Koli National Park

Then back to Finland and onto a train that took us to eastern Finland, quite near the border with Mother Russia to visit with some friends. We had many interesting discussions on the fate of wilderness and indigenous peoples. Two of our friends living there are particularly interested in these topics; through a program called "Snowchange", which our friend started, they’ve traveled and lived with indigenous groups in remote areas of the arctic and interviewed elders about their observations of climate change. Essentially, they are trying to increase dialogue between the scientific community and local people living on the land as they have for thousands of years. If you’re interested in learning more, click here.

We made a stop at Koli National Park, the so-called “National Landscape of Finland”. Numerous poets and artists have been inspired by Koli, especially during the nationalist movement of Finland in the 19th century and early 20th century (Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917). Images of Koli have played an important role in forming the identity of the Finnish people, much in the same way as the western frontier has influenced America’s self image. Unfortunately, we were unable to take any good photos when we were there because the weather was overcast.