This year the Lac du Bonnet & District Historical Society celebrated a tribute to the Finnish settlement in our region on Friday December 4 at the Lac du Bonnet Community Center.
Leno Knox, the daughter of Finnish immigrant Pete Livo, who resided in Pointe du Bois, gave a wonderful speech on the Finnish history to the attentive audience of 155+ people. Leona also had on display the costume her mother Alli Livo (see Photo) brought with her when she arrived in Canada in 1928, her Transatlantic ship boarding pass and her passport, along with other memories.
Miriam Simoens a decendant of the Tuokko Family, raised on Pinawa Bay, also had a Finnish Costume on display, along with a table of more current items from Finland. Miriam played a very important role in baking traditional Finnish breads and desserts which were combined with other Finnish desserts made by Iona Plato.
The Lac du Bonnet District Museum displayed photographs of early Finns from Elma, Whitemouth, Newcombe, Riverland, Pointe du Bois, and Pinawa Bay.
The displays were overwhelmed with onlookers, photo takers, memories, and information.
Entertainment this year was “storyteller” Kay Stone with a tale of the Kalevala chapter Lemminkainen the trickster and Don MacLellan on acoustic guitar
89 pounds of food was collected at the door and donated to the local food bank. Silent auction, rainbow auction, and 50 / 50 draw were held to raise funds for the Lac du Bonnet and District Historical Society.
We would like to thank local businesses, members, and everyone who generously donated prizes and their time to make this event a success.
Finland is a Nordic country in northern Europe bordered by Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east.
Unrest with the Russian occupancy of Finland Tsar Nicholas 11 's February Manifesto of 1899, combined with Canada's Minister of the Interior Sir Clifford Sifton's advertising free homesteads in western Canada initiated a great exodus of Finns from Finland.
The Finns came to the USA then spread across the prairies favoring SE Saskatchewan "New Finland".
The late 1890s saw Finns settle in Whitemouth and Elma. Later they settled in Newcombe, Riverland, Pinawa Bay, Lee River, and Pointe du Bois.