It’s time to fill the bucket and light the rock stove. Sauna Week has started in the Copper Country. Across the Keweenaw Peninsula, many residents enjoy joining a few friends inside a sauna. The practice has been a favorite pastime of many Finnish Americans and Copper Country residents for decades.
I think from talking about it from a copper country perspective, the concept of the sauna as a place of gathering has stood the test of time. We saw that in the very early enclaves of the Finnish community, building up around the mining companies. Saunas were an essential part of community activity. It wasn’t just, you know, for cleansing. It wasn’t just for health. It was also a way to gather with your fellow man, your friends, and other families to get together. And essentially relax, enjoy, renew, refresh. – Lindsay Hiltunen, Archivist, Michigan Technological University Archives
In the sauna tradition, if you talk to people who grew up in the sauna tradition, it had to do with community, because the sauna was a place where you entertained people. Your neighbors or relatives would come for a sauna, and then there was sort of a coffee ritual afterward. You had your coffee and your nisu and a variety of tasty things to eat. There was a time to be together. – Jim Kurtti, Chairperson, Copper Country Finns and Friends
Last year’s first Sauna week in the community introduced a storytelling element.
There were saunas at the sauna expo near the Finnish American Heritage Center and the interviews were done inside there it was interesting how many unique stories there were but it all boiled down to just having very good memories of the sauna and appreciation of it and how, you know, in this region sauna is one of the strongest identifiers of Finnish American culture. – Jim Kurtti, Chairperson, Copper Country Finns and Friends
While in a sauna people share stories, converse about things happening in their community or recent events, and generally share thoughts. All to build comradeship and community among people.
I think there’s a lot of that that started in the early migration, but then that thread continues now to what we’re seeing in some of the more commercial saunas, similar to what’s happening on the waterfront in Hancock. It’s this idea of community building and making sure that we’re holding on to traditions, but also generously sharing them with others that are interested to learn more or just to partake in an amazing experience. – Lindsay Hiltunen, Archivist, Michigan Technological University Archives
But beyond sauna culture, I think the Finnish immigrants’ presence is still felt today in ways that people might not readily see. And that’s through things like work ethic and generosity and just the willingness to help one another. – David Maki, Marketing Coordinator, Copper Country Finns and Friends
It’s a matter of trust, it’s a matter of having a connection with them. You’re there in a very small space, you’re naked, you have nothing up your sleeve as they say, and it’s a time just to be together and to do something that has a really strong meaning. It’s not just a bath. – Jim Kurtti, Chairperson, Copper Country Finns and Friends
Sauna week events will continue tomorrow at Takka Sauna in Hancock on the Portage Canal, where people will share their sauna stories, from 3 pm to 6 pm. Then on Friday Keynote Speaker Eero Kilpi will host a Sauna forum at the First United Methodist Church, beginning at 3 pm. Find more information about Sauna Week and Heikinpaiva activities here.
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