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Xavier, “Finns” & Laestadius Franklin was also a center for Finnish settlement in Minnesota. The first small group of Finns to settle there left from Tromsø in 1864, their hometown being given as Vadsø. Karl Xavier has given an excellent account of his father's daily round as a minister during this period. Xavier had to arrange for his own transport when fulfilling his church duties. At first he used oxen, later horses. In winter he usually used skis to get about. Part of his income came in kind. There were some particularly difficult years in the second half of the 1870s, with poor harvests as a result of plagues of grasshoppers, poverty, and much sickness. Nils Paul Xavier himself was struck down by illness, with his outlook seemingly "critical" for a time. Karl Xavier does not comment on one aspect of his father's pastoral duties, one for which he was especially remembered in the region. He was the Finns' first pastor in the district, despite his base in the Norwegian Synod. The Finns sought his help for baptisms, confirmations, and funerals because "Pastor Xavier, himself of Finnish stock though born in Norway, spoke the Finnish language fluently and he used it on various occasions." The Finns also exemplified another side of religion and culture that he almost certainly knew well from his homeland, namely Laestadianism. A Laestadian congregation was established in the Franklin district in 1874, the Finnish Apostolic Lutheran congregation. Carlotta, the daughter of Levi Laestadius, was among those who were behind its establishment. She had emigrated and married the Finn Michael Jokela. The Laestadians built their own church in 1884 and opened their own graveyard—The Finnish Cemetery. Both are still in use. There can be little doubt that the events in Kautokeino, especially those fateful days in November, 1852, marked Xavier for life. He was then thirteen years old and witnessed most of what happened. In the winter of 1851 religious and social unrest appeared in Kautokeino. In November, 1852, a regular uprising against the local representatives of the clerical and secular authorities and the local merchant took place, led by Sami Laestadians. In the uprising the merchant and the sheriff were killed and several persons molested, among them the vicar, who was whipped. Xavier was directly involved in that he participated with his father and others in a "rescue party" when help against the rebels was fetched from the neighboring village of Avzzi. Probably he also witnessed his old father being bound and whipped. The dramatic events themselves, the court case against the rebels, the verdict, the imprisonment and executions of two of the leaders in Alta as well as the subsequent period when "Kautokeino," "Laestadianism," and "Sami" were terms that immediately aroused strongly negative associations among Norwegians, not least in official circles, must have made an indelible impression. The period after 1852 was one of reaction that could have had an almost traumatic effect on Xavier. from “Nils Paul Xavier: Sami Teacher and Pastor on the American Frontier” by Einar Niemi. Norwegian-American Studies, v. 34, 1995, Norwegian-American Historical Association, Northfield, MN. Árran PS: A number of siida folks from Cokato and the surrounding are Sami from the Finnish side. From #46,Spring 2007 Xavier part 3 Archive |
