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Since the first Finns came to North America (in the 1600s in Delaware), they have always had warm and friendly relations with Native Americans. This story by Hunter Gray is another example of this fact. Here he relates his experiences as an academic and as a human rights organizer, an experience he has shared with his Finnish- and Sámi- American wife Eldri since the early 1960s. Indestructible By Hunter Gray (Hunter Bear) (Formerly John R. Salter, Jr.) I’m an organizer – a working social justice agitator. I’ve been one since the mid- 1950s and I’ll always be one. In many respects, it’s one of the toughest trails anyone could ever blaze. As a boy, I shot my huge Coming of Age Bear -- deep in the vast Sycamore Canyon wilderness area in Northern Arizona. At that point, I then became a man. The fiery spirit of the Bear and its abundantly fine qualities – intelligence, courage, stamina, instinct – are with me always and have served me very well and faithfully on my swift and rocky River of No Return. My father, born Frank Gray and later named John R. Salter via an adoption, was an essentially full-blooded American Indian (Mi’kmaq/St. Francis Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk – far Northeastern tribes) and my mother an Anglo from an old Western family. Our identity lies on the Native side of things. I grew up in the Navajo country of Northern Arizona and Western New Mexico. Beginning in the mid-1950s — after I finished a full hitch in the United States Army — I was active in Native American rights; was a radical activist in what remained of the old-time Industrial Workers of the World; worked with the militant and democratic left-wing International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine-Mill). I learned much that was valuable as a labor organizer. And for my entire adult life, I have been a socialist. I’ve worked, among other things, as a farm worker, forest fire fighter, soldier, trapper, laborer of several kinds, college and university professor, writer. But I’ve always been an organizer wherever I am – getting and keeping people together for action. Although, in the 1950s, I encountered Finns here and there in what was left of the really old-time IWW in the Pacific Northwest and in Mine-Mill in the Intermountain West – always appreciating the inherent toughness and enduring commitment to militant labor and radicalism of these extremely solid people – it wasn’t until I spent some very interesting time in the Duluth-Superior area in late 1960 and early 1961 that I encountered very large numbers of Finns. And, early on, I got to know a great many Finnish-Americans in labor and radical circles and their families extremely well. From my Native perspective, I had no difficulty recognizing an inherent family and national tribalism in all of this – and I had also, early on, (long before I got to Duluth- Superior), become cognizant that the Finns are not “Nordic”. I learned a good deal about the substantial ethnic discrimination visited upon the Finnish immigrants and their descendants in the United States (sometimes, still, into the present day), the legacy of the Finnish churches and those of the vigorous co-op and radical movements. Like myself and our family, and virtually all other Native Americans, I’ve always felt that Finnish hearts were in the rural and often wild country, where one can look up and see, in the clear air, the Sun and Stars – and listen to the Wind. At one point, I was asked to talk at length as principal speaker at a large affair sponsored by the Finnish Wobblies and socialists in Duluth. Here, where until the end of the ‘30s, the IWW had maintained a very effective and well organized workers’ education program – the famous Work People’s College, the IWW Finnish daily, Industrialisti, was still being published. It died later in the ‘60s and, if there were efforts to revive it, they did not endure. I have some of the fascinating and impressive curricular materials from Work People’s College (The Työmies Society published its Finnish language newspaper, Työmies-Eteenpäin, into contemporary times.) This was my first talk at a mass meeting of Finnish people. About two hundred and fifty of all ages were gathered to hear me – on a very cold late 1960 winter night in an ancient but very warm labor hall. Two good friends of mine were chairing this gathering – a young guy my age and a much older man – and each told me that, although everyone present knew English, the old people would never concede this to a relative newcomer such as myself. Consequently, everything would have to be translated into Finnish. As a Native, I could understand this situation congenially and empathetically. I talked for over two hours on labor defense matters, mixed with a discussion of the incipient civil rights movement – and everything was meticulously transposed into Finnish by my age peer. Many of the older faces looked at me impassively until my words were translated. Then, and only then, did they nod, almost imperceptibly. When I was finished, there was light applause and some people tapped their feet back and forth on the hard, wooden floor. Used to more enthusiastic responses from non-Indians, I suddenly