Sointula Museum

TWO important things! Please arrive between 5pm and BEFORE 6pm to sign-in. The early birds really will get the good spots. NOTE: There will be some chairs for people who can’t stand. Photography will start at 6pm.

AND please park as far away from the Halls as you possibly can. Leave space for people who need to park closer!

Added third thing! If you need a ride, please call Janet 604-671-4965. We’ll get you there!

Reminder! Father’s Day is coming up! Everyone is Welcome in the Rust Room for treats and stories by some of Sointula’s famous fellows! By donation.

Great news! Do you need a ride to the Town Photo? Alden will be picking up people with a shuttle on Saturday, June 20th for the Town Photo. If you would like a ride please let Janet know asap. There are 15 seats available.

Janet 604-671-4965

Thank you to The Passion Project for supporting this event!

It’s official! On this day in 1902 it was reported in the Aika newspaper that Sointula would be the name of the new town on Malcolm Island! Below are some of the other articles from this date.

Aika Handed to KKCC
Sointula Name Official
Sawmill and Logging

The Aika-paper has been handed over to the Kalevan Kansa. In the extraordinary meeting of shareholders of the Kust. Yht. Aika Pr. Co. [The Aika Publishing Company] on Sunday in
Extension, 42 shareholders were present either representing themselves or being represented by proxy. Therefore the number of shareholders required by the rules, two thirds of all the shareholders with a vote (altogether 62), took part in making the decision. Those who had not paid $10 for shares they had ordered during the past year, did not have the vote.

The proposition of the board of directors to offer the paper and the business to the KK was the main issue, and it was unanimously accepted without a voting. When the terms were discussed, there were, however, some dissenting opinions. With a grand majority the terms were formulated
as follows:
The KK will be liable for all the debts and engagements of the Aika-company. All the shares of the Aika-company that are demanded to be redeemed, will be redeemed by the KK at par value.
The KK will also pay back share payments that have only been partly paid, in case someone demands this. After the KK has met the demands of the shareholders during the current calendar year, the Aika-company will be seen as incorporated into the KK.
In the latest meeting of the KK board of directors it was decided, that during a two month period, members who are familiar with fishing or logging can come and work for the company even if they won’t be able to pay any part of their membership fee in money.

“Sointula” is now the official name of our town. It has been written as the official name into the first settlement agreement. From those who voted, 21 were in favour of Sointula, 4 in favour of Koti [Home] and 1 in favour of Rauhala [Place of Peace].

Sawmill machinery has now been bought for the KK. Transportation and assembling will require a few more weeks, but after that we’ll have boards from our own mill and soon houses will be rising in Sointula.

Logging will immediately begin on Malcolm Island. A donkey engine has been bought at a low price for the company and it will be brought to the island at the first opportunity.

To read more of The Aika Pages: https://sointulamuseum.ca/aika/

Coming up soon! Thank you to North Island Eagle for helping spread the word!

Thank you to everyone who came to the Museum Art Show Opening Reception yesterday! The theme for June is “The View From Here”, and will be up until July 3rd. Check it out! The Museum is open every day from 12 noon - 4pm!

Everyone Welcome to our June Art Show Opening Reception! There will be coffee and treats. Meet the artists and check out their artworks!

Rescheduled: Drone Flight Path Rehearsal coming up Sunday, June 7th. We’re preparing for the Town Photo.

Today in the Aika Pages we bring you the first article of three from June 13, 1902.

Author Unknown (Most likely the article is written by Matti Kurikka,
translator’s note.)

Will the Women be Shared?

The title of this article is a splendid example of how little those living in the dark understand our cause. We are constantly hearing this from them.

[BOTTOM PART OF THE NEWSPAPER IS MISSING]

Now that we will enjoy free social conditions as well as a new, blessed economic situation, we need to carefully think about how we can mould the future for our own happiness and for the success of upcoming generations. We need to do that by getting rid of the things that are negative in the current situation and by preserving those that are positive.

We should not take into account the ways in which the Catholic clergy organized family life in Europe, so that it was able to become the almighty master of families with its sacraments. We should instead examine the formation and development of the family from the aspect of nature’s theory of evolution. By doing this, we will find a statement made by Darwin, which in a very clever way explains the reasons for the first long lasting marriages.

We know that when hunting and fishing were the only livelihood of humans, there were no proprietary rights to land, but after farming was begun, borders were already being drawn.

For what? In order to prevent disputes, each one would mark their piece of land, so that others knew they were putting their life at risk if they tried to seize the marked land.

Therefore Darwin explains that the first marriage was also born out of an attempt to prevent disputes, it was born out of jealousy. When the men (even the stronger ones) of more advanced tribes realized that in order to prevent disputes and fights it was best to know, which woman belonged to whom, permanent marriages started to become more common. This didn’t mean that divorce wasn’t possible, it only meant that other men were not allowed to approach a woman that belonged to someone else. Women as “weaker vessels” were naturally forced to follow the general opinion.

[BOTTOM PART OF THE NEWSPAPER IS MISSING]

….the murders caused by militarism, the poisoning caused by alcohol, all kept up by the state to abolish the family. The great majority of mankind is shouting for help on behalf of millions of children, not realizing the reasons for their sufferings and not knowing if help can be expected.

We have moved back to a patriarchal way of life, where individual families no longer need to worry about the future of their children, and where everyone has a chance to take from nature what he needs, using the most modern means. We would not be worthy of our new conditions, if we weren’t also able to create the right marriage ideal.

As a member of the family, whose duty it will be to lead this great affair - perhaps the greatest we will ever have to solve - into the right direction, I will speak my mind on this matter, keeping in mind, and also asking all my comrades to keep in mind, the basis of our life together: “treat others as you would want them to treat you”.

As a company the Kalevan Kansa [People of Kaleva, KK] will not interfere in love or marital affairs, as long as general order and peace do not require the board of directors to do so.
In order to clear things up, I would like to divide people into three different categories:
a) Those, who realize, that in spirit life there are neither sexes nor marriages and who therefore already in their material bodies want to strive for purity and spiritual ideals, denying on the quiet…

[BOTTOM PART OF THE NEWSPAPER IS MISSING]

c) The third type of people, the great majority, are those, who practice churchly- or prostitution-
immorality for fun. They have often sunk to the level of animals, or even lower, in satisfying their lusts. And the same goes for the use of alcohol.

There is even a fourth group of people, those who satisfy their lusts by self-pollution or by other unnatural means. They are, however, beyond the marital issue, and do therefore not have a part in this discussion.

We can already see, that the issue of sexual relationships belongs mainly to the field of private life, where the K.K.C.C. and its rules cannot and should not step. It is the private business of each man and woman to strive towards a life that is as pure as possible.

But as soon as there are members, who need help, shelter or care, the KK will step forward. As soon as a woman belonging to our big family announces that she is in a state where she needs
special treatment and care, the KK doctor has to be there to help her. As soon as a child, a new member of the family, is born, the KK has to be prepared to take certain measures. If it neglects them when the time is right, the issues will reappear later in an even more difficult way.

But let us return to our question: “Will the women be shared?” As you see, no. And neither will the men! Let no one interfere in matters of the heart of others. When a KK member lives with his or her spouse without disturbing anyone, then it doesn’t concern the KK as a whole an neither its individual…

[BOTTOM PART OF THE NEWSPAPER IS MISSING]

[Most likely the article is written by Matti Kurikka. Translator’s note.]

To read more of the Aika Pages: https://sointulamuseum.ca/may-30-1902/