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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-03-01, Page 23�.��♦�**;��Lapland Least known among the peoples of the world are the inhabitants of Northern Fin- land at the Arctic Circle. It is believed that the Finnish Lapps roamed as nomads across Russia and Finland as far back as the last Ice Age, 10 millenniums ago. Their origin, actually, is not known. There is some thought that they are an an- cient sub -arctic race. The Finns only know that they found the Lapps in the North of their country about 2,000 years ago. Though time has wrought its changes among these quaint people as it has with other inhabitants throughout the world, some of the tradi- tions of the deep past are still retained by the quiet, shy Laplanders. Among these are the customs that continue to be practiced at Lapp wed- dings, both by bride and groom. Unlike the nuptial event in America, where both parties participating in a marriage ar- rive at the church separately, in Lapland the bride and groom are escorted to the Wedding Anniversaries First Year Paper Second Year Cotton Third Year Leather Fourth Year Books Fifth Year Wooden (Clocks) Sixth Year Iron Seventh Year Copper, Bronze, Brass Eighth Year Electrical Appliances Ninth Year Pottery Tenth Year Tin, Aluminum Eleventh Year Steel -Twelfth Year Silk or Linen Thirteenth Year Lace Fourteenth Year Ivory Fifteenth Year Crystal Twentieth Year China Twenty-fifth Year Silver Thirtieth Year Pearl Thirty-fifth Year Coral, Jade Fortieth Year Ruby Forty-fifth Year ... Sapphire Fiftieth Year Gold Fifty-fifth Year Emerald Sixtieth Year Diamond A Love Song for the Bride If you had been married during the Renaissance, you probably would have re- ceived an epithalamion ... a song or poem written just for your wedding ... a uni- que expression of your love and a lasting tribute to the ti moment. Verse for the Week Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from fol- lowing after thee: for whither thou goest, 1 will go; and where thou lodgest, 1 will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. —Book of Ruth 1:16 Wedding Etiquette Gifts received the last few days before 0,he wedding need not be acknowledged until after the wedding. bride house of worship on foot, in a procession from the bride's home. Accompanying the bridal pair, and first in line of march, are the bride's nearest family. The groom's relatives follow, with the be- trothed couple next. Behind them are young marrieds and the singles. The procession often consists of several dozen people. The traditional Lapp bridal dress is always dark blue, with many shawls tied over the bride's shoulders. Usu- ally the top one is white, tak- ing the place of a veil. Women guests at the wed- ding ceremony wear white shawls, also, as is customary on all solemn occasions. The number of shawls worn by the bride is kind of a status symbol. Lapp custom gives the bride a chance to change her mind about her intended husband, right up to the last minute, practically, before she says "I do." • has Page 3 last - minute chance !� * * * �,►, * . A rejected suitor may ap- pear and approach her before the ceremony, while she is seated, sit down beside her and lightly press her foot with his. He hopes she will return the gesture. For, if she does, this will signal that she would rather marry him. This foot -pressing method gives the near -bride the right to switch fiances even before the priest says his Amen. Though this might call for smelling salts by the bride's and the groom's families and friends in America, in Lap- land no one gives it a second thought. In fact, the girl's be- havior would be regarded as something quite correct. The shunned groom, then, must accept the rebuff gallantly. Wedding receptions in Lapland have changed little over the centuries. Guests at- tend a party at the bride's home, at which they. are of- fered reindeer meat and sal- mon sandwiches—the de- licacies of the Far North— and coffee and home-made pastry,. The one ancient Lapp cus- tom that surely would have little or no appeal even to ad- ventWous North Americans is one that is still followed by newlyweds at the Arctic Cir- cle. The bridal couple is re- quired to spend their wed- ding night outside their hut. This isn't difficult to take in the summer, when the weather is balmy, clear and delightful. But, in the winter, this means the nuptial night is spent in the bare snow. The Finnish Lapps, nevertheless, are otherwise "becoming more educated and assuming the ways of the very literate and progressive Finnish people. They have adapted themselves to the modern social and economic conditions. But, like many other people in other lands, they continue to cling to some oI' • the traditions of their forefathers. 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