Vuokkiniemi is a village and a former parish in Viena or White Sea Carelia, the northern part of Russian Carelia. See map. Vuokkiniemi is especially important for the traditions of the White Sea Carelia, because it is the "most Carelian" village in the area. A majority of the approx. 500 inhabitants speak Carelian, a language very close to Finnish. Almost all are also direct descendants of the famous folk poetry or rune singers of the 19th century, the main source for Elias Lönnrot, compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala.

Click here for the history of the region
or here for the history of Vuokkiniemi and the rune singers.

The members of Vuokkiniemi Society (Vuokkiniemi-seura in Finnish) all share a common interest in the history, life and culture of Vuokkiniemi.

The society was founded in 1990 by a group of people, who until then had held informal gatherings in Vuokkiniemi around August 2nd, the day of Eliah the prophet, patron saint of the local church, and the also date of the traditional festivity, the `Praasniekka´. Many of the original founders were either born in Vuokkiniemi or children of such, now living in Finland, and almost all are still members.

The first project of the society was to build a new Greek Orthodox church, a copy of the former church, which was destroyed in a fire just before WW2. The new church stood ready 1997. The next project was to renovate an old people´s home for the villagers. We expect our next venture to be ready in year 2006: a history book on Vuokkiniemi, written by the best authorative writers both in Finland and Russia on Carelian history and culture.

The main annual activity of the society is still the `Praasniekka´ gathering. We also arrange local meetings with, for instance, lectures on various topics. People are often interested in the past of their families, so one of our most popular activities is genealogy. For that we have a coordinator, who collects information and also answers inquiries from both members and non-members.

Today we have close to 300 members, mostly in Finland, but also in Russia, Sweden and USA.
Membership is open to all. Welcome.

The English part of our website will be developed as the needs arise.
Please send your comments or questions regarding Vuokkiniemi or the society in English or Swedish to , or comments on the web site to the .
Thank you for your interest.