The river valley women

Torne valley and Kalix River valley have always been known for their strong-willed women. Historically, they managed both the heavy physical labor on the farms and took care of the home and children while the men worked in the forest, mine, or were at war. The entrepreneurial spirit grew strong, which you can still see today in young women from the area. The valleys also attract entrepreneurial women from other places in Sweden and the world. About half of the tourism businesses in Heart of Lapland are owned and driven by women. Here are four historical trailblazing women from our river valleys.

Siv Cedering

Poet and artist

Siv Cedering was born 1939 in Grelsbyn outside Överkalix. She was a poet and translator, but also an active artist in photography, painting, and sculpture. Her family emigrated to San Francisco when Siv was 14 years old. Siv had an amazing talent for the written word and was very inquisitive. In the spring of 1956, she attended a writing class at San Francisco State University that the beat poet Allen Ginsberg was teaching. That same year, she published her first collection of poems, Dawn, with a small publisher. Siv got pregnant and married a successful data technician, which subsequently paused her career. In the early 1970s, she picked up her poetic writing again and published Letter from the Island, Cup of Cold Water and Mother Is. She got a national breakthrough in the USA and traveled across the country. She held readings, guest lectures and taught writing at universities, had her work showcased at art museums and was featured in many cultural contexts. Siv was a trailblazer with her gracious appearance and wrote openly and straightforwardly about female intimacy. She published a sensual manual, Joys of Fantasy. Aside from her own poems, she translated several Swedish poets into English. Siv also wrote Swedish novels and poetry during the 1980s. In both her English and Swedish writings, memories from the shores of the Kalix river appear. Siv moved to her own house in Amagansett on Long Island after her divorce. In her later works, you can see her style change to a more thoughtful and story-driven lyric with inspiration from Japanese culture, natural science, and astronomy – sometimes with erotic innuendos. She rarely describes the American landscape, instead she brings the reader on her inner journey to the rivers of northern Sweden. Siv Cedering’s poetry is one of the best a Swedish woman has created during the 1900s.

To this day, there are many brave and innovative women in our river valleys. Here are some of the businesses owned and run by strong, prominent women in Heart of Lapland:

www.arthoteltornedalen.se www.huuvahideaway.com www.haparandastadshotell.se www.kukkolaforsen.se www.ice-and-light.com

Elin Pikkuniem

Sweden’s first cross-country ski queen

The very first Swedish cross-country ski queen, Elin Pikkuniemi, was born 1895 in Vojakkala outside Haparanda. She won the Swedish championship in cross-country skiing five times between 1918–1922. To build cardio, Elin visited her sister in Seskarö after the workday as a teacher in Vitsaniemi. She took her skis 40 kilometers – one way. When the cross-country ski championship was held 1912 in Boden, she traveled by skiing 100 kilometers to the race. After she won the competition, she took her skis back home again. During her active years, Elin was faster than many of her male club colleagues, who were male elite skiers. The story goes that Elin was modest and humble. She never yelled at other ski competitors to get out of her way if she needed to pass them. Instead, she passed them at the side of the tracks and said a few encouraging words. At the end of the 1950s, she moved to Stockholm where she continued to work as a teacher. She bought a motorcycle and traveled around the USA on two wheels, visiting family and friends that had emigrated from northern Sweden. During the 1970s she moved to Hälsingland where she spent the rest of her life. Elin never married but lived together with Grata Palmquist for more than 30 years.

Erika Aittamaa

Innovator and creator of the Lovikka mitten

Erika Aittamaa was a Swedish artisan and innovator. She was born 1866 in Junosuando, married a lumberjack and moved to Lovikka. She had seven children, and the family was poor. One way to increase the income was to knit mittens upon request from villagers that had more money. The customers gave her the wool that she spun into yarn. Erika was very skilled and quickly got a great reputation. In 1892, she received an order for work mittens for a man who worked in the forest. Since the mittens needed to be thicker, warmer, and more durable than normal, she spun a thicker yarn. The man was not happy with his mittens and thought they were too hard. Erika washed and brushed the mittens several times. Suddenly the Lovikka mitten was created – functional, soft, and durable. Erika also started to embroider the sleeve with colorful yarn, which she argued attracted the Sámi customers and added a tassel so you could hang up the mittens to dry. The Lovikka mitten got more and more popular and the Aittamaa family’s economy got better. In 1930, when they did a census, Erika was titled “mitten manufacturer”. After Erika’s death, the villagers kept knitting mittens in the same pattern, using the same method. The village association registered the Lovikka mitten (Lovikkavanten) as a brand. Only a few selected are allowed to knit the authentic Lovikka mitten that carries the brand in memory of Erika Aittamaa.

Mia Green

Photographer, pioneer, humanist

Erika Aittamaa was a Swedish artisan and innovator. She was born 1866 in Junosuando, married a lumberjack and moved to Lovikka. She had seven children, and the family was poor. One way to increase the income was to knit mittens upon request from villagers that had more money. The customers gave her the wool that she spun into yarn. Erika was very skilled and quickly got a great reputation. In 1892, she received an order for work mittens for a man who worked in the forest. Since the mittens needed to be thicker, warmer, and more durable than normal, she spun a thicker yarn. The man was not happy with his mittens and thought they were too hard. Erika washed and brushed the mittens several times. Suddenly the Lovikka mitten was created – functional, soft, and durable. Erika also started to embroider the sleeve with colorful yarn, which she argued attracted the Sámi customers and added a tassel so you could hang up the mittens to dry. The Lovikka mitten got more and more popular and the Aittamaa family’s economy got better. In 1930, when they did a census, Erika was titled “mitten manufacturer”. After Erika’s death, the villagers kept knitting mittens in the same pattern, using the same method. The village association registered the Lovikka mitten (Lovikkavanten) as a brand. Only a few selected are allowed to knit the authentic Lovikka mitten that carries the brand in memory of Erika Aittamaa.