New Finland, Saskatchewan

New Finland or Uusi Suomi is a district in the Qu'Appelle valley, the south eastern part of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada.Uusi Suomi is Finnish for "New Finland", the name adopted by this Finnish block settlement. The homesteaders found an area in Saskatchewan near Qu'Appelle River which resembled the homeland of Finland both in geography and climate. The earliest settler arrived in 1888, and was followed by Finnish immigrants from Finland as well as from the iron ore mines of Minnesota and Dakota regions in the United States. The centre of the New Finland district consisted of a church, hall, and schoolhouse. Finland was undergoing profound changes following Tsar Nicholas II's February manifesto which was a main factor initiating the Great Exodus from Finland. The Canadian Pacific Railway along with Canadian immigration minister Clifford Sifton were advertising both abroad and in the United States encouraging settlement to Canada's "Last Best West". The community which arose had strong religious beliefs and celebrated Finnish cultural traditions.HistoryDavid Jeremia Kautonen was the first Finnish settler to arrive at the New Finland district in 1888, setting up a homestead on southwest quarter section of township 36 range 17 west of the second Meridian. According to C.D. Hendrickson, immigration agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway, there were only three families living in the New Finland District in the spring of 1891. By 1882, the nearby town of Whitewood, Provisional District of Assiniboia, North-West Territories was a major stop on the C.P.R. Kautonen had been joined by John Lauttamus and Matti Mutamaa. The C.P.R. immigration department then encouraged Finnish settlers of the Minnesota and Dakota region in the United States to emigrate to Canada. With this in mind, delegates from the American Finnish districts traveled to New Finland, North West Territories and were well pleased with what they had surveyed. As a result, several Finnish settlers of the United States abandoned their employment in the iron ore mines and immigrated to the New Finland District.