Sointula
{{About|the village in British Columbia|a district in the town of Valkeakoski, Finland|Sointula, Finland|the novel named for the village|Bill Gaston}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Sointula
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|settlement_type = Village
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|image_skyline = Sointula, British Columbia (04).jpg
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|pushpin_map = Canada British Columbia
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|pushpin_map_caption = Location in British Columbia
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{CAN}}
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = {{BC}}
|subdivision_type2 = Regional district
|subdivision_name2 = Mount Waddington
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|population_as_of = 2011
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|population_total = 576
|timezone = Pacific Time Zone
|utc_offset = -8
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|coordinates = {{coord|50|37|50|N|127|01|07|W|region:CA-BC|display=inline,title}}
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Sointula is an isolated village on Malcolm Island in British Columbia, Canada. Lying between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland, northeast of Port McNeill and not far from Alert Bay, the island is part of the historic and present territory of the ‘Namgis First Nation. At the 2011 census, the village had a population of 576, down 3.0% from the 2006 census.{{cite web |url= http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=DPL&Code1=590178&Geo2=PR&Code2=59&Data=Count&SearchText=Sointula&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 |title=Census Profile |work=Statistics Canada |year=2014 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}}
History
The name Sointula means "Place of Harmony" (literally 'the place of chord') in the Finnish language. A group of Finnish settlers founded the village in 1901 after rowing north from Nanaimo. They planned to set up a utopian socialist society known as the Kalevan Kansa, based on cooperative principles.{{cite news |date=November 23, 1901 |title=The Finnish Settlement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104988741/matti-kurikka-1863-1915/ |accessdate=July 5, 2022 |work=Nanaimo Daily News |location=Nanaimo, BC |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} and wrote to visionary Matti Kurikka in Finland to lead the new community. They were looking for a way out of the mines operated by the Dunsmuir family on Vancouver Island. It was a physically hard life, and a devastating fire in the Sointula community hall in 1903 killed three adults and eight children{{cite web |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/15/sointula-finnish-commune-malcolm-island_n_3931149.html |title=Sointula Finnish Commune On Malcolm Island, B.C. Celebrated In Play |first=Dirk |last=Meissner |work=Huffington Post |date=September 15, 2013 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}} almost bringing the fledgling community to its knees. Kalervo Oberg, a Finnish-Canadian anthropologist born in 1901, came with his family to Sointula in 1902, and they were caught in the fire of 1903. Two of his sisters died in the fire.{{cite web |url= http://www.sointulamuseum.ca/2011/09/kalervo-oberg-a-famous-son-of-sointula/ |title=Kalervo Oberg, a Famous Son of Sointula |work=sointulamuseum.ca |date=September 21, 2011 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}}
Financial difficulties continued to plague the group. They worked for free for two years on the Capilano Bridge project, and after that the Kalevan Kansa was disbanded as a utopian colony in 1905,{{cite news |date=October 17, 1904 |title=Finns in Trouble |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104988763/matti-kurikka-1863-1915/ |accessdate=July 5, 2022 |work=The Victoria Daily Times |location=Victoria, BC |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{cite news |date=October 31, 1993 |title=Fire Ruined Finns' Dream |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104922871/matti-kurikka-1863-1915/ |accessdate=July 4, 2022 |work=Times Colonist |location=Victoria, BC |page=M3 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} but many of the community members remained on the island, as have their descendants.
The town remained and eventually prospered well into the 1970s as an unusually vibrant resource-based settlement. Fishing and logging activities have been the mainstay for the community. The early cooperative ventures led to other businesses that are still operating, planting seeds that are also alive today. The Sointula Cooperative Store, the oldest co-op shop in the province, still handles dry goods, groceries and fuel for the islanders. The shellfish cooperative, Malcolm Island Shellfish Coop (MISC), was involved in research on the feasibility of raising and selling abalone, but closed for financial reasons in 2006. It relocated the abalone to an area near Port McNeill donated by Orca Sand and Gravel.
File:Sointula Museum (21858914069).jpg
In the 21st century, declining forestry and fishing industries have hit Sointula hard. Its school-age population has shrunk, although housing prices have risen, as owners from as far as California have bought homes as summer retreats. Sointula is home to the Sointula Museum,{{cite web |url= http://www.sointulamuseum.ca/ |title=Sointula Museum |work=sointulamuseum.ca |year=2014 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}} and produces an online newsletter, the Sointula Ripple.{{cite web |url= http://sointularipple.ca/ |title=Sointula Ripple |work=sointularipple.ca |year=2014 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}} It is easy to reach by car ferry, operated by BC Ferries from Port McNeill and Alert Bay.{{cite web |url= http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/northern/pmab-current.php |title=Schedules: Port McNeill - Alert Bay - Sointula (Vancouver Island-Cormorant Island-Malcolm Island) |work=BC Ferries |year=2014 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}}
Wildlife
Wildlife on the island and in the waters around it is abundant. Orcas return to the so-called "rubbing beaches" on Malcolm Island's northern edge near Bere Point Regional Park every summer and fall. Seals and porpoises can be viewed from the beaches. Birds, mink, otter, beaver, and deer live all over the island. The temperate rainforest vegetation helps to sustain the mood of an uncluttered and peaceful haven.
Sointula is the location of Living Oceans Society's head office, although it also has an office in Vancouver. Living Oceans Society, founded in 1998, is a non-profit research and public education organization committed to conserving marine biological diversity in order to ensure a healthy ocean and healthy coastal communities. It is Canada's largest non-governmental organization focused on marine conservation issues.{{cite web |url= http://www.livingoceans.org/ |title=Living Oceans |work=livingoceans.org |year=2014 |accessdate=May 26, 2014}} In addition, a seasonal Canadian Coast Guard Inshore Rescue Boat Station is located in Sointula during the summer.{{Cite web|last=Government of Canada|first=Canadian Coast Guard|date=2019-05-16|title=Station locations|url=https://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/search-rescue-recherche-sauvetage/irb-esc/station-location-emplacement-eng.html|access-date=2021-10-21|website=www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca}} The station is staffed by a coxswain and two crewmembers, using a Rigid Hull Inflatable Fast Rescue Craft.
Legacy
Bill Gaston's novel Sointula (2004) is named for the community and has a plot that revolves in part around it. Rachel Lebowitz's book Hannus (2006) is also partly about the early days of the commune. Paula Wild's book Sointula gives a good overview of the island's ways and history. More recently, Sointula Museum, collaborating with the University of Victoria, has published Practical Dreamers, a history of the island's cooperatives complete with many historical pictures.
Sointula, and its original Finnish settlers, are the subject of a Finnish musical also named "Sointula", by {{interlanguage link|Tuomo_Aitta|fi}}; a Finnish theater company visited Sointula to perform it in 2013.
See also
References
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External links
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- [http://www.vancouverislandnorth.ca/communities/sointula/ Sointula] at Vancouver Island North
- [http://www.sointulainfo.ca Sointula Info Centre] - community information website
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Category:Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia
Category:Finnish diaspora in Canada
Category:Central Coast of British Columbia
Category:Utopian communities in Canada
Category:Populated places in the Regional District of Mount Waddington