felt I’d bombed out on this one. People were moving toward strong coffee and rolls. Still at the front speaker’s table, I turned to my two friends – the co-chairs. “How did I go over? Did I go over at all?” And they laughed, heartily. “You went over very well,” said the older man.”You were the best speaker in months.” I still looked puzzled. “You’ve learned something new tonight.” said the guy my age. “You got a lot of Finn applause.” In its own unique way, very Indian indeed! Not very long thereafter, I married my wife, Eldri – who had been born at Moose Lake, Minnesota – and is Finnish and Sámi with some Scandinavian. We did this at Duluth-Superior and then we went off to Destiny – and that began in Mississippi. I am academically trained in sociology. We arrived in Mississippi in late summer, 1961, and I taught at (Black) Tougaloo College, just north of Jackson. I was Advisor to the Jackson Youth Council of the NAACP, a member of the executive committee of the Jackson NAACP, a member of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi State Conference of NAACP Branches, and a primary organizer of the Jackson Movement of 1962-1963. 18 Eldri and Hunter I worked closely with SNCC, CORE, and later also with SCLC and Highlander Folk School. (I also conducted some of the first poverty/racism surveys in several Mississippi rural counties and testified to my grim findings before hearings conducted by the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights). I served as the Strategy Committee Chair of the developing and ultimately very large-scale and blood-dimmed Jackson Movement which reached its climax in the spring and summer of 1963. I participated in the most direct sense in many of the bloodily-suppressed and increasingly massive non-violent demonstrations. Along with many others, I was beaten and arrested on a number of occasions; was targeted in the sweeping anti-Movement injunction, City of Jackson v. John R. Salter, Jr. et al. (which, of course, we defied); and was seriously injured (along with a colleague, Rev. Ed King) and my car destroyed, in a rigged auto wreck. Following the sanguinary Jackson Movement epoch, I became, at the end of the Summer of 1963, Field Organizer for the Southern Conference Educational Fund. I worked across the hard-core South. I was the primary organizer of an ultimately quite successful large-scale, multi-county civil rights grassroots organizing project in the isolated, poverty-stricken, Klan-infested Northeastern North Carolina Black Belt. In 1966 and 1967, I organized militant grassroots anti-poverty movements — i.e., Peoples’ Program on Poverty — in the Northeastern North Carolina Black Belt. In those hardfought Southern years, my wife and I learned much, much indeed from the grassroots about courage and commitment and vision – and we have carried all of that with us for all of these decades. We left the South in the summer of 1967, went to the Pacific Northwest where I was active in many social justice endeavors. In 1969-1973, we were on the bloody South/ Southwest Side of Chicago — where I directed the large-scale grassroots organization of multi-issue block clubs. We worked with African American, Puerto Rican, Chicano, and some Native American people and we fought the police and the Daley Machine — and organized more than 300 block clubs and related organizations. Concurrently, on the North Side of Chicago, I was a key organizer of the regional all-Indian Native American Community Organizational Training Center and served for many years as its Chair. I was active in the Plains in Native rights campaigns. And I served as the controversial social justice director for the 12 county Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, New York (1976-1978), where Native rights and union labor and anti-racism were among the key thrusts that I and others initiated and carried through successfully. Then we were back in the Southwest for several years — in the Navajo country (the vast Navajo Nation), teaching and holding other posts as well at Navajo Community College (now Dine’ College), and involved in anti-uranium campaigns and related endeavors. For most of the 1980s deep into the 1990s, I was an active organizer of many effective Native rights campaigns in the Northern Plains — e.g., Grand Forks, ND and the utterly racist reservation border town of Devils Lake, ND. In 1994, I retired as a full professor and former departmental chair (and former chair of Honors) from the American Indian Studies Department at University of North Dakota. In due course, we returned to the Mountain West — and are presently based at Pocatello, Idaho where we are quite involved in various rights campaigns and very much in the not good situation regarding some problematic city and state police. As I wrote recently in my essay, Outlaw Trail: The Native As Organizer (published in Visions and Voices: Native American Activism, 2009): “. . . .if you are an aspiring social justice Organizer -- “bright eyed and bushy-tailed” -- recognize that you can’t practice that always critically needed vocation and have the things about which Thorstein Veblen wrote so well and indictingly in his classic attack on conspicuous consumption, The Theory of the Leisure