Forest Finns (, Norwegian bokmål: Skogfinner, Norwegian nynorsk: Skogfinnar, ) were Finnish migrants from Savonia and Northern Tavastia in Finland who settled in forest areas of Sweden proper and Norway during the late 16th and early-to-mid-17th centuries, and traditionally pursued slash-and-burn agriculture, a method used for turning forests into farmlands. By the late 18th century, the Forest Finns had become largely assimilated into the Swedish and Norwegian cultures, and their language, a variety of Savonian Finnish (Värmland Savonian dialect), is today extinct, although it survived among a tiny minority until the 20th century. Descendants of the Forest Finns still live in Sweden and Norway.
Etymology
The use of the term "Forest Finns" is first reported in sanctions issued by the Dano-Norwegian king in 1648, although they (at least locally in Norway) more commonly were known as (Savonian Finns), (Rye Finns) from their major crop, or notably (Slash-and-burn Finns). The people themselves often used the term (People from the forest of Finns).
History
The origin of the Forest Finns lies in border skirmishes since the 13th century. The powers to the east of Finland, Novgorod and later Russia, constantly challenged the Swedish sovereignty of the often sparsely populated provinces of Eastern Finland. To secure their realm, the Swedish kings, notably Gustav Vasa ( 1523–1560) and Eric XIV ( 1560–1568), encouraged farmers to settle these vast wilderness regions, which in turn were used to the traditionally slash-and-burn agriculture.
These settlements faced several problems, from conflicts with the original populations of Sami people and Karelians to harsh conditions living in frontier lands during war times. The fact that slash-and-burn itself requires a relatively low human population density or a continuing supply of new "frontier" lands, also caused overpopulation and by the late 16th century forced migration by Forest Finns from Savonia () and Northern Häme (Tavastland).
The main part of the Forest Finns moved north to Ostrobothnia (Österbotten) and Kainuu (), east towards northern Karelia (), and south towards Ingria (Ingermanland) (part of Sweden at the time, now part of Russia). However, an estimated 10–15% went westbound across the Baltic Sea in search of largely uninhabited lands best fit for their needs.
The first Forest Finns' settlements in Sweden Proper were established in Norrland, in the provinces of Gästrikland, Ångermanland and Hälsingland in the 1580s and −90s. Another migration route started from Medelpad and continued through the early 17th century on crown lands in the provinces of Dalarna, Värmland and Dalsland—among others—, to occupy the areas immediately adjacent to the border with Denmark–Norway.
Eventually, from the 1620s on, the Forest Finns began settling to Norway. There, they settled in the Eastern counties of Hedmark, Oppland, Akershus, Oslo and Buskerud. The largest concentration of settlements, however, was in the forest-rich eastern part of Hedmark, close to the border of Sweden, in what today is denoted as Finnskogen in Norwegian and Finnskog[arna] in Swedish (literally "Finn Forest[s]"). In this rather remote region the Forest Finns were able to move back and forth between the two countries – the border itself was not properly established until 1751.
In April 1823, six Swedish and six Norwegian Forest Finns traveled to the capital Stockholm in what was called "Tolvmannamarsjen" (English: The march of the twelve men). They brought a petition with 600 signatures demanding their own common church congregation (Kirkesogn) with a Finnish speaking priest right on the Norway-Sweden border. The twelve men were given an audience before King Charles XIV John on 4 May.
Contemporary acceptance
In Sweden, the migration of the Forest Finns was not only well accepted at first, but also masterminded and encouraged by the kings, notably Charles IX ( 1604–11) and Gustavus Adolphus ( 1611–32). They did so in order to make the vast border areas of the North, East and West of the kingdom inhabited. Among attractions offered for the migrating Finnish farmers in Sweden were seven years total exemption of all taxation and the prospect of ownership of large fertile plots of land.