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Tornedalians (; ; ) are an Ethnicity Minority group native to the Meänmaa (Torne Valley) region in northern Sweden and Finland. Tornedalians may refer to themselves using several different terms, though most commonly as Tornedalians, Kvens or Lantalaiset. Tornedalians were officially recognized as a distinct national minority in Sweden in 2000. In Finland, Tornedalians are generally considered a regional subgroup of Finns.
Tornedalians use several different terms to refer to themselves. The term Tornedalian ( Tornionlaaksolainen, pl. Tornionlaaksolaiset) originally refers specifically to someone living along the lower course of the Torne river, beginning roughly in Pajala municipality. The term has come to be used to denote all 'Tornedalians'. Lantalaiset (sl. Lantalainen; lit. "fertiliser/settled people") typically live in the further inland areas of Swedish and Finnish Lapland, known as Lannanmaa by Lantalaiset. The parts of Sweden inhabited by Lantalaiset largely correspond to the area known in Swedish as Malmfälten.
The term Kven has a disputed etymology. It appears for the first time in Ohthere of Hålogaland's 9th century accounts of northern Europe and is used mostly in Norwegian and Icelandic sources to refer to Tornedalians. With the integration of Meänmaa into Sweden the term fell into disuse in the Torne valley, though continued to be used among Kvens. In Meänmaa the term featured in some traditional tales but was not actively used. Since the 1990s the term has been revived in Meänmaa and is especially commonly used by Lantalaiset. The term is also very common in the Karesuando ( Karesuanto) area.
The somewhat derogatory Swedish terms byfinne (pl. byfinnar, lit. 'village Finns') and lappfinne (pl. lappfinnar, lit. 'Sámi Finns') have historically been used to describe the Meänkieli-speaking population in the Gällivare area. While the term lappfinne has fallen out of use, the term byfinne is still used.
Terms such as meänmaalaiset (lit. people of our land), meikäläiset (lit. people like us) and Kven (kvääni/kveeni) are used natively to refer to Tornedalians as a whole. Ultimately, there is no internal consensus on the use of any one term. Historically the term Finn has been used to denote all Tornedalians. While some Tornedalians will sometimes use the term Finn and Finnish, in contexts where being Tornedalians is implied, the term can be offensive to some. In a historical context the terms Finn and Finnish are sometimes still used.
These different terms/groups are not necessarily exclusive, and some may identify with multiple.
At the beginning of the 16th century there were around thirty villages in Meänmaa paying taxes to Sweden.
Gustav Vasa would play a pivotal role in the decline of the Birkarls doubling the tithes owed to the crown in 1528, beginning to tax their homesteads in 1543 and in 1554 he revoked their right to collect taxes, instead assigning the duty to agents of the crown.
In the mid 1500s the local birkarl-chieftain and the king's local bailif, called Olof Anundsson by the Swedes, would repeatedly be accused of misconduct for refusing to visit church, deriding the authority of God and the Church, and mocking God's word. In 1584 King Johan III had signed a decree regarding the protection of the inhabitants of the Lappmark from the intrusions of the Torne-peasants. According to the document the right to fish in the inland lakes of northern Sweden and Finland would fall exclusively to those who lived closest by them. Because of this Sámi families which lived in the area could take over fishing lakes and hunting grounds formerly in the hands of Tornedalian families. The inland fishing was vital to Tornedalian livelihood at the time and this would along with an increasing population over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries lead many to settle permanently in the inland, in contrast to previously when the areas had only been seasonally inhabited by Tornedalians. Those who settled permanently in the inland would come to be known as Lantalaiset. During this era relations between Sámi and Tornedalians continued to be overall positive despite increasingly predatory Swedish involvement. Most conflict was Tornedalian-Tornedalian or Sámi-Sámi and land disputes between the groups were uncommon.
Charles IX would impose strict regulations on when, where and how the birkarls could trade and travel in general in Lappmarken. In the end the situation would become untenable and by 1620 the birkarls had ceased to exist as an entity. Despite their previously privileged status in Tornedalian society very few birkarls would become burghers, instead remaining as part of the peasantry. Simultaneously the turn of the 17th century would see the Church establish itself in Meänmaa; the later 1500s had shown the failure of the Swedish church in the Meänmaa and in 1606 the church administration in the area was reformed. It is from this period which the last known pagan burials are known and Christianity is established clearly as the dominant religion.
The Torne valley was, like other regions of Finland, subject to what is known as the Great Wrath. From late 1714 onwards Russian forces continually launched attacks into Meänmaa. Already in 1714 a peasant host of around 300-400 men was levied from the local population, yet the poorly trained and equipped force saw few successes and ultimately proved ineffectual in hindering Russian attacks. Exact figures on how many died during this period is unclear, but according to reports from the spring of 1717, when the attacks had largely subsided, up to 400 people had thus far died due to exposure and starvation or outright been killed by Russian forces. In addition, a notable number of people (mainly children) had been kidnapped and/or enslaved, though how many is unknown.
In total around 140 homesteads were burnt in the war and still by the 1720s a further 80 stood abandoned, and it would take decades before the region recovered.