Class. You’ll get your skull cracked, your hide cut, and you’ll often get fired. But I’d rather have Those Memories than Money.” I ’ve got an Indian side and a white side. If you have to ask where does the loyalty go, I’d say the ultimate loyalty goes to the human race, but the immediate loyalty goes to the Native side. In other words, I stand with the Indians. And the Finns stand with the Finns – and also humanity. And, as far as our rapidly expanding multi-cultural family is concerned – and I’m sure this holds true for many similarly situated – we and the Finns stand together. And each flint tough, far beyond the reach of any erosion. Indestructible. Now and forever. And always toward an always better world, over the mountains yonder and far, far beyond. NEW WORLD FINN TAMMIKUU - HELMIKUU - MAALISKUU • 2009 TALVI
A View From Finland with Enrique Tessieri © Enrique Tessieri, 2008-2009 Enrique Tessieri writes about Finnish identity and life in Finland for the New World Finn. He has written on a wide range of subjects for many publications - Buenos Aires Herald, Apu magazine, City Magazine Helsinki, Kotimaa, Finland Bridge and others. Enrique graduated from American and Finnish colleges, and has worked as a journalist (print and radio) in North America, South America, and Europe. The Finnish Dream Some Finns believe that they have achieved the Finnish dream when they own a house by a lakeshore in an urban center. The house-by-the-lake ideal is so deeply ingrained in the Finnish psyche that it is likely that future generations of Finns will also strive for that house by the lakeshore. There are many reasons why Finns want to own that house by the lake. Possibly it has to do with the history of Finland, which has seen its fair share of upheavals such as war and migration. A house symbolizes something permanent and the lake could represent the beauty that blesses the home. In the same way that only a minority succeed at achieving the American dream by becoming successful millionaires, only a handful of Finns ever get the opportunity to build that house by the lake. Official statistics show that 44% of Finns live in apartment houses, 40% in houses and 14% in row houses. Unfortunately, these figures don’t reveal how many houses are located by lakes. High cost Despite the ongoing recession, the high cost of housing still continues to be the single biggest obstacle that stops Finns from attaining the Finnish dream. Demand for real estate normally rises whenever interest rates fall and the economic situation improves. During good economic times, real estate prices usually rise so rapidly in Finland that supply cannot keep up with demand. Ineffectual housing and zoning policy are some reasons why prices surge so quickly. Just like no object can escape the monumental gravitational pull of black holes in space, the same is the true for Finland’s housing policy, which is a complex maze of vested interests of banks, construction companies, municipal politicians and high- Tales From A Finnish Tupa by James Cloyd Bowman and Margery Bianco from a translation by Aili Kolehmainen University of Minnesota Press Tales From A Finnish Tupa is an illustrated collection of folktales from a Finnish tupa, or cottage. First published in 1936, this book presents tales of magic like “The Mouse Bride” and “Antti and the Wizard’s Prophecy,” droll stories such as “The Pig-Headed Wife,” and fables from the collections of Eero Salmelainen and Iivo Harkonen, sharing Finnish wisdom on topics from the end of the world to how the Rabbit earned his self-respect. The book features hand-rendered illustrations in full color. James Cloyd Bowman (1880- 1961) was an English professor. He published a number of folklore books for children, including Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time and Mike Fink: Snapping Turtle of the O-hi-o-o, Snag of the Massasip. Margery Bianco (1881-1944) was a renowned children’s book writer of-more than twenty-five books, including The Velveteen Rabbit, or, How Toys Become Real. The New York Times wrote that the book is, “An outstanding addition to folk literature available for children. . . These stories have the tang of common sense, the wonder that the folktale invests in all the homely, everyday things of life, and a keen sense of fundamental values. A book to captivate boys and girls, one that will interest students of folklore and one that storytellers will find invaluable.” ranking civil servants. Finland’s has encouraged people to become homeowners with the help of tax breaks and the fact that there are just too few homes for rent. In many cases it is cheaper paying a mortgage than rent. Around 58% of Finns own a home while 32% rent. High costs and a near-toothless housing policy have meant that dwelling spaces in Finland are crowded by European Union standards. In 2002, floor space per person stood at 37 square meters (398 square feet), up from 33 square meters in the mid-1990s. In the early 1950s matters were, however, far worse. A Fodor’s travel guide writes about the housing problem in Helsinki: “Be prepared for a plethora of coffee (coffee parties are the order of day and night) and a minimum of living space. In the present housing shortage the government allows but one