Unity Hall and the Finnish Young People’s Society Near Sylvan Lake
A 1925 photograph shows a Finnish church group gathered outside Unity Hall, a white-sided building in the countryside west of Sylvan Lake. The hall was only about a year old when the photograph was taken, but it was already serving several parts of Finnish community life, from church gatherings to dances, meetings and plays.
Kuusamo, Alberta: The Finnish Farming District Near Sylvan Lake
The Canadian Geographical Names Database places Kuusamo at 5-26-38-2-W5, approximately six kilometres southwest of Sylvan Lake. Alberta’s provincial place-name history says the surrounding area was originally settled by Finns and connects the name with Kuusamo School District No. 755.
Hespero, Alberta
Betty Speirs was born at Hespero, Alberta, in 1931. Her father, Neil Humalamaki, had come from Finland, as had her maternal grandparents, who took a homestead north of Eckville in 1903. Neil died when Betty was one, and her mother, Emma, moved Betty and her brother into Eckville.
Clearing the Bush
Central Alberta’s wooded parkland around Sylvan Lake, Eckville and Hoadley lies largely within Treaty 6 territory, while Red Deer stands near the meeting of Treaty 6 and Treaty 7 lands. The region is also Métis homeland and was travelled, occupied and used by Cree, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, Nakota, Dene and Métis communities long before homestead lands were surveyed.
Why Every Finnish Farm Had a Sauna
Drive through the older farming districts of central Alberta and you may notice small log buildings that seem out of place. They are too small to be barns and too substantial to be sheds. At first glance, they might look like old root cellars. Sometimes they are. But if the farm once belonged to a Finnish family, there is a good chance you are looking at a sauna.