Talkoot: The Finnish Tradition of Community Work
The beams are too heavy for one family to lift. The roof cannot be finished before winter comes. Livestock will need shelter before the snow arrives. Waiting until enough money has been saved to hire workers means it might never be finished.
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.
Finns in Alberta
By the time many Finnish immigrants reached Canada in the early twentieth century, Ontario already had established Finnish communities. Places such as Port Arthur and Fort William offered work in lumber camps, mines, and industry, while churches, newspapers, and Finnish-speaking neighbours made the transition to a new country a little easier.