Kvenland

Kven
Regions with significant populations
	Norway (Finnmark, Troms)
Languages
	Finnish, Kainu [1] (or Kven language), Norwegian
Religion
	Lutheranism
Related ethnic groups
	Finns, Tornedalians (or Tornedalian Finns) and other Finnic peoples

This article is about the Kvens (in Finnish: kveeni, kainulainen, or in plural: kveenit, kainulaiset) and Kvenland (in Finnish: Kainu, Kainuunmaa). For the modern-day Finnish province of Kainuu click here: Kainuu.

1. Kven people (alternate spellings: Cwen, Kvæn, Quen, Qven - kveeni or kainulainen in Finnish and Kven languages) are a Finnish / Finnic group (tribe) of people who historically inhabited territories of Northern Scandinavia, Fennoscandia and - based on some historic evidence - parts of today's Northwestern Russia as well. Over time, much of the Kven population has assimilated and mixed with the rest of the Nordic populations.

Today, the term Kven is mostly used in reference to the Kvens and their descendants in Northern Scandinavia, i.e. in today's Northern Sweden and - especially - in the very northernmost coastal areas of the Scandinavian peninsula, by the Arctic Ocean and its Barents Sea in today's Northern Norway, and in the extreme Northwestern modern-day Russia as well, in areas representing the very northerntmost outskirts of the historic Kvenland territories, areas which up till quite recently still remained rather isolated and therefore also populationally and culturally less mixed, also less assimilated with the rest of the society around them.

It is known that the vast majority of the pre- 20th century migration waves to Northern Norway, largely from the 16th century AD onwards, originated from the historic Kvenland territories of the modern-day Northern Sweden and Northern Finland. Accordingly, all those Finnic people having lived or settled in Northern Norway prior to the 20th century - in some cases prior to the Second World War - today are considered Kvens in Norway.

The later Finnish migration to Northern Norway has included also settlers from elsewhere in Finland, and - therefore - the more recent Finnish immigrants are not considered Kvens in Norway, but Finns instead. Also, due to less isolation and more mixing and assimilation, outside the boundaries of the modern-day Norway, in the historic and traditional Kvenland territories of Northern Scandinavia and today's Northwestern Russia, the descendants of the Kvens usually no longer are referred to as Kvens.

2. Kven language (Kainu in Kven language) is a distinct Finnic language, shared by the Kvens. It is closely related to Finnish, and in particular to its Kainuu dialect. Its origins are also largely the same than those of the closely related Finnic Meänkieli (or Tornedalen Finnish), spoken in Northern Sweden.

Historical origin

Kven people are a Finnish/Finnic group, historically inhabiting the territories of Northern Scandinavia and areas that today are a part of the extreme Northwestern Russia.

The first known written reference to the Kvens appeared in 98 AD, when the Roman historian Gaius Cornelius Tacitus wrote in his book, Germania, about the Sithons, who were ruled by a woman (Kvenland, 1986, page 51, Emeritus Professor Kyösti Julku).

In his 98 AD book, Tacitus also discusses the Fennos of the Northernmost Scandinavia. Previously it was debated whether the Fennos in this context was a reference to the Finno-Ugric Sami population or the Finns. According to the Professor Emeritus Kyösti Julku, in recent times an increasing number of scientist believe Taticus to have referred to the Finns/Kvens by this reference. In his 1986 book, Professor Julku brings up new evidence, such as historic maps that before have not been properly included it the main studies published. Among other evidence, Julku also discusses prehistoric Kven place names in today's Northern Norway, at least 12 such names in the area of Tromsa alone.

The Kvens are also discussed in early Norse literature, Viking Age sagas and other historical writings of the Medieval Period. According to these documents, the Kvens inhabited and/or ruled an area historically referred to as Kvenland (Kainuu or Kainuunmaa in Finnish), which - according to most historians - included the coastal and nearby areas around the Gulf of Bothnia, a sea separating today's Sweden and Finland, but also - based on historical writings and archaeological findings - perhaps the entire Northern Scandinavian area north from the Gulf of Bothnia, to the Arctic Ocean, and - on the west-east dimension - from the Norwegian mountain chain to the White Sea (in today's Northwestern Russia).

