's story is familiar in that Michigan State University

NOTES

1. Anders M. Myhrman, "The Finland- rian(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971) Swedish Immigrants in the U. S. A.," inOld andFolklore: Selected Essays(Bloomington, Ind.: FriendsStrong Ties,ed. Vilho Niitemaa et al. Indiana University Press, 1972). (Turku: Institute for Migration, 1976), 181-204. 4. Some, of course, have written their life sto- 2. Tom Sand lund, "Patterns and Reasons in ries, but their numbers -re few. See Reino Han- the Emigration of Swedish Finns,"in Finnish nula,Blueberry God(San Luis Obispo, Calif.: DiasporaI, ed. Michael G. Karni (Toronto: Quality Hill Books, 1979), which is as much a Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1981), Finnish-American history as his life story, and 215-29. Ruth Engelmann,Leaf House(New York: Har- 3. Yvonne R. Lockwood,The Burgenland per Row, 1982). Also of interest is the manual Croats: Oral Tradition and Historical Process for documenting Finnish family life: Carl Ross (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1979). Jeff and Velma Doby,Handbook for Doing Finnish Titon, "The Life Story,"Journal of American American Family History(Minneapolis: Min- Folklore 93,no. 369 (1980):276-92; and Rich- nesota Finnish American Historical Society, ard Dorson, who touched on this in many of his 1980). writings.See American Folklore and the Histo-

1 75 Symposium on the Life Story 173 Contributors

Arvid Asplund retired in 1973, and was thus free He is coeditor (with Terry and Lyntha Scott Eder) to write the life story that appears in this volume of of Blue Ridge Harvest: A Region's Folklife in Pho- Folk* Annual. He lives in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. tographs (1981) and editor of a laser videodisk Sally Banes is a critic and historian of dance and entitled The Ninety-Six: A Cattle Ranch in Nc, then: Nevada (1985). performance art. Currently a Mellon Fellow in Theatre Art .k:ontell University, she is also the Lauri Honko is professor of folkloristics and performance art critic for the Village Voice, a senior comparative religion at the University of Turku critic for Dance Magazine, and the editor of Dance and, since 1972, director of the Nordic Institute Research Journal. She is the author of Terpsichore of Folklore. He has been visiting professor at in Sneakers: Post-Modern Dance (1980) and De- the University of California, at Los Angeles and mocracy's Body: Judson Dance Theater 1962-1964 at Berkeley. He is president of the Finnish Lit- (1983) and coauthor of Fresh: Hip Hop Don't Stop erature Society and of the Finnish Society for (1985). the Study of Comparative Religion, and the editor of Folklore Fellows' Communications, Te- Elena Bradunas was a folklife specialist in ethnic menos, and Studia Fennica. He is the author of studies at the American Folklife Center from 1977 many publications, including GeistergLube in until 1985. She now lives in Hawaii. Ingerland (1962), and the editor (with V. Voigt) Beverly W. Brannan is curator of documentary of Genre, Structure, and Reproduction in Oral photography in the Prints and Photographs Divi- Literature (1980) and Adaptation, Change, and sion of the Library of Congress. She is coauthor of Decline in Oral Literature (1981). Professor A Kentucky Album: F. S. A. Photographers in Ken- Honko's article for Folklife Annual is based on tucky, 1935 -1943 and served as guest curator of a paper he delivered at a symposium on the Kal- "Things As They Were, F.S.A. Photographers in evala sponsored by the American Folklife Cen- Kentucky, 1935-1943," a photography exhibition ter, January 24, 1985. that toured Kentucky from 1984 through 1986. Edward D. (Sandy) Ives is professor of folklore, Horace P. Beck is the author of Folklore and the chairman of the Anthropology Department, and Sea (1973; 1983) and of numerous articles, both director of the Northeast Archives of Folklore on the subject of North American Indian lore and and Oral History at the University of Maine, on the sea. Dr. Beck has hunted whales in the West Orono. He is the author of a number of biogra- Indies and the Kingdom of Tonga, and collected phies, including Joe Scott: The Woodsman- marine lore in the Old World, North America, and Songmaker (1978). in the Pacific. Yvonne Hiipakka Lockwood is Michigan folk- Jane C. Beck is state folklorist for the Vermont life specialist, a position supported by the Na- Council on the Arts. She has collected lac stories in tional Endowment for the Arts at the Michigan the Lesser Antilles and in Vermont. State University Museum and the Cooperative Extension Service. She has lectured and written John Cohen is professor of visual arts at the State many articles on ethnic identity and foodways University of New York, College at Purchase. He has been visiting Qeros to record music and to and is working currently on a book to be titled T!'e Burgenland Croats: A Model in Folk His- make films and photographs since 1956, and his tory. Dr. Lockwood's article for Folklife Annual film Oeros: The Shape of Survival was shown on is based on a paper she delivered at a symposium PBS's "Nova" in 1979. Mr. Cohen was a founding on the Kalevala sponsored by the American member of the New Lost City Ramblers, a musical Folklife Center, January 24, 1985. group that performed traditional American music for twenty years. He has annotated ten field record- Roger E. Mitchell is professor of anthropology ings of folk music for Folkways records, written and folklore at the University of Wisconsin-Eau many articles for Sing Out magazine, and pro- Claire. He is the author of George Knox: From duced eleven films about traditional music in the Man to Legend (1968), I'm a Man that Works United States, Britain, and Peru. The events de- (1978), The Press, Rumor, and Legend Forma- scribed in his article for Folklife Annual occurred tion (1979), and From Fathers to Sons: A Wis- during the filming of Mountain Music of Peru, which consin Family Farm (1984). was made with the support of a Guggenheim Fel- lowship and with the cooperation of AeroPeru. Barry Lee Pearson is associate professor of English at the University of Maryland. He is the Carl Fleischhauer is a folklife specialist at the author of "Sounds So Good to Me": The Blues- American Folklife Center, where he oversees the man's Story (1984) and is working currently on creation and use of stillphotographs, sound a study of the art and lives of two Virginia blues - recordings, motion pictures, and video recordings. men.

