Presentation: Stories from Finland: Sauna and Northern Roots
May 4 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
🗓 Sunday, May 5th
⏰ 1:00 – 3:00 PM
📍 Sointula Museum
Two friends, Dalva Lamminmäki and Wendy Kotilla, are visiting the Sointula Museum to share their stories of Finland.
Dalva Lamminmäki, a Finland-based folklorist, will explore Finnish folk healing and sauna culture. Currently conducting her doctoral research as a grant researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, she studies Finland’s sauna culture and healing traditions while also lecturing in folklore studies. As the author of the Kalevala and an expert in folk medicine, Elias Lönnrot documented how the sauna was not just a place for washing, birth, and death but also a space for folk magic. Dalva will discuss how old traditions—like whisking, the use of specific tree types, and herbal sauna practices—continue today, blending ancient knowledge with modern approaches.
Wendy Kotilla’s Finnish family immigrated to Ladysmith, BC, in 1903, settling in the strong Finnish community known as Finn Town. Her great-grandfather was jailed for union activism during the Great Vancouver Island Coal Strike (1912-1914). Seeking a deeper connection to her Finnish heritage, Wendy traveled to Finland in 2009 and 2022 to explore her family’s roots and her identity as a Finnish woman. She will share what she learned from her journeys and family history research.
📽 The presentation lasts approximately 1 hour 15 minutes, followed by time for questions.
📷 If you have old photos of saunas in Sointula, bring them along—we’d love to see them!
Admission by donation. See you at the museum!