Here is wishing all of you a pleasant Juhannus, or summer solstice.
I will be checking the blog over the long weekend.
Enrique
Migrant Tales
A blog by Enrique Tessieri
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Here is wishing all of you a pleasant Juhannus, or summer solstice.
I will be checking the blog over the long weekend.
Enrique
June 18, 2009 at 3:25 pm
And for you my friend… Take ease and enjoy your holiday. I hope the weather can bless you guys there…
Un fuerte abrazo.
De tu amigo Tony.
June 18, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Well in the south of Brazil we are about to greet winter, so I should probably bake some karjalanpiirakka to get into the “Finnish spirit.”
Have a wonderful holiday!
June 18, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Muito obrigado, Tony. I will you a restful weekend in Eire. I guess they do not celebrate midsummer.
Abrazos de tu amigo Enrique
June 18, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Dear Mateus, Santa Catarina is one of the most beautiful states in Brazil. I hope to visit it one day. However, winter in southern Brazil must not be what it used to be. In Buenos Aires we used to have very cold winters but now it can be 25C in the middle of “winter.”
I am certain that in Brazil you do have some festivities celebrating Sao Joao.
June 18, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Enrique, I can’t believe you know Sao Joao! Even though it is originally from the north of Brazil, its celebration has been spread all over the country!
And you are right, our winters are not as cold as they used to be. But in the same way global warming took the cold winter from us, it also esporadically brings unusually freezing days.
And if you come to Santa Catarina, be my guest! Otherwise I swear I will never comment at Migrant Tales again.
June 18, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Mateus, in Misiones province, which borders Santa Catarina, they celebrate San Juan. I have never seen it but have heard that some walk barefoot on hot coals. They are also extra friendly to dogs on that day.
If I am ever in Santa Catarina it will be a pleasure to meet you. Whenever I visit Argentina I travel to Misiones, where I have done fieldwork on a Finnish colony for a number of years.
Thanks!
June 18, 2009 at 7:42 pm
So there is a Finnish colony in Misiones? That is amazing. My family is from the west of Santa Catarina, almost bordering Argentina. It would be so easy for me to visit this colony. When did they migrate to Argetina and why? Do they still speak Finnish?
June 19, 2009 at 8:31 am
* Uusi Jerusalem, Sierra Leone (1792-1792) uskonnollinen, valistusaate
* Amurinmaan yhtiö, Strelok, Venäjä (1868-1872), sosialistinen (50 asukasta)
* Chillagoa, Queensland, Australia (1900-1900), sosialistinen (80 asukasta)
* Sointula, Malkosaari, Brittiläinen Kolumbia, Kanada (1901-1905), sosialistinen (1000 asukasta)
* Sammon takojat, Brittiläinen Kolumbia, Kanada (1905-1912), sosialistinen, teosofinen (50 asukasta)
* Red Deer -suunnitelma, Alberta, Kanada (1899-1899), nationalistinen
* Itabo, Kuuba (1904-1908), nationalistinen, sosialistinen (50 asukasta)
* Ponnistus, Kuuba (1906-1909), sosialistinen (50 asukasta)
* Redwood Valley, Kalifornia, Yhdysvallat (1912-1932), sosialistinen, osuustoiminta (120 asukasta)
* Georgian Osuusfarmi, Georgia, Yhdysvallat (1921-1966), sosialistinen (150 asukasta)
* Karjala -kuume, Neuvosto-Karjala (1920-1930), sosialistinen (6000-8000 asukasta)
* Paradiso -suunnitelma, Riviera, Ranska (1925-1927), vegetaristinen
* Penedo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia (1929-1940), vegetaristinen, uskonnollinen (150 asukasta)
* Viljavakka, Dominikaaninen tasavalta (1930-1944), vegetaristinen (140 asukasta)
* Colonia Finlandesa, Misiones, Argentiina (1906-1940), nationalistinen (500 asukasta)
* Colonia Villa Alborado, Paraguay (1920-1940), vegetaristinen (60 asukasta)
* Jad Hashmona, Israel (1971→), uskonnollinen (100 asukasta)
* Emmaus Jokioinen, Suomi (1977→), ympäristöliike (20 asukasta)
June 19, 2009 at 8:32 am
Mateus, the Finns established a number of colonies in Latin America during the first half of the last century: Colonia Finlandesa, Argentina (1906); Ponnistus, Cuba (1906); Villa Alborada, Paraguay (end of 1920s); Penedo, Brazil (end of 1920s); Viljavakka, Dominican Republic (end of 1920s). The colony in Brazil exists and is located near Resende in the state of Rio de Janeiro. There are very few Finns living there. Maybe you can pay Penedo a visit when you go to Rio. If you want to read a little about Colonia Finlandesa in Argentina, which no longer exists, visit http://www.coloniafinlandesa.wordpress.com.
