Some events that effected on the life Pitkä-clan members:
1553– Lapps are listed in Swedish tax records
1570–95 War between Russia and Sweden. Lapp villages suffer badly. Some people from Kainuu hide in Kuusamo
1600–1809 Taxation by both Russia and Sweden
1668 The Hiltunen family are the first permanent Finnish settlers in Kuusamo
1678–1705 People from Kainuu and Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa) rush to Kuusamo
1692 Parish of Kuusamo established
1696–97 Great Hunger Years. 1/4 of the Finnish population die. Half of the Kuusamo lapps die
1701 Crown policeman. End of lapp civil system
1713–21 War between Russia and Sweden
1725 End of lapp culture in Kuusamo
1730 Vicarage and all church records burned
1765 The last lapp person dies
1765 Farm taxation changed; farms numbered. Farms under supervision of Swedish Crown can now be privately purchased
1775 Kuusamo county transfered from Kemi Lapland to Oulu province
1789–1809 Land unit (ruotu) agreement, land unit soldiers
1800–70 Additional farmable land created by dredging creeks to lower lake levels
1809–1917 Russian rule
1814 Hunger Year, emigration to Russia
1820– Grain imported from Karelia by reindeer sledge
1850–1900 Locals travel to Arctic Ocean for fishing, emigration to Norway and North Russia
1865– County granted right to elect local governing council. Finnish language became official in writings
1867 Hunger Year
1867– Laestadian religion arrives in Kuusamo
1870– Shopkeeping outside of city legalized
1870–1920 Emigration to USA
1876– Elementary school established
1880– Building of road network in Kuusamo
1886–1918 Railroad from Helsinki to Oulu, golden age of cargo transport from White Sea
1886– Group ownership of forests. Start of commercial logging
1906– Cooperatively owned stores established
1914–16 Construction of railroad line between Murmansk and St.Peterburg increases local transport activity, gun transport for WWI, and political activity
1917 Indepedence of Finland, followed by Civil War
1920 Escape of Viena Karelians
1922 Russian border closed
1939–40, 41–44 War with Russia, Paanajärvi-Tavajärvi area lost
1944–45 War with German. 70% of Kuusamo was burned down
1955–75 Emigration to Sweden
The livelihood of a normal farm in Kuusamo came from various sources: cultivation, cattle, reindeer, fishing…
Slash and burn farming (kaskiviljely) was the foundation of the Finnish settler’s life, and it had a very important role until the end of the 18th century.
Gradually people managed to clear the fields for their farms. People grew rye, barley, turnip and some also onion.
Cattle raising provided a second major source of livelihood. A typical farm had 7-15 cows, 10-20 sheep and a horse. People gathered hay for the cattle from various patches of meadow. The best places were on the lake shores and swamps. The meadows were sometimes 30-50 km away from the farms.
As Kuusamo is full of lakes, fishing provided most farm's third major source of livelihood. Hunting provided an extra food source.
For some farms, reindeer provided a big part of their livelihood.
There were practically no specialized craftsmen in Kuusamo in the 18th century and only a few in the 19th century. Most farms produced all of their own clothes, handicrafts, tools and smithy works.
2-3 families often lived on the same farm. Including the hired people, farms typically had 15-25 people.
Farms consisted of one or two main buildings, cowbarn/barn, stall/storehouse and sheepshed. The buildings were set around a square yard. In the middle of the yard was a cooking hut and a well. Further away from the farm were granaries, drying barns, sauna, hay barns and often a smitty.
The main buildings usually consisted of 1-2 greatrooms, 1-2 bedrooms, a kitchen and an outer hallway.
The only spices used in food were salt and sugar. Food was usually heavily salted, as salt was used as a preservative.
Barley and rye were mainly used for making bread and porridge. Rieska is a popular large and thin barley bread. Cheap wheat started to come from Russia in the 19th century. Wheat was seldom used for bread. It was mainly used for making buns, twists and kampanisu – a flat ‘comb bun’. Kampanisu is only known in Kuusamo and in its neighboring counties.
Potato became very popular at the end of 19th century and it replaced the use of turnip.
The most popular fish were and still are whitefish, vendace, salmon, pike, all of which are cooked by frying on the pan or on the oven. Well-salted (uncooked) whitefish, vendace and salmon were popular. Perches are usually cooked on top of the potatos. Also whitefish and vendace are prepare this way.
Cows, sheeps and reindeers were fully used for food. Besides the meat, the internal organs and blood were also prepared for food. One speciality was a sun dried reindeer meat.
The traditional Finnish way of preparing food takes a lot of time. Meat is normally prepared by slow stewing in the oven or by slow cooking in the kettle.
Cows were also a source for milk, buttermilk, cream and butter. Leipäjuusto – ‘a cheese bread’ was prepared from the milk of a recently calved cow.
The most popular berries were lingonberry, blueberry and cloudberry. They were used in various kinds of pies. Berries were also used in soup/kiisseli (thickened with potatoflour) and were also made into juices.
Although there are a lot of mushrooms, they were not used in the old days.
People consumed a lot of coffee, alcohol and tobacco. They were often mentioned in the pension agreements for old people.
Finland has been to war many times with Russia. South-Karelia has been a battle zone many times in history. Even Kainuu province has suffered from wars. In Kuusamo, people had peace for 340 years from the end of the 16th century until 1939-45, when 70% of Kuusamo was burned down. Even the bloody Civil War in 1918 had minimal effect on Kuusamo.
The main reason for the peace was a 'border peace'. The lapps were paying taxes to two countries - Sweden and Russia, and the same system continued into the Finnish era.
People in Kuusamo were also free of military service until the 1870s.
Russian military service was not popular, especially after the Crimean War. Military service and better life prospects tempted hundreds of people to leave to the USA.