According to the Norwegian 9th century leader and explorer "Othar", Kvenland was the Northern Scandinavian territory east from the Norwegian mountains (in south by the same side of the mountain chain lived the Sweos, according to Othar). Othar - and later King Alfred the Great in the end of the 9th century - described the life of the Kvens and the structure of their society. Nevertheless, it is not clear as to how early on the Kvens can be seen having inhabited the Northern Scandinavian coastal shores of the Arctic Ocean "all-year-round", where Othar (alternate spellings: Ottar, Othere) described himself having come in contact with the Kvens (Suomen historia, "History of Finland", 2003, page 27, Professor Jouko Vahtola).

It is also not clear as to when the historic Kven society can be seen to have began. Whereas the oldest archaeological findings from the modern-day Northern Finland date traces of human life from approximately 8 000 BC onwards, when the ice masses of the last Ice Age were still melting away, there is no known written mentioning of the Kvens available from the time before the first century AD.

Historically, the Finnic Kvens are referred to as a separate group from the Finnic Karelians or the Finno-Ugric Samis. According to History Professors Seppo Zetterberg and Allan Tiitta (Suomi kautta aikojen, 1997 - "Finland Through All Times" - page 31) the Karelians began calling the Kvens by the Finnish language term kainulainen, based on the area the Kvens lived on, Kainuu, which - according to the same Professors - included the coastal areas of the Gulf of Bothnia. Both groups are discussed widely in the Finnish national epic Kalevala.

In the epic Finnish Kalevala legend - as in the Finnish language in general - Kvenland has always been known as Kainuu, Kainu or Kainuunmaa. Compared with the modern-day Finnish province of Kainuu, the historic and traditional territories of Kainuu - i.e. Kvenland - reached much further up northwest, north and northeast than at the present time.

According to Jouko Vahtola (Suomen historia, 2003 - "History of Finland" - page 27), a Professor of Finnish and Scandinavian history in the University of Oulu in Finland, by the term Kven the 9th century Norwegian explorer Othar probably referred to Finns in general.

Archeologically the Kvens are still somewhat obscure. Many prehistoric burials are known from the Finnish side of the Gulf Of Bothnia up to the 8th century, but afterwards only a handful of burials are known. It is so far unclear if the area had a permanent inhabitation of farmers until the 12th century, when settlers from Southwestern Finland were present in the northern river valleys.

If the pre-8th century farming population vanished, as some Finnish historians and archaeologists believe, "Kvenland" was thereafter inhabited mainly by hunter-gatherers (possibly of Sami affiliation), whose archeological remains are notoriously elusive, and whose possible connection with the Kvens is unclear. Even in this case, Kvenland was visited by traders and hunters from the southern farmer settlements. Possibly the later were called the Kvens at that time.

Recent archeological findings have, however, brought new findings to be examined. For instance, in 2005 a kilogram of silver, and some silver jewelry, dating to the 12th century AD were discovered from the northernmost area of Finland, in Inari. Recent prehistoric findings from Utsjoki (in a close vicinity to the Arctic Ocean), Enontekiö and Suomussalmi, Finland, are currently also being investigated.

Details of some old sources

Whereas the oldest known written reference to the Kvens can be found from the 98 AD Roman historian Gaius Cornelius Tacitus' book, Germania (Kvenland, 1986, page 51, Emeritus Professor Kyösti Julku), the oldest known written use of the term Kven - by that spelling - can be found from the Account of the Viking Othere by the Northern Norwegian Viking leader and explorer "Othar" from Björkoy in Hålogaland (Haalogaland), near Troms (Tromsa) (a.k.a. Ottar from Hålogaland).

The information given in the Account of the Viking Othere is based on Othar's voyages to Northern Scandinavia and the Arctic Ocean in the latter part of the 9th century.

Ottar met the English King Alfred the Great in England in the end of the 9th century and made a thorough account to him of the life in the Northernmost part of Scandinavia and in today's Northern Norway, and the Kvens, and about his exploration trip to the White Sea area.

This account of Ottar's was included to the omissions and additions included to the Universal History of Orosius, republished by Alfred the Great (the book is partially work of Orosius and partially of Alfred the Great). This was the first genuine and comprehensive account of the North, and thus it is a principle source in the exploration of the Nordic history.

According to this source, as well as some Russian sources, the Norwegians and the Kvens united their forces on the 9th century against the attacks by the (Finnish) Karelians, who - with the assistance of Novgorod - made advances up North, particularly coming to the 11th century.