17G Folklife Annual 1986 174 Jeff Todd Titonis associate professor of music Islabonahsm in ModernFinland (1976).His ar- and associate professor of English at Tufts Uni- ticle forFatale Annualis based On a paper he versity, Ind adjunct associate professor of music delis erect at a sy mposium on theEalevalaspon- at Brown University. His publications on the sored by the American Folkhfe Center, January subject of folklife autobiography include "The 24,1985. Life Story,-Journal of Anwrican Folklore93 (1980): 276-92; the record albumPowerhouse JuliaY. Pentikhinenchairman of the Depart- for God (1982);and Worldsof Music (1984). mentof Comparative Religion at the University of Helsinki. He is the editor ofFolk Narrative WilliamA. Wilson is chairman of the English Research(1976) and the author ofOral Rep- department and director of the Folklore Ar- ertoire and World View: An Anthropological chives at -2:igham Young University. He has Study of Mar:,:: Takalo's Life History (1978). served as editor ofWester,: Folklore.director of the Folklore Program at Utah State University, Claudine Weatherfordserved as research as- president of the Folklore Society of Utah, and sociate and contributing author for the Library chairman of the Folk Arts Panel of the National of Congress's Farm Security Admu.:stration Endowment for the Arts. He is on the board of Office of War Information alum ersary project. directors of the Utah Arts Council and the ex- An anthropologist and a folklorist, she is cm

ecutive board of the American Folklore Society. molly %sluing a biography on genre painter Professor Wilson is the author ofFolklore and Queena Stovall.

