To the Editor:
Tornio River Valley Interest Group: I know there are people in your town and the surroundings who have ancestors from the Tornio River Valley between Sweden and Finland in the north, north of the Gulf of Bothnia. A new cultural region has been declared and an association created called Meänmaan-Tinkerit. "Meän" means "our," "maa" means "country" or "land," and "tinkerit" means "meeting."
I am a member of the main association, but we would also like to create local interest groups here in USA, connecting them to us. You can read about the association's visions at our Web site www.meanmaan-tinkerit.com and about the cultural region itself at www.meanmaa.com .
I have found it very interesting and am trying to inform others who have ancestors coming from the area. The group's plan is to create a worldwide member network for people living in that area and for us, the descendants of the immigrants. They want to get a cultural exchange established, and they plan a computerized Emigrant center where we descendants are very important people, VIPs! They have also created a symbolic passport meaning that we descendants will have certification as people belonging to the symbolic country Meänmaa.
If you want be a member or would like to be a local group leader, don't hesitate! Do contact me! I know there will be some interesting research being a group leader.
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Virginia Mattson-Schultz
Martinsburg, W. Va.