The later Egils Saga mention an alliance between the Norse and the Kvens against the Karelian raiders from the south-east during the 12th century, when the Karelians were expanding their influence towards Kvenland.

In the book Suomi kautta aikojen (Finland Through All Times), page 31, History Professors Allan Tiitta and Seppo Zetterberg explain that whereas still on the 12th century the Norse and the Kvens cooperated in the taxing of Lapland (Egil's saga, for instance, talks about this cooperation), coming to the 13th century the Norwegians had to give up this taxing, for the benefit of the Kvens.

Alfred the Great's chronicle and Egil Skallgrimsson's saga also discuss the Kvens and Kvenland. The German medieval chronicler Adam of Bremen mentions the Kvens in the 11th century. He calls Kvenland Terra Feminica. Connections between the term "Qven" (alternate spelling for Kven, seen e.g. in many historic maps) and the resembling Old Norse term Qvinna - meaning "woman" - have been drawn. In this context, the references made in the historic Nordic writings to the female leadership of the Kvens have also been linked and depated.

In his 1906 book, "Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race", Thomas William Shore - on the other hand - draws connections between the term Kven (the spelling Quen is used in Latin texts) and the English term Queen. F.N. Flinck (1899) and Julius Pokorny (1936) also have suggested similar type of Finnish impact on Germanic languages, and visa versa. The following spellings for the Viking Age Kvens are those most commonly found in the English historical writings referring to Kvens: "Cwen", "Quen" and "Fin".

According to the chronicle of Alfred the Great, Scandinavia was inhabited by Suiones of Svealand, the Lapps in Lapland, the Norse in Norway and the Kvens in Kvenland. It is mentioned that Kvenland was located around big bodies of waters, such as the Gulf of Bothnia, and by large fjords such as the Varanger Fjord, and by large lakes such as the Lake Inari, and by large rivers such as Kainuunjoki - the "River Kvenland" -, today better known as the River Kalix in the modern-day Sweden.

Together with other Finnic groups, the Viking Age Kvens are believed to have participated in the Varangian/Viking conquests abroad.

A further investigation to the following collection of selected sources and references (each somehow relating to the Kvens) can - perhaps - give more understanding as to how the Kvens (and/or Finns in general) were viewed in historic texts during the Viking Age (800-1200 AD) and the Medieval period:

In 870 AD, the Norwegian explorer and leader Ottar from Hålogaland writes a thorough account about his Northern Scandinavian and White Sea exploration trip, where he discusses the Kvens. According to Othar, the Kvens ruled the territories of the Northern Scandinavia - east from the Norwegian mountain chain - which he traveled through.

In 890 AD, the English King Alfred the Great writes in the Universal History of Orosius about the Kvens and the land they rule.

In 1075 AD, Adam of Bremen, one of the most important German medieval chroniclers, discusses Kvens in Gesta (a history of Bremen/Hamburg and of the northern lands). He calls Kvenland Terra Feminica. Comparisons to Tacitus' (98 AD) similar Sithons' (i.e. Kvens') female leadership reference and the historic Nordic references to the female leader "Gygr" and/or "Pohjan akka" have been drawn ever since.

In 1154 AD, the Arab historian and scientist, Muhammad al-Idrisi tells that the King of FMRK has possessions in Norway. "Fmrk" is believed to refer to Finnmark, which area - according to the Norwegian leader "Othar" and according to the Universal History of Orosius (republished by King Alfred the Great in 890 AD) - was "ruled" by the Kvens.

In 1157 AD, in his geographical chronicle, Nikolaos, the abbot of the monastery at Thingeyrar in Northern Iceland, talks about "two Kvenlands" that reach the areas "north from Bjarmia".

In 1170 AD, the Historia Norvegiae tells about the whereabouts of Kvenland. According to the text, the Kvens served pagan gods.

In 1187 AD, according to a Swedish chronicle, the main Swedish center, Sigtuna, is conquered and destroyed by an attack from easterly direction. Later medieval Swedish sources explain the Karelians to have been behind this attack. However, around this time the Kvens and the Karelians are known to have began their cooperation. Historians believe the River Kemijoki (part of the historic Kvenland) settlement name of Sihtuuna to derive from the name Sigtuna.

In 1200 AD, the Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus, tells about Finnish kings.

