Information AboutKvens |
Kvens (alternate spellings: Cwen, Kven, Kvæn, Kveeni, Quen) are a minority ethnic group in the far north of Norway, primarily in the counties of Troms and Finnmark . The number of Kvens is uncertain, but as many as 50,000 - 60,000 Norwegians claim Kven descent; though a minority of these speak the Kven language. The Kvens share a distinct language known as Kven , closely related to Finnish and in particular Meänkieli . The Kven minority in Norway was subject to discrimination in modern times, particularly in the early 20th century; but Kven culture and language is recently gaining interest and popularity. The term is also used to refer to a historical group of people that lived in the coastal areas around the Gulf Of Bothnia , part of today's Finland . They are mentioned in Norse Literature between 800-1500 AD, after which they were gradually integrated with the Finn Population . Though there are likely historical and linguistic connections between the historical and contemporary Kvens, there is no clear continuity between the two. Norwegian settlements In the modern usage the word ''Kven'' refers to the descendants of immigrants from Finland who settled in Northern Norway before the 15th Century and in several waves into the 20th Century . For example, such places by the '' Varanger Fjord '' (a vast bay of water, connected to the Arctic Ocean - ''Varangerfjorden'' in Norwegian - in Northeastern Norway ) as Bugoynes (''Pykeija'' in Finnish ), Vadsø (''Vesisaari'' in Finnish ), Kirkenes (''Kirkkoniemi'' in Finnish ) and Vardo (''Vuoreija'' in Finnish ) are perfect examples of today's remaining ''Kven'' centers in north-eastern Norway. Following the Norwegian ratification of the Council Of Europe 's Framework Convention For The Protection Of National Minorities in 1998, the ''Kvens'' of Norway were granted a legal minority peoples' status in Norway. Their language, the Kven Language , or ''Kainu'', was granted an official and legalized minority language status in 2005. Kven migrations Today researchers ( Jouko Vahtola and others) agree that the Tornedalians who migrated in what is today the Torne Valley in Sweden originated from the Kvens in Tavastland , in Finland. After the Middle Ages and the migration of the so called Tornedalians the next larger migration wave up north - this time again reaching the coastal areas of today's Norway - happened in the early 18th Century . The following ''Kven'' migration to Northern Norway - and to the areas that were a part of the Republic Of Finland up till 1944 - took place in the beginning of the 19th Century , reaching a peak during the famine in Finland in the 1860s . The immigrants now were for the most part poor farmers looking for land in the Norwegian provinces of Troms and Finnmark . The first immigrants arrived to parishes such as Alta , Balsfjord , Børselv , Lyngen , Nordreisa , Skibotn and Tana . The later arrivers settled in the eastern parts of Finnmark, along the Varanger Fjord. They integrated quickly into the Norwegian society to live along with the Norwegians and Sami people. For instance, in places like Vadsø - where they were the majority of the population - they soon considered the Norwegian cultural identity as a standard. The Norwegian government attempted to integrate the Kvens from the 1880s. The use of the Kven language became forbidden in schools and government officies, and Kven town names were replaced by Norwegian. However, the last few decades brought a significant change. The original Kven have been granted their old meanings. Such names include the Northern Norwegian community place names of ''Alattio'' (Alta in Norwegian ), ''Annijoki'' (Vestre Jakobselv), ''Kaarasjoki'' (Karasjok), ''Kallijoki'' (Skalvelv), ''Kirkkoniemi'' (Kirkenes), ''Lemmijoki'' - a Kven name in use at least since 1595 - (Lakselv), ''Naavuono'' (Kvænangen), ''Näätämö'' (Neiden), ''Paatsjoki'' (Pasvik), ''Porsanki'' (Porsanger), ''Pulmanki'' (Polmak), ''Punakakkanen'' (Bonakas), ''Pykeija'' ( Bugoynes ), ''Pyssyjoki'' (Børselva), ''Raisi'' (Nordreisa), ''Vesisaari'' (Vadsø), ''Vuoreija'' (Vardø), ''Yekeä'' (Lyngen), etc. From 1970s on the ''Kvens'' and the ''Samis'' in Norway have openly been allowed to use the original mother tongue of the ''Kvens'', i.e. an old ''Kven'' dialect of Finnish Language and to teach it to their children at schools. This new policy was enforced via special language laws for minorities. In 2005, the ''Kven language'' - officially now known as Kainu - was given a legal minority language status in Norway. Today, most speakers of the so called ''Kven Finnish'' are found mostly in the extreme Northeastern parts of Norway, in such communities as Bugoynes and Neiden (a municipality of Sør-Varanger , where the last centuries' main migration of Kven people took place from 1830 to 1860), Vestre Jakobselv and Vadso (Vadsø Municipality) and Børselv (Municipality of Porsanger ). A few older speakers may still be found also in the municipalities of Nordreisa and Storfjord . Bugøynes - by Varanger Fjord - perhaps remains the most vital of all the remaining Kven communities in Norway. Historical origin The land inhabited by the Kvens was historically referred to as Kvenland -- ''Kainuu'' or ''Kainuunmaa'' in Finnish . Its exact