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AINA WILEN: FIGHTING FOR THE FRANCHISE
Aina Wilen was 17 years old when she came to Canada in 1901. Like many other Finnish immigrant women in those early years, she came to the country on her own and looked for work as a domestic. Soon she met and married her husband Otto.
Aina was frustrated in Canada. Women in Finland enjoyed equal rights but in Canada, women suffered terrible working conditions and were denied the right to vote. Aina became one of many Finnish Canadians to fight for the franchise. They would achieve their goal by 1917.
Photo: Aina Wilen and her family
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Finnish men began arriving in Thunder bay in the late 1870s. Finnish women soon followed. What made them unique is that while most immigrant women in those years arrived with their husbands or families, Finnish women were fiercely independent and they often came on their own. Many found work as domestics. Another popular and well paid job was becoming a cook at one of the logging camps.
Finnish women who came to Canada were often literate. In their home country, they enjoyed better education and more more equality than women did in Canada in the early years. In 1907 women in Finland had been given the right to vote and so their sisters here in Canada wanted those same rights in their new country. Many people, like Aina Wilen, became involved in the suffrage movement and they planned marches to fight for equality. And while suffragists were mocked in the mainstream media, the activists in the Finnish community were highly respected. Together with other determined women across the country, the Finnish suffragists in Ontario would achieve their goal – the franchise for women – by 1917.
Photo: Finnish Women, including Aina Wilen (second on the right) fighting for the franchise)
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- Learn about the earliest settlers to this region at the Old Fort William Historical Park. With 42 reconstructed buildings and dozens of costumed characters it recreates the Canadian fur trade in 1815. You’ll meet lively characters from the past including Scottish fur traders, French Canadian voyageurs, artisans, farmers and aboriginal trappers.
- When Finnish men started arriving to Thunder Bay in the 1870s, many of them found work in the logging industry. Visit a reconstruction of a bush camp circa 1910 in Centennial Park. Visit the logging history museum and you’ll also learn more about the type of equipment Finnish women used when they were lucky enough to get a well-paid job as a logging camp cook.
- Once the Finns started settling in the area, they opened their own shops. Many of those establishments remain on Bay Street in Thunder Bay. You can buy Finnish crafts and glassware at FinnPort and find sauna supplies at Finntastic. At the Harri Bakery on nearby Algona street you can buy traditional Pulla - Finnish coffee bread.
- Looming up over Bay Street is an elegant historic building called Finlandia Hall. Established in 1910, this original Finnish Labour Temple was once the centre of the Finnish community where locals attended political meetings, plays, or gymnastics displays. Call ahead to make sure you can visit the museum on the second floor and find out what upcoming Finnish festivals you can participate in by calling (807) 964-2941 or (807) 344-7361.
- No cultural trip around Finnish Thunder Bay is complete without the opportunity to binge on Finnish pancakes. You can do that at the historic Hoito restaurant which is located in the basement of Finlandia hall. And you can pick up Finnish sausage and other snacks at the Scandinavian delicatessen across the road.
- In the early years, members of the Finnish community would pack a picnic and visit Kakabeka falls, a breathtaking waterfall that plummets 39 metres into the Kaministiquia River. Spend an afternoon wandering around and enjoying this unique provincial park.
- Take a drive into the rural part of Thunder Bay to Ware Township where a group of women artists of Finnish descent have set up the Willow Springs Artisan Gift Store in the old Kosken Kauppa (Koski’s Store). Just eight kilometres north of Dawson on Maplewood Road, the shop retains its historic charm with Koski’s original handmade wooden countertop and large old fashioned windows look out toward the bush. The women sell their work, including frames made out of scavenged barn board, for affordable prices. Check hours at www.willowsprings.ca.
- Wrap up your visit with a trip to a traditional Finnish Sauna. Many Finnish Canadian families still have outdoor saunas at their summer cottages. But even if you don’t know someone with a cottage to visit, you can enjoy the experience at the Kangas sauna in town.