One of the reasons why the Finns settled Misiones in 1906 was to become rich in 20 years. What they found, however, was totally the opposite. In Santa Catarina there was a lot of colonization from countries such as Italy and Germany.
One of the reasons why the Finnish colony failed in Misiones was because of tobacco farming. As you know, tobacco was the only way for colonists to secure cash. In order to do so, they had to clearcut 1-2he of land (capital) every year. They did so with no environmental management. In 20-30 years you impoverished your farm and turned it into a “capuera” (I think this is a Brazilian term). Did they do a lot of tobacco and yerba mate farming in Santa Catarina?
June 19, 2009 at 8:33 am
Religion, socialism, vegetarianism, nationalism… all failed
June 19, 2009 at 9:02 am
Oh, and guys, don’t “integrate” too much into the Finnish ways.
http://www.ni´ullwave.net/juhannus.jpg
don’ do that
June 19, 2009 at 9:03 am
Sorry http://www.nullwave.net/juhannus.jpg
June 19, 2009 at 9:04 am
Thank you for this, DeTant. I guess the source is Teuvo Peltoniemi’s Kohti paramepaa maailmaa?
June 19, 2009 at 9:04 am
Even in English:
http://www.sosiomedia.fi/utopia/english_article.htm
June 19, 2009 at 9:17 am
The man on the page on a branch playing the guitar is Artturi Heino of Tampere who moved to Colonia Finlandesa in Argentina in 1933.
June 19, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Enrique, the correct spelling is “capoeira”, but the pronunciation is very close to what you wrote.
As far as I know, in Santa Catarina, “large-scale” farming was based on grains. My father, for example, used to grow mainly corn and rice, and so did virtually all the Italian immigrants. Tobacco was, indeed, grown, but it was usually for families’ own delight. And even though yerba mate is part of our culture and traditions, if I am not mistaken, at that time it was grown in the west of SC for personal consumption only.
So Colonia Finlandesa no longer exists, but the Finnish descendents are still there. Do they acknowledge Finland as their “home land”? What is their relationship with Suomi, nowadays (language, culture, etc)? What about Penedo?
June 19, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Mateus, the Argentineans who have a Finnish background are very interested in their grandparent’s or great grandparent’s home. I do not know if you have such a term in Santa Catarina, but in Misiones all those groups that had white European backgrounds (Germans, Swedes, Finns, Ukrainians etc) are “gringos.” Is it the same thing in Santa Catarina? Capoeira in Portuguese, or capuera in Misiones Spanish, is an example of the Brazilian influence in Misiones. Penedo is the only Finnish colony that “survived.” They got out of farming and into the tourist industry. Do a Google on Penedo. You will find a lot of interesting information.
June 21, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Interestingly in Brazil we call people from Argentina “gringos” and to some extent foreigners in general. The funniest thing, I think, is that if you are blonde and white you are called Alemão, which means “German”, no matter where you come from.
June 21, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Mateus, those are interesting ethnic labels you guys have in Santa Catarina, even if it is next door to Misiones. Gringo in Argentina means “Yankee” but used to mean Italian. As mentioned, in Misiones, fair-skinned people who are the grandchildren and great grandchildren of former colonists are all called “Gringos.” Pretty interesting, no?