1886 saw the introduction of the first Swedish Reindeer Herding Act, which prohibited non-Sámi from herding reindeer. The law likewise restricted the rights of non-members of Sameby to winter pastures, hunting, and fishing. Tornedalians thus had to 'lease' their own reindeer to vested Sámi herders. This state of affairs has largely been repeated in the Reindeer Herding Acts of 1898, 1928 and 1971.
In 1888 Swedish was made the sole language of civil life, as well as the only language taught in schools. No outright ban was ever instituted in Finland, but those who spoke the language were discriminated against. After the 1902 Norrbotten famine, "work cabins" were established in Norrbotten in the fashion of with the stated goal of providing food, lodging and education to children from the sparsely populated region. Here, teachers would work to forcefully assimilate Tornedalian children; abuse was rampant. In the early to mid 1900's, Herman Lundborg from the State Institute for Racial Biology performed Phrenology on Tornedalians in 1913, which continued into the 1950s. The ban on speaking Meänkieli in school was revoked by the Riksdag in 1957. At Furunäset Hospital and Asylum (1893-1987) in Piteå, Tornedalian women were sterilised, were forced to have abortions, and were subjected to other invasive surgeries.
During the 1970s and 80s a Tornedalian movement would form. In 1981 The National Association of Swedish Tornedalians (STR-T) would form and in 1992 the first Meänkieli dictionary was written.
In 2000, a new law went into effect recognising the Tornedalians as an official national minority and Meänkieli as an official minority language. A Truth commission on historical discrimination against the population was appointed in 2020, and made its final report on 15 May 2023. In both 2020 and 2023, STR-T, the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians demanded the Swedish government to investigate their status as an indigenous people in accordance with ILO 169, although both times the Swedish government has denied to do so.
In 2024 the remains of 23 Tornedalian and Sámi people (6 of which children) previously buried at Akamella cemetery, near Muodoslompolo, were repatriated. The remains, which had been plundered in 1878, are the first remains of Tornedalian people to be repatriated.
The noita, the same as the Sámi noaidi, was a traditional Shamanism. During the 1600s and 1700s when Christianity became dominant in Meänmaa the noita largely lost his importance as a religious figure and became primarily a keeper of traditional medical knowledge.
A significant religious shift would come to Meänmaa in the mid-1800s when the Swedish priest Lars Levi Læstadius began preaching his beliefs in the area. Læstadius spoke Sami but had no knowledge of Meänkieli when he first came to the area in the 1820s. While he first attempted to communicate via the Finnish he had learnt from a book, though he soon found that the local speech was rather different from "proper Finnish" and thus resolved to learn the language first-hand, travelling between different homes and villages and talking to many citizens. Læstadius gained great popularity in Meänmaa, though especially in his earlier years his devout belief in temperance caused trouble. When he died in 1861, took up the mantle as spiritual leader of the movement. After his death in 1899 the movement splintered, though Laestadianism remains an important part of much of Tornedalian society.
During the 1930s, the Korpela movement gripped Meänmaa. It taught that God would soon make a crystal bridge to Palestine where a utopia would be established. The movement was much more lenient with the consumption of alcohol and extramarital sexual relations. It became popular with lantalaiset. The movement's heyday came to an end in 1939/1940 when the last of its preachers were jailed but its beliefs have had a lasting impact in Meänmaa.
Liikutukset is an important practice of Tornedalian/Kven Læstadianism. The word roughly translates as 'movements' and involves moving about in a state of religious ecstasy often involving hopping, clapping, dancing, shouting praise, singing and similar activities.
In 1912 a Swedish commission in Luleå, inspired by the romantic nationalism of the era, set about designing folk costumes for Norrbotten. It was then that the current Torne valley costume (Swedish: Tornedalsdräkt) was designed. The Torne valley dress was used in both schools and work camps and became very widespread. Today it has become a pillar of Tornedalian women's fashion. The men's dress seems to have never caught on. Silver and tin are commonly used in jewelry.
In 1944, despite the existing ban on Meänkieli, William Snell (1895-1980) wrote the first book in the language titled Kamaripirtiltä: muisteluksia Tornion murtheela. In 1947 he would go on to write Tornionlaakson laulu (Swedish: Tornedalssången; English: Torne Valley song) which today is considered almost a "national anthem" of sorts among Tornedalians. The work of William Snell preceded the cultural renaissance of the 1980s and would become very influential.
Bengt Pohjanen is one of the most prolific Tornedalian authors. In 1985 he wrote Lyykeri (English: Luger pistol) the first novel in Meänkieli and has since written books, dramas, screenplays, songs and opera. He is trilingual in his writing.
The novel Popular Music from Vittula (2000) by the Tornedalian author Mikael Niemi became very popular both in Sweden and in Finland. It is composed of colourful stories of everyday life in the Tornedalian town of Pajala. The novel has been adapted for several stage productions, and as a film in 2004.
The first feature length movie in Meänkieli premiered in 2025. Titled Raptures in Meänkieli (English: Raptures; ; ), it follows the rise and fall of the Korpela movement. It is directed by and based on Bengt Pohjanen's book Dagning; Röd!.
The Meänmaa Flag Day is celebrated on July 15.
Lantalaiset and Kvens typically use the Kven flag instead, designed in 2009 by Bengt Johansson-Kyrö. The Kven flag day is March 16th.
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