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Aleksanteri (Aleksi) Hihnavaara, (November 21, 1882 - January 8, 1938) better known by his nickname Mosku, was a famous Finnish frontiersman and reindeer herder in Sompio region, Northeastern Lapland.
Before World War I, Hihnavaara earned his living by hunting, logging and reindeer herding. He bought a house beside the Luiro river from a Sami reindeer keeper and began to build up his own reindeer stock. His nickname "Mosku" came from Moskuvaara farm, which belonged to his grandfather. As the World War and impending revolution brought growing instability and restlessness to the region (which was close to the Russian border and the strategically important Murmansk), Hihnavaara became embroiled in a complicated border conflict between the Whites, the Reds, local Finnish reindeer keepers, and the indigenous Skolt Sami. The reindeer were the most important livestock in the area, so they were a strategic asset and frequent target of raids by various groups of revolutionaries, bandits, deserters, and local people.
During the Finnish Civil War, Hihnavaara patrolled the borderlands, guarding reindeer herds. According to archives and his own testimony, he killed three Reds in 1918 and at least one Skolt in 1919 in fights over the reindeer. It was during this period he met and befriended Jäger Captain (later General) Kurt Wallenius. Despite Hihnavaara not being a military man, Wallenius used his services in post-Civil War pacifying acts. In 1919, Wallenius and Hihnavaara undertook a punitive expedition against the Skolts. The expedition was made up of Finnish Border Guards and local civilians, and they crossed the Russian border, confiscating hundreds of reindeer. Wallenius would later detail the expedition in his 1933 book Man-hunters and Frontiersmen. The book became a best-seller in Finland and made Hihnavaara famous. The local population, however, was not always supportive of his sometimes ruthless measures, and his nickname was modified to Paha-Mosku (Mosku the Bad). In 1920 Wallenius recruited him as a guide for the Finnish attempt to conquer Pechenga. However, the expedition ended in defeat.
After the 1920 Treaty of Tartu, the region stabilized, and Hihnavaara's personal reindeer herds gradually grew. By 1935, he owned over a thousand reindeer, making him one of the wealthiest men in the region. His relations with Skolt Sami also improved and he undertook many business trips to Skolt-land. However, he still had many personal enemies from his former exploits. He nearly always carried a firearm, and it is reported that there were at least two attempts on his life during the 1930s. His success and reputation were also a fertile breeding ground for malicious rumors: it was frequently claimed that he stole reindeer from his neighbours and the Skolt. However, these allegations were never conclusively proven.
Hihnavaara never married, but lived with his housekeeper and life partner Mari Tanhua. After two of their sons died at an early age, Hihnavaara's alcoholism took a turn for the worse. In winter 1936, he contracted severe pneumonia, and although he recovered, the illness left him with a heart condition. In January 1938, he died of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 55 in Sodankylä. [1] After his death, Mosku became a popular character in Finnish Lapland folktales and wilderness genre literature. Finnish author Sakari Kännö published his biography in 1992, and a movie based on the book appeared in 2003.
The Finnish author Lauri Hihnavaara is the son of Aleksi Hihnavaara and Mari Tanhua.
The Sámi are the traditionally Sámi-speaking peoples inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. The region of Sápmi was formerly known as Lapland, and the Sámi have historically been known in English as Lapps or Laplanders, but these terms are regarded as offensive by the Sámi, who prefer the area's name in their own languages, e.g. Northern Sámi Sápmi. Their traditional languages are the Sámi languages, which are classified as a branch of the Uralic language family.
Sápmi is the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi is in Northern Europe and includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia, also known as the "Cap of the North".
Norrbotten County is the northernmost county or län of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf of Bothnia to the southeast, the counties of Nordland and Troms in Norway to the northwest, and Lapland Province in Finland to the northeast.
Lapland is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. The 21 municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Troms and Finnmark County in Norway, and Murmansk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia in Russia. Topography varies from vast mires and forests of the South to fells in the North. The Arctic Circle crosses Lapland, so polar phenomena such as the midnight sun and polar night can be viewed in Lapland.
Enontekiö is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approx. 1,800 inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about 8,400 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi) between the Swedish and Norwegian border. Finland's highest point, the Halti fell, with a height of 1,324 metres (4,344 ft) above the mean sea level, is situated in the north of Enontekiö. The municipality shares borders with regions of Sweden and Norway that encompass the Scandinavian Mountains. The administrative centre of Enontekiö is the village of Hetta. About one fifth of the community's population are Sami people. Enontekiö's main industries are tourism and reindeer husbandry.
