MOOSOMIN —June 24, people gathered at the New Finland District — St. John’s Lutheran Church located west of Rocanville and north of Wapella — to celebrate the community’s 135 years of settlement, and its church’s 130th anniversary.
“We wanted to celebrate because the community still exists, and to honor our ancestors,” said Valerie Knuuttila of the New Finland District.
“Then on Sunday, it was 130 years since the New Finland church was established. St. John’s Lutheran Church is the longest-running Finnish Lutheran church in Canada. There’s others that started sooner, but they’re closed. We’ve been consistent since it began.”
New Finland is a small rural district in southeastern Saskatchewan. It began when people from Finland started homesteading in 1888, which resulted in the first Finnish settlement on the Canadian Prairies.
Knuuttila spoke about why she thinks some of the Finns still live in the area.
“There is this concept that Finns have where you hang on, it’s like dogged determination,” she said.
“There’s pride in our roots and in our Finnish heritage.
“I think it’s important to recognize how difficult it was for our great-grandparents. We are the recipients of generational wealth, and it’s also important to recognize that we’re on Treaty 4 land. We’re Treaty 4 people.”
She spoke about the history of the first Finland settler who came to the district.
“It’s a lovely story, but it’s not really in the history books,” said Knuuttila.
“His name is David Kautonen. He was possibly a murderer, he was definitely someone who owed money, but he started the community (here) and changed his life around.
“He was instrumental in starting the church and encouraging other people to come. It’s also a story of a bad guy gone good.”
In hopes of keeping the New Finland District community active, Knuuttila said people are always welcome to join their events.
“New people move into the old Finn houses, and we hope that they would come join us and be part of our community,” she said.
“It’s to strengthen the New Finland ties but also to strengthen ties with different churches and different communities and towns around us.
“Saturday (June 24) was our mid-summer picnic, it was not held during Covid, but other than that it’s been held every year. It helps bring people home, it also builds community not just within the Finns, but we’re Canadians so it’s a day for other congregations and other people to come in and meet each other. Also, it’s a day to just have fun.
“The picnic is important and a lot of people have moved away, we had people from Vancouver Island, from Vancouver, Winnipeg, the furthest person came from the Philippines, it’s just a way of connecting with your relatives and with people from your community.”
On the day of the celebration, Knuuttila said she was thankful for Rachel and Darwin Dancsok for their live entertainment, as well as Darren Luhtala who allowed his photo to be used for the commemorative magnets that were being sold.
“He took this amazing photo of the St. John’s Lutheran Church with the Northern Lights behind it,” she said.
“He gave us permission to use his photo for our magnets. I like to thank Darren Luhtala for his fabulous photography.
“These magnets are very popular and orders have come in from several places in Canada and also from the USA.”
