Les Flâneurs: Finland

September 24.

According to my DNA results, it seems that, among other ethnic groups, I am 1% Finnish. So it should come as no surprise that I was drawn to the Finnish Heritage Center in Hancock, Michigan, across the Portage river from Houghton.

After a leisurely morning of coffee, fruit and cereal, we pulled out onto Pequaming Road. Passing through L'Anse, Chassell and Houghton we pulled up in front of the Finnish Heritage Center in Hancock. Unfortunately we missed the Sami Reindeer exhibition that had closed the previous day. But there were still some photos and trinkets to be seen as the staff was dismantling the exhibit.

In spite of that the Finlandia art gallery in the Center is packed with wonderful works of art by the popular Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallen. Prints of his striking artwork are scattered on the walls around the hall.

the Finnish Center community hall setting up for a dance that evening

We did however get the chance to chat with a couple of the staff members about the various events hosted and sponsored by the Center. We heard more about the 2023 closure of Finlandia University. It was a painful experience for the staff and students, as one might expect and, based on what we were hearing, very poorly handled by those in charge of the transition. Launched in 1896 as Sumi Opisto (Finnish College) and Theological Seminary it was originally connected with the Lutheran Evangelical Church in America to meet the needs of the growing number of Finns emigrating to the US. But with falling enrollment and financial challenges the school shuttered just three years ago.

We also explored the small but very evocative wartime museum on the ground floor of the Center. A stark reminder of how important the Finnish word sisu is to the Finns. Sisu loosely translated means "guts" but so much more. Resilience in the face of adversity, and "an inner reserve of strength that allows a person to keep pushing forward when they reach the absolute limits of their mental or physical capacity."

From Hancock we continued on Route 41 north to Calumet where we planned to stop for lunch. We parked on main street (which isn't called main at all but 6th Street) and popped into the Michigan House for a bite to eat. We had our minds set on soup and we both opted for the soup of the day, garlic potato, washed down with a brace of local brews. Susie opted for the Black Rock again and I went for the Keweenaw "Widowmaker," a black ale that was scrumptious. I should point out that the logo for the "Widowmaker" is a woman holding a pneumatic drill -- the very same type of drill that we were warned about the day before at the Quincy Mine, an instrument notorious for killing so many of its users due to dust inhalation.

the soup came with a large "boule" which didn't look fully baked - not the best

After lunch we strolled down a block or two to the memorial for those killed in the horrible Italian Hall fire of 1913 during a widespread strike in Copper country. Rumor has it that company thugs blocked the doors so no one could get out. We also passed the Calumet theater next to which was a statue of Anna Klobuchar Clermenc, a labor leader in the early 19th century. It is unclear, although doubtful, whether she's related to Amy Klobuchar, senator from Minnesota.

Italian Hall memorial

From Calumet we made our way to M-203 in the direction of the "big" lake and stopped at McLain State Park so Susie could put her feet in the water. The park is located along a stretch of lovely sandy beach behind a breakwater that is actually the entry into the Portage River.

these folks are serious about emergencies

And speaking of that river we cruised along the Portage all the way back to Hancock. We drove through Houghton one last time watching the students stack themselves up along the crosswalks while we whizzed by. We pushed on until we reached Arnheim road between Chassell and Baraga where we turned off in search of the Hanka Finnish Farmstead and Museum.

I had received a call back from a volunteer at the homestead earlier in the day and we knew that there would be no tours until the weekend and indeed no staff at the farm, but he said we were welcome to stroll the grounds anyway.

And so we did.

The Hanka family settled into this part of Michigan wilderness in the late 19th century, raised their family and lived a life devoted to sisu. The farmstead is located off a couple of dirt covered backroads and by the time we arrived it was late in the afternoon. The air was cool in the shade and we were the only ones to be seen.We found a map of the grounds in a nearby kiosk and just made ourselves at home, thinking the Hankas would not mind if we just walked around a bit thinking of how they struggled to make a life for themselves and their descendants in this very wild corner of the world.