Twofaced Stubbornness

Picture by Erkki Jauhiainen

          Katumajärvi is a beautiful lake near where my mother grew up. The name translates literally into 'Lake Regret' or 'Lake Penitence'. According to legend, aka my grandma, the name has its roots deep in history. Back in the day, everything was apparently great. You have to understand, that for a Finn, the definition of 'great' involves independence from both Sweden and Russia. As long as they're not in the picture, and we beat them in ice hockey, we're pretty content. 
           Towards the end of the first millennia AD, the Swedes started to convert into Christianity. It seems that for awhile they had been trying to come up with an reason to expand to the East. Their new religion gave them the perfect excuse to hop over the Baltic Sea into Finland, and start to convert the evil pagan Finns. The story according to grandma goes, that the Swedes would force people to convert into Christianity, and to be baptized. Seeing an army with superior weapons, the Finns obliged, for the most part. But, as soon as the Swedes would leave, the locals would head to this particular lake, wash off the baptism, and go on with their old evil pagan lives. There is some truth to the last part, there is evidence of a crusade into Finland lead by Birger Jarl, a Swedish statesman, in mid 1200s because people in this particular area were relapsing into the old beliefs and practices. 

Picture by Google Earth       

           Knowing my family and relatives makes this story believable. We're stubborn, have a strong, independent streak, and are slow to adopt new things. We're naturally shy and suspicious of new people, especially of the Russians and the Swedes. And all those other foreigners. Finding stories of defiance is easy. It's in our genes. 

Picture by Juuso Kurvinen 

All the historical information is from Suomen Kansallismuseo, or the Finnish National Museum, a very interesting and worthy place to visit, if you're ever in the neighborhood. The website with the information is http://www.nba.fi/fi/kansallismuseo/opetus/opetuspaketit/esihistoria/tietoa/rautakausi

Their page in English is http://www.nba.fi/en/nationalmuseum