whereabout are uncertain, but was likely around the coastal areas of the Gulf Of Bothnia . It is uncertain how much of the inland was considered Kven territory. Possibly, Kvens referred to all Finnish People . (''Suomen historia (History of Finland), page 27, Jouko Vahtola, Professor of Finnish and Scandinavian history.'' ). According to for instance history professors Seppo Zetterberg and Allan Tiitta (''Suomi kautta aikojen - Finland Through All Times - 1997'') , the Karelians themselves began to call the Kvens by the Finnish language term ''kainulainen'', based on the area they lived on, ''Kainuu''. However, that ''Kven'' is equal to the Finnish ''kainulaiset'' (or ''kainuulaiset'') and ''Kvenland'' to the Finnish '' Kainuu '' has not found full etymological acceptance among researchers. In literature, the first known occurrence of the Kven in the Account Of The Viking Othere , a chronicle in the time of King Alfred The Great in the 9th Century AD. It is later found in in writings of Adam Of Bremen in the 11th Century , and in Egils Saga from around 1240. It is possible that some early historians who mentioned the Kvens, such as Muhammad Al-Idrisi , confused the ''Samis'' with the ''Kvens''. The relationships between the historical Samis, Finns and Kvens are in any case unclear. Archeologically the Kvens are obscure. Many prehistoric burials are known from the Finnish side of Gulf Of Bothnia to the 8th century, but afterwards only a handful of burials are known. It is so far unclear if the area had a permanent inhabitation of farmers until the 12th century, when settlers from Southwestern Finland were present in the northern riverine valleys. Before the 8th Century there are scarsely any remains of the Kvens. A possible explanation is that "Kvenland" was inhabitated only by Hunter-gatherer s (with possible Sami affiliation), whose archeological remains are notoriously elusive. Possibly the later were called the Kvens at that time. The hunter-gatherers were apparently called ''Finns'' in many contemporary sources, although this name was later transferred to the predominantly farming groups from Southern Finland. Details of old sources The chronicle of Alfred the Great writes that Scandinavia was inhabited by Suiones of Svealand , the Lapps in Lapland , the Norse in Norway and the Kvens in Kvenland . The old passages have been interpreted differently. It is mentioned that Kvenland was located around big bodies of waters; large fjords, lakes and rivers. Ottar met the English King Alfred The Great in England in the end of the 9th century and made a thorough account to him of the life in Northern Norway and the ''Kvens'', and about his exploration trip to the White Sea area. This account was included to the omissions and additions included to the ''Universal History of Orosius '' republished by ''Alfred the Great'' (the book is partially work of ''Orosius'' and partially of ''Alfred the Great''). This was the first genuine and comprenensive account of the North, and thus it is a principle source in the exploration of the Nordic history. According to this source, the Kvens sometimes raided Northern Norways. The later Egil's Saga mention an alliance between the Norse the Kvens against Finnish Karelian raiders from the south-east, pparently during the 12th century, when the Karelians were expansing towards Kvenland. Ancient writings include the account by the Northern Norwegian Viking leader Ottar from ''Björkoy'' in Hålogaland (Haalogaland), near Troms (Tromsa) (a.k.a. '' Ottar From Hålogaland ''); the Icelandic Sagas , in particular '' Egil's Saga '' by Snorri Sturluson . In 1230 AD, in the introduction to the Orkneyinga Saga , '' Fundinn Noregr '' discusses the mythological kings of Finland and Kvenland and their fictitious conquest of Norway. In 1251 AD the '' Karelians '' fought against the Norwegians and in 1271 AD the ''Kvens'' and the ''Karelians'' cooperated in battles against the Norwegians in Haalogaland. These battles had a lasting effect in life in the entire Northern Scandinavia . In the Finnish national epos Kalevala , ''Kvenland'' has always been known as Kainuu , ''Kainu'' or ''Kainuunmaa''. Compared with the modern day Finnish province of ''Kainuu'' the traditional, historic territories of ''Kainuu'' - i.e. ''Kvenland'' - reached much further up northwest, north and northeast than at the present time. During several following centuries a gradual and slow process of a Swedish expansion in today's Swedes and those in the east symphatizing with the Orthodox Russians . This period saw many tendencies and attempts to autonomy for the eastern half of Sweden-Finland , that came to form the borders of Finland of today. In the 16th century, the historical origin of the Kvens had already been surpassed and it was not certain if the Kvens and the historical Kvenland overlapped. The issue continued to be disputed for centuries. Additionally, ancient sources are generally unspecific as detailed maps did not exist. Besides Norway, in the historical and traditional ''Kvenland'' territories of Northern Scandinavia and areas that today are part of Northwestern Russia, the descendants of the ''Kvens'' are no longer referred to as ''Kvens''. See also Notes
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