Photo: Bush camp circa 1910 in Centennial Park, Thunder Bay
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REGIONAL HISTORY
Old Fort William Historical Park
Thunder Bay, ON
Telephone: +1 (807) 577 8461
www.oldfortwilliam.on.ca
LOGGING HISTORY
Centennial Park
1910 Bush Camp and Logging History Museum
Thunder Bay North, ON
Near Boulevard Lake off Arundel Street
Telephone:
FINNISH CUISINE AND CULTURE
Hoito Restaurant and Finlandia Hall
314 Bay Street
Thunder Bay, ON
Telephone: +1 (807) 345-6323
FINNISH SAUNA
Kangas Sauna
379 Oliver Road
Thunder Bay, ON
Telephone: 1 807 344-6761
LEISURE
Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park
For guided hikes 1-888-668 7275
35 km west of Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17
Telephone:
www.OntarioParks.com
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SCN
Tue, October 24, 2006 @ 8:30 pm (CST)
channel m
Sun, October 1, 2006 @ 11:00 am ()
Mon, September 25, 2006 @ 8:30 am ()
Tue, May 9, 2006 @ 1:00 pm (PST)
Sun, February 12, 2006 @ 9:30 am (PST)
SCN
Tue, October 25, 2005 @ 10:00 pm (CST)
Canadian Learning Television
Mon, October 10, 2005 @ 9:30 pm (EST)
Canadian Learning Television (EST)
Mon, October 3, 2005 @ 9:30 pm (EDT)
Mon, September 12, 2005 @ 9:30 pm (EDT)
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Pre-viewing Questions
1. Discuss what you know about the struggle for women’s right to vote. What individuals and groups were involved in this struggle?
Post-viewing Questions
1. In the early 1900’s many young unmarried Finnish women immigrated to the Thunder Bay, Ontario region. They found the living conditions very harsh and their choices of life very limited. What were some of the difficulties they faced? Do you think that young women immigrating to Canada today would face some of the same difficulties?
2. The role of women in Canada compared unfavourably to the role of women in Finland at the time, so Finnish women immigrants worked together to bring the vote to women in Canada. In that way, Finnish immigrants helped improve life for us all in Canada. What other improvements have immigrant groups brought to Canada?
3. There were many different groups that worked together to gain the vote for women: the Suffragists, the Temperance Union, and Socialists. What do you know about these associations and what role they played in improving women’s rights and other human rights or social justice issues in Canada?
4. The White Rose group did not just fight to enfranchise women but also fought for other societal improvements such as better working conditions and children’s rights. Why do you think that they linked women’s rights with these other issues?
5. Aina Wilen and Sanna Kannasto both fought for women’s right to vote. However, they each had very different political orientations. Aina’s political ideals were less radical than Sanna’s and so she did not suffer the wrath of the government to the same extent as Sanna did. Also, by leaving her family, Sanna encountered much criticism. Why do you think women are so harshly criticized when their behaviour or their views do not follow the norm? Are they punished more severely than men for these infractions?
Further Research
1. Choose a woman who is famous for her role in the struggle to enfranchise women, e.g. Emily Pankhurst. Read her biography and share her story with the class.
2. Each country where women have the right to vote has had its own path to universal enfranchisement. Choose a country other than Canada and recount the highlights of that country’s struggle. Present this to the class.
Additional Research Question:
This film tells the story of a woman who is a role model to women in her family and in her community. Who, in your life has been a role model? If you would like to share the story about this person with other young people to whom you think this story might act as a beacon, please add it to the website www.mothertongue.ca. Alternately, if you would like to read stories that others have posted, please click on the website and become a part of a dialogue about the importance of role models.
Note:
These starting points for discussion and research questions were written by Dr. Carole Ann Reed, an educational consultant. Dr. Reed has worked as a human rights educator for almost twenty years in the Toronto area and has authored and co-authored many articles, curricula, and educational kits as well as a book. The topics she writes about include issues such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, women’s rights and anti-racism. For several years she was the Director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto.
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This series of educational videos was made possible with funding from
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Mother Tongue: A woman's history of ethnic Canada is a 13-part TV series that documents Canada's multicultural history from a female perspective. Each program tells the story of a notable woman in one of Canada's communities, including a Black fugitive slave, an Acadian mail order bride, and an Icelandic suffragette.
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