In 1220 AD, the Icelandic bishop, poet, and historian, Snorri Sturluson, writes the Ynglinga Saga, in which marriages and wars of Finnish and Swedish royal families are mentioned.

In 1230 AD, in the introduction to the Orkneyinga Saga, Fundinn Noregr discusses Fornjótr, the King of Finland and Kvenland and the conquest of Norway by his son, Nórr (source: KVENLAND / KAINUUNMAA, 1986, page 61 - includes the Icelandic and Finnish spellings of the original text -, Professor Emeritus Kyösti Julku). Based on the information given in this saga, the ruling families of Sweden, Norway, the Orkney Islands, Normandy, and England descend from these Finnish and/or Kven kings.

In 1230 - 1240 AD, in Egils saga - presumably by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 A.D.) - discusses Faravid, the King of Kvenland (source: KVENLAND / KAINUUNMAA, 1986, page 73 - includes a picture of an old manuscript - Professor Emeritus Kyösti Julku).

In 1251 AD, the Karelians fought against the Norwegians.

In 1271 AD, the Kvens and the Karelians cooperated in battles against the Norwegians in Haalogaland. These battles had a lasting effect in the life of the entire Northern Scandinavia.

During the several following centuries, a gradual and slow process of a Swedish expansion in today's Finland and the formation of Sweden-Finland took place. Rather than wars between the Swedes and the Finns, the skirmishes between various Finnish groups helped the progression of the process: Those Finns in the west sympathized with the catholic Swedes and those in the east sympathized with the orthodox Russians. This period saw many tendencies and attempts to autonomy for the eastern half of Sweden-Finland, that came to form the borders of Finland of today.

Once King Karl IX had strengthened his hold on the crown of Sweden, he appended to it the title "King of the Kainulaiset" (Kvens), apparently using it the first time on March 16, 1607. Kainu (Kvenland) occupied a separate position from the rest of Finland for a long time to come (Kvenland, Julku, 1986, 187).

Since the Viking Age, the historic Kvenland territories have played an important role in many wars having to do with Finns. For instance, in the Swedish-Russian peace treaty of 1809, the border of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland was about to be drawn to the River Kalix, also known as Kainuunjoki ("River Kvenland") in Finnish, in the modern-day Northern Sweden. The surrounding Finnish speaking historic Kvenland territories were, however, left a part of Sweden.

Norwegian settlements

Today's Kvens are the descendants of the Kvens/Finns who inhabited the northernmost coastal areas of the Scandinavian peninsula - by the Arctic Ocean and its Barents Sea, in today's Northern Norway and in the extreme Northwestern Russia -, or who settled there, any time prior to the 20th century.

Such places by the Varanger Fjord (a vast bay of water, connected to the Arctic Ocean - Varangerfjorden in Norwegian - in Northeastern Norway) as Bugoynes (Pykeija in Finnish), Vadso (Vesisaari in Finnish), Kirkenes (Kirkkoniemi in Finnish) and Vardo (Vuoreija in Finnish) are perfect examples of today's remaining Kven centers in northeastern Norway.

Due to the mixing and assimilation of populations and cultures in the historical Kvenland territories, the descendants of Kvens outside the boundaries of Northern Norway, for instance in the Gulf of Bothnia and the White Sea areas, usually are no longer referred to as Kvens by the modern-day local residents. Only the Kvens of Northern Norway by the Arctic Ocean and particularly its Barents Sea in Northeastern Scandinavia - who up till the latter part of the twentieth century have been rather isolated of the rest of the society around them - still today continue carrying on the Kven title, traditions, heritage and language.

In 1996, the Kvens of Norway were granted a legal minority peoples' status. In 2005, their language, the Kven language - or Kainu -, became an official and legalized minority language in Norway.

Kven migrations

According to researchers (Professor Jouko Vahtola and others), the so called Tornedalians - who migrated in what today is the Torne Valley region in Sweden - originated from the Tavastland area in Finland.

After the Middle Ages and the migration of the Tornedalians, the next larger migration wave up north - this time again reaching the coastal areas of today's Norway - happened in the early 18th century. A number of Northern Norwegian Kven communities then received a migration wave from the historic areas of Kvenland, including the Torne Valley region, the Northern Bothnian areas and Lapland (the Northern Swedish area also was known as Lapland). On the receiving end then were the following Northern Norwegian Kven communities (Norwegian names given first):

Lyngen (Yykeä), Nordreisa (Raisi), Kvaenangen (Naavuono), Porsanger (Porsanki), Karasjok (Kaarasjoki), Polmak (Pulmanki), Bonakas (Punakakkanen), Borselva (Pyssyjoki), Alta (Alattio) and Lakselv (Lemmijoki - a Kven name in use since at least 1595 in Northern Norway).