room to a person, and that sofa you sit on is probably your host’s bed after hours.” The sauna Finns spend a lot of time in their homes even if they are small. The kitchen and sauna are by far the most important quarters. The high cost of drinking and eating out explains why Finns prefer to party at home with friends on a Saturday night. Certainly bathing with friends over the weekend would be unthinkable in some cultures where nudity (even among the same sex) is a taboo. Enjoying a sauna bath is like a rite of passage that crowns and reinforces familial bonds or friendship. It’s a brief or long encounter when we attempt to feel Nirvana through the soft heat and long pauses of silence. Like the automobile it the United States, saunas are a good yardstick to measure how living standards have risen in the country. Finland has today about 2 million saunas compared with 1.5 million in 1990 and half a million in the 1930s. If a typical Finnish family has 3-4 members and the country’s population is 5.2 million, it means that everyone in this country has access to a sauna. Who we are If sauna is a strong component of the DNA of Finnish culture and building a house by a lake a cherished ideal, what do these two matters reveal about who we are and where we are heading as a people? One matter they show is that we are obsessed by cleanliness and the search for security in a region that has seen its fair share of strife. Possibly one quality that makes us Finns is that we are migrants at heart. If this is true, it explains why we long so much for that home by the lake. Yearning is, in my opinion, nothing more than spiritual adrenalin that gives us strength to face new hardships. It emboldens us to move on with the help of memories of former landscapes we once called home. Thus the house by the lake could also signify the fruits of patient longing and sacrifice. Finnair Opens Via Spa at Helsinki Airport Four Different Saunas, Cold Water Paddling Pool Refresh Travelers On December 11, Finnair, the national airline of Finland, which celebrated its 40th anniversary of service between New York (JFK) and Helsinki earlier this year (www. finnair.com), opened Via Spa as part of its new modern Via Lounge at Helsinki Airport. Via Spa will offer unique spa and wellness services to the carrier’s transit passengers traveling via Helsinki to Finnair’s more than 50 destinations worldwide, especially to Asia. “The high quality Via Spa will offer Finnair customers first-class spa and wellness services. For instance, the spa will offer four different types of sauna,” says Markku Remes, Finnair’s Customer Experience Development Manager. “There will be a spruce sauna and a stone sauna from the Alps, a steam sauna, and a traditional Finnish sauna, which actually provides a view over a mineral water pool to the airport’s runways.” Via Spa’s innovative concept is based on the ideology and research of the German spa pioneer Paul Haslauer and offers new-generation, naturopathic treatments. All of the spa’s products are pure, organic preparations. Available services include (shorter) treatments designed especially for transit passengers, as well as a cold water paddling pool and a mineral water pool to alleviate travel fatigue and the effects of jet-lag. Notes Michael Maass, Finnair’s Sales Director for North America: “A big step in the transformation of the Helsinki Airport terminal extension already took place in September when new shops opened their doors along with the 400-seat My City Helsinki restaurant world. At the same time, we opened new departure gates and a seven-line security check area for arriving transit passengers.” The Via Spa and Via Lounge are located at the end of the new Helsinki Airport terminal extension. The stylish Via Lounge has room for around 250 customers and includes six private shower rooms, a buffet, a Via Bar and various relaxation areas. Passengers may also enjoy the free WI-FI network, work stations outfitted with computers, and multi-purpose facilities. Services are provided in cooperation with Finnair’s longterm partner SSP Finland Oy. The Via Lounge is open from 6 AM to midnight, and the Via Spa is open from 10 AM to 10 PM. Access to the Via Lounge is free for Finnair Business Class passengers and Finnair Plus Platinum/Gold/Silver card holders plus one guest, and to oneworld Emerald/Sapphire card holders plus one guest. Other customers who wish to use the facility are charged 45 Euros per person. JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH • 2010 WINTER NEW WORLD FINN 19
Page 1 and 2: EXPLORING FINNISH CULTURE New World
Page 3 and 4: Independence Day Greetings From Pre
Page 5 and 6: Finnish Tapas Comes to Duluth Text
Page 7 and 8: the shore as the Moon began to shin
Page 9 and 10: Poijat Celebrates Twenty Years of P
Page 11 and 12: So this day finally dawned for me,
Page 13 and 14: Kotinurkka - The Corner of the Home
Page 15 and 16: Name Street/Address The Journey Ahe
Page 17: Donna Salli’s Play About Finnish-
Page 21 and 22: Finn Hall Named Finlandia Foundatio
Page 23 and 24: Willie Lahti: 3 Poems from the Past
Page 25 and 26: Lumi ja Kaamos Outside the snow fel
Page 27 and 28: New World Finn Bookstore Your sourc

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