New Finland or Uusi Suomi is a district in the Qu'Appelle valley, the south eastern part of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Uusi Suomi is Finnish for "New Finland", the name adopted by this Finnish block settlement. The homesteaders found an area in Saskatchewan near Qu'Appelle River which resembled the homeland of Finland both in geography and climate. The earliest settler arrived in 1888, and was followed by Finnish immigrants from Finland as well as from the iron ore mine regions of Minnesota and Dakota in the United States. The centre of the New Finland district consisted of a church, hall, and schoolhouse. Finland was undergoing profound changes following Tsar Nicholas II's February manifesto which was a main factor initiating the Great Exodus from Finland. The Canadian Pacific Railway along with Canadian immigration minister Clifford Sifton were advertising both abroad and in the United States encouraging settlement to Canada's "Last Best West". The community which arose had strong religious beliefs and celebrated Finnish cultural traditions.
History
David Jeremia Kautonen was the first Finnish settler to arrive at the New Finland district in 1888, setting up a homestead on southwest quarter section of township 36 range 17 west of the second Meridian. According to C.D. Hendrickson, immigration agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway, there were only three families living in the New Finland District in the spring of 1891. By 1882, the nearby town of Whitewood, Provisional District of Assiniboia, North-West Territories was a major stop on the C.P.R. Kautonen had been joined by John Lauttamus and Matti Mutamaa. The C.P.R. immigration department then encouraged Finnish settlers of the Minnesota and Dakota region in the United States to emigrate to Canada. With this in mind, delegates from the American Finnish districts traveled to New Finland, North West Territories and were well pleased with what they had surveyed. As a result, several Finnish settlers of the United States abandoned their employment in the iron ore mines and immigrated to the New Finland District.
The three families who originally came to the area wrote letters back to friends and family still residing in Finland, describing the settlement and urging them to come to Canada. Soon the New Finland district had swollen to 50 people. A letter to the Dominion of Canada Minister of the Interior was written February 15, 1900, by Samuel Kivela and Thomas Karppinen clergyman requesting information about settlement prospects in Canada. This letter was in response to articles placed in the Finnish newspapers by the United States who wished to discourage settlement in Canada. The Canadian Department of the Interior responded promptly, and advised that the Finnish newspapers would soon have reports directly from agents from Finland who had traveled from Finland to inspect Canada first hand. Many of these new immigrants were "Church Finns" with strong religious beliefs. By 1893 they had established their religious institution, the St. John Suomi (Finnish) Lutheran Synod; in 1907 they built their church. By 1899, a Finnish consul found the population close to 250 persons. The community had erected both a church and two schools, New Finland School District 435 in 1896 and Nurmi Oja SD #1416 in 1906. In 2010, around 200 people identify themselves as part of the New Finland district.
Immigration
The years between 1870 and 1930 are sometimes referred as 'the Great Migration' of Finns into North America. There are several factors which resulted in immigration of Finns to Saskatchewan. Push factors refer primarily to the motive for emigration from the country of origin, which usually involves its history. The “February manifesto” of Tzar Nicholas II in 1899 merged the army of Finland with that of Russia which resulted in mandatory army training. Other cultural freedoms were being usurped during this time which violated the constitution of Finland.