Publications of the American Folk life Center

Blue Ridge Harvest: A Region's Folk life in Cultural Conservation: The Protection of Photographs Cultural Heritage in the United States 13y Lynrha Scott Lder. 'terry bier. and Cul Heischhauer. Onnond Loomis. 123 pp. (.s,'N 030.000-00148-6) 115 pp. (S,N 030.000-00127%3)SO. Available Iron:the S4. i0.Available fromthe Superintendent of Documents. Superintendent ofDocuments. U.S. (yovenunent Print- U. S. Government Printing Office. Washington. D.C. ing Office, lVashington, D.C. 2(1402.Check or money 204(12.Check or money order payable tothe Superb:. order payable to the Superintendent of Documents must tendent of Documents must mcompany order. accompany order. A report on the means of preserving intangible fea- A look at the landscape, communities, and religion tures of the nation's cultural !tentage, ss ith an ap- of the men and women who live along the Blue pendix that traces the history of roles ant legislation Ridge Parkway. and a bibliography. Buckaroos in Paradise: Cowboy Life in Ethnic Recordings in America: Northern Nevada A Neglected Heritage By I loutard ltiarshall and Richard I:. Ahlborn. 120 Wiled by Ind:lb McCulloh. 269 pp. (S,N304)()I. pp. (reprint) SI5.95. Available front the University of o(109S-2) SI 3. A:Path:He from the SuperintendentuJ Nebraska Press, Sales Department. 901 North 17th Street. Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. Wash- Lb:cob:. Nebraska OSiSS. mum, D. C20402. Check or money orderpayable A publication to accompany the Smithsonian ex- to the Superintendent of Document: mint auompany hibit "Buckaroos in Paradise," including an essay order. on buckaroo life, a catalog of exhibit artifacts, and ActNection of essays on the history and current numerous photographs. status of the ethnic recording industry, with nu- Children ofthe Heav'nly King: Religious merous illustrations and an index. Expression in the Central Blue Ridge hdited and annotated by Charles K. Wolfe. Two discs and The Federal Cylinder Project: A Guide to a 4Spage dlusttated booklet (AFC L69170. SI4. Arad - Field Cylinder Recordings inFc,ieral able from the Library of Congress. Reconling Labora- Agencies tory, AlumniPh titre, Broad, astmg.aliblRecorded Sound Available from the Superintendent of Documents. Division, Wiasbington. D.C. 20540. Checks payable to Government PrintingOffice. W a:Innttlon, 20402. the Library of Congress must 4k, ompanyorder . Check or money order payable to the Superintendent of Documents must accompany order. Cranberries 32 pp. S5. Available front the Library ojttigress, Amer- vottAttI, INIROPt( \NI) INVI\1010. by Lnka ican Polklife Center, Washington. D.C. 20540. Checks Brady, Alarm La l'igna. Dorothy Sara Lee. and Thomas payable to the Library of Congress must accompany or- l'orann, Jr. 110 pp. (S ,'N 030.000.001 53-2) S8.50 ders. Introductory essay that describes the project and Cranberry recipes collected during the American an indexed listing by collection of more than ten Folkhfe Center's 1983 Pmelands Folklife Project in thousand field-recorded wax cylinders for %%Inch New Jersey, illustrated with full-color photo- preservation tape copies exist at the Library of graphs. Congress.

177 Publicatun is 175 Vol MO 2, NORTH, ASTI RN INDIAN ( ATMAX., edited by Exposition and the "Demonstration Collection" Judith A. Gray; NOltri 11 AS11.12N INDIAN ( ATM M., edited by Dorothy Sara Lee. 432 pp. (SIN 0 30.000.00167- edited by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and is- 2) S14. sued by the Berlin Phonogramm Archly shortly after World War I. Sixteen collections from northeastern Indian tribes, including the oldest collection of field recordings (the 1890 Passamaquoddy) and large Watermelon collections of Chippewa, Menominee, and Win- By Ellen Ficklen. 64 pp. S 1 0. Available from the Li- brary of Congress, American Folklife Center, Wash- nebago music recordings made by Frances Dens- ington, D.C. 20540. Checks payable to the Library of more; and six collections from southeastern In- Congress must accompany orders. dian tribes, the largest of which is the Densmore History, facts, and lore of the watermelon, along Seminole collection. with numerous recipes. Illustrated in color and vol osiE 8, IARLY 1g111010GIES, edited by Dorothy Sara black and white. I, with a foreword by Sue Carole De Vale. 96 pp. ISIN 0 ?0.90 0454-1) S8. DescribesZieniaminIvesGilman'scylinder recordings from the 1893 World's Columbian

The following publications are available free of charge from the Library of Congress. American Folklife Center, Washington. D.C. 20540.

American Folk Architecture: A Selected Folklife Center News Bibliography A quarterly newsletter reporting on the activities By )hoard W . Marshall, with the assistance of Cheryl Corn and Marsha Maguire. 79 pp. and programs of the center. Articles and books on theory and general topics, Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's antecedent references from the British Isles, and Introduction to Field Techniques resources dealing with specific regions of the By Peter Barbs. 28 pp. country. An introduction to the methods and techniques of fieldwork. American Folk Music and Folklore Recordings 1983: A Selected List An Inventory of the Bibliographies and An annotated list of thirty-one 1983 recordings Other Reference and Finding Aids Prepared by the Archive of FolkCulture selected because they include excellc it examples of traditional folk music. Information handout listing research materials at the archive. American Folklife Center A general brochure on the center. Tradicion popular e investigacien de campo A Spanishtranslation ofPolak and Fieldwork, Archive of Folk Culture Traditional Crafts and Craftsmanship in A general brochure on the archive. America: A Selected Bibliography ElCentro Americano de Tradiciem Popular By Susan Sink. 84 pp. ASpanish translation of the Folklife Center's An indexed bibliography citing Library of Con- general brochure. gress call numbers, produced in cooperation with Folk Recordings: Selected from the Archive the National Council for the Traditional Arts. of Folk Culture Brochure and order form

1.1 ,-, ..1 l ', Folklife Annual 1986 176