Kemi Sámi was a Sámi language that was originally spoken in the southernmost district of Finnish Lapland as far south as the Sámi siidas around Kuusamo.
The siida is a Sámi local community that has existed from time immemorial. A siida, or 'reindeer pastoralistic district,' is a Sámi reindeer foraging area, a group for reindeer herding and a corporation working for the economic benefit of its members. The reindeer-herding siida has formed as an adaptation of ancient siida principles to large-scale nomadic reindeer herding. It is termed a sameby in Swedish law, reinbeitedistrikt in Norwegian law, and paliskunta in Finnish law. The pastoralist organisation differs slightly between countries, except in Russia, where kolkhoz replaced these earlier organisations.
Savukoski is a municipality of Finland.
Sodankylä is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 (E63) and along Highway 4 (E75). The Kitinen River flows near the center of Sodankylä. Its neighbouring municipalities are Inari, Kemijärvi, Kittilä, Pelkosenniemi, Rovaniemi, and Savukoski. The municipality has two official languages: Finnish and Northern Sami.
Kurt Martti Wallenius was a Finnish Major General.
Lars Levi Laestadius was a Swedish Sami pastor and administrator of the Swedish state Lutheran church in Lapland who founded the Laestadian pietist revival movement to help his largely Sami congregations, who were being ravaged by alcoholism. Laestadius himself became a teetotaller in the 1840s, when he began successfully talking his Sami parishioners out of alcoholism. Laestadius was also a noted botanist and an author.
Ivalo is a village in the municipality of Inari, Lapland, Finland, located on the Ivalo River 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Lake Inari in the Arctic Circle. It has a population of 3,998 as of 2003 and a small airport. 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Ivalo is a very popular resort named Saariselkä. The closest border crossing into Russia, is about 50 km from Ivalo: the Raja-Jooseppi border station is manned by Finland's authorities.
Neiden is a village area in the Sápmi area along the Finland–Norway border with about 250 inhabitants. Neiden, situated along the Neiden River, actually consists of two villages 12 kilometers apart, separated by the border of Norway and Finland. One village is in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway, and the other village is in Inari Municipality in Lapland, Finland. Neiden is the official name in Norway and Näätämö in Finland. The European route E6 highway runs through the Norwegian village of Neiden. The village on the Finnish side is close to the border and has border shops.
The White Reindeer is a 1952 Finnish folk horror film directed by Erik Blomberg in his feature film debut. Blomberg wrote the screenplay with his wife Mirjami Kuosmanen, who also stars in the lead role. Based on pre-Christian Finnish mythology and Sami shamanism, the film is set in the Finnish Lapland and centers on a young woman, Pirita (Kuosmanen).
Inari or Aanaar Sámi are a group of Sámi people who inhabit the area around Lake Inari, Finland. They speak the Inari (Aanaar) Sámi language, which belongs to the eastern Sámi languages. There are an estimated 700–900 ethnic Inari Sámi in Finland, of whom approximately 300–400 speak Inari Sámi. They are the only group of Sámi who live within one state and one municipality. Inari Sámi are indigenous peoples of their area.
Sámi politics refers to politics that concern the Sámi ethnic group in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In a more narrow sense, it has come to indicate the government of Sámi affairs by Sámi political institutions. This article deals with Sámi political structures, with an emphasis on the contemporary institutions.
The expedition to Lapland, the northernmost region in Sweden, by Carl Linnaeus between May and October 1732 was an important part of his scientific career.
A variety of ethnic groups have long existed in Finland. Prominent examples include the Swedish speaking minority within the country and the Sami peoples in the north. With modern international migration to Finland, different ethnolinguistics groups populate the country, most prominently in Helsinki.
Reindeer herding is when reindeer are herded by people in a limited area. Currently, reindeer are the only semi-domesticated animal which naturally belong to the North. Reindeer herding is conducted in nine countries: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Greenland, Alaska, Mongolia, China and Canada. A small herd is also maintained in Scotland.
Jaakko Gauriloff is a Skolt Sámi singer. He is regarded as the first artist to have sung popular music in the Skolt Sámi language and is said to be the first Sámi to have published an album in Finland when he published his first record at the end of the 1960s. Although he is mostly known as a schlager singer, he can also sing traditional Skolt Sámi leuʹdds.