The following Kven migration wave to Northern Norway - and to the areas that were a part of the Republic of Finland up till 1944 - took place in the beginning of the 19th century, reaching a peak during the famine in Finland in the 1860s. In this migration, the large majority of the migrants again originated from the historic Kvenland - or Kainuu / Kainu - territories, such as the Torne River Valley region, Oulu, Kemi, Kemijärvi, Sodankylä and Kuusamo. Now, the Northern Norwegian communities of Bugoynes (Pykeija), Neiden (Näätämö), Pasvik (Paatsjoki), Vestre Jakobselv (Annijoki), Skalelv (Kallijoki) and Vadso (Vesisaari) were the most favoured targets of the migrants.

The Kven immigrants were often poor farmers looking for land in the Norwegian provinces of Troms and Finnmark. Whereas the first immigrants arrived to parishes such as Alta, Balsfjord, Børselv, Lyngen, Nordreisa, Skibotn and Tana, the later arrivers settled in the eastern parts of Finnmark, along the Varanger Fjord.

The Norwegian government attempted to integrate the Kvens to the Norwegian main stream society by custom made policies and laws from the 1860s on. The use of the Kven language became forbidden and punishable in schools and government offices. Land purchace became prohibited from those who did not acquire Norwegian family names. Eventually, the sales of land for non-speakers of the Norwegian language became prohibited. On national level, the Kvens even became to be considered a national "security risk" ("Finske fare"). Accordingly, the Norwegian Defense Ministry in 1870 demanded for all Kven names ("foreign names") to be removed from maps. Kven town and geographical place names were then replaced by Norwegian ones.

Thus, despite of what their own preferences might have been, the Kven population of Norway largely became integrated into the Norwegian main stream society during that period. In traditional Kven communities - such as Vesisaari (Vadsø in Norwegian) - where the Kvens had formed the vast majority of the population, they soon considered the Norwegian cultural identity as a standard.

However, the last few decades have brought a significant change in this respect. The Kven language received a legal minority language status in 2005, and the original Kven communities have been granted their old place names back. Such Kven names include the following Northern Norwegian community place names (Norwegian names in prentices):

Alattio (Alta), Annijoki (Vestre Jakobselv), Kaarasjoki (Karasjok), Kallijoki (Skalelv), Kirkkoniemi (Kirkenes), Lemmijoki - a Kven name in use at least since 1595 - (Lakselv), Naavuono (Kvænangen), Näätämö (Neiden), Paatsjoki (Pasvik), Porsanki (Porsanger), Pulmanki (Polmak), Punakakkanen (Bonakas), Pykeija (Bugoynes), Pyssyjoki (Børselva), Raisi (Nordreisa), Vesisaari (Vadsø), Vuoreija (Vardø), Yekeä (Lyngen), etc.

Notes

^ Ethnologue report: Finnish, Kven

References

Anttonen, Marjut - Finnish migrants to North Norway - supporting or threatening the Kven identifications of today ?. 2000.
Anttonen, Marjut - The politicization of Kven identities in Northern Norway. 2001.
Julku, Kyösti - Kvenland - Kainuunmaa. 1986.
Jutikkala, Eino, with Kauko Pirinen - A History of Finland. Amer-Yhtymä Oy, Espoo, 1979.
Kuussaari, Eero - Suomen suvun tiet. F. Tilgmann Oy, Helsinki, 1935.
Patoharju, Taavi - Suomi tahtoi elää. Sanoma, Pitäjänmäki, 1958.
Shore, Thomas William - Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race. 1906. Reissued in 1971 by Kennikat Press.
Pokorny, Julius - 1936.
Vahtola, Jouko - Suomen historia / Jääkaudesta Euroopan unioniin. 2003.
Wessel, A.B. – Optegnelser fra Sør-Varanger. 1938, reprinted 1979.
Zetterberg, Seppo / Tiitta, Allan - Suomi kautta aikojen. Otava, 1997.