Area History

Area History

The history of Enontekio — from Stone Age hunters and fishers through nomadic reindeer herding, postal trails, small-scale farming and the Lapland War.

Enontekio was already settled in the early Stone Age, some 8000 years ago. The first people in Enontekio were hunters and fishers. Reindeer herding became an important livelihood in the last half of the 17th century. The reindeer is a semi-domesticated arctic animal that pastures in search of its food, and reindeer herders were nomads, following the herds. The nomadic way of life has disappeared elsewhere in Lapland, but it lives on in Enontekio.

  • Enontekio settled some 8000 years ago in the early Stone Age
  • Reindeer herding established in the latter half of the 17th century
  • About 20,000 reindeer in Enontekio, each owned and earmarked
  • Historic postal trails — 60 km on foot from Hetta to Kalkujarvi
  • Kilpisjarvi destroyed in the 1944-45 Lapland War

Nature & Traditional Livelihoods

Traditional livelihoods here mix reindeer husbandry, fishing, hunting, berry picking and the gathering of mushrooms and herbs. Reindeer herding remains important — there are about 20,000 reindeer in Enontekio. They pasture freely, but every animal has an owner, shown by an earmark, and herding requires a deep understanding of both nature and reindeer, passed down through generations. To enjoy the special government rights for herders (eg cheap loans and grant subsidies), you must own c. 80 reindeer. These traditional livelihoods are still a main income for about 10% of the population — 60-70 families.

Prehistoric Settlements and Hole Traps

Many Stone Age dwellings have been found in the Hetta area, most on the north shore of Lake Ounasjarvi, with further signs on Karjalansaari Island and the south shore. Hunting and fishing were the first livelihoods, and old hole traps at the foot of Jyppyravaara Hill attest to the area's hunting history. Today a short nature trail from the Fell Lapland Nature Centre Skierri winds along an ancient hunting route on raised boardwalks past the trap hollows; a restored hole trap is also displayed in the Skierri grounds.

Reindeer Husbandry and New Farms

Reindeer husbandry began spreading through the municipality of Enontekio at the end of the 1600s. Herders built no permanent dwellings, moving between seasonal pastures and herding their reindeer from the coniferous forest zone all the way to the Arctic Ocean shore in the north. The first permanent settlers are thought to have settled on the shore of Lake Ounasjarvi at the turn of the 18th Century. Between 1979-1998, 72 reindeer farms and 65 traditional livelihood farms were built in Enontekio.

Postal Trails

Post reached northern villages even before a road network existed. At the end of the 1800s it was carried on foot over great distances, along what are now called postal trails. A road from Palojoensuu to Hetta opened in 1906, easing transport, and a postal car began weekly summer-only deliveries in 1923. One postal trail leads from Hetta to Nakkala and on to Poyrisjarvi, continuing to Kalkujarvi — a 60 km trek from Hetta. As cycling spread, a fast postman could pedal the route there and back in a day.

Lapland War

Kilpisjarvi is a very small village with a young history — its first permanent inhabitants arrived as late as 1915. Nothing remains from those years, all of it demolished in the Lapland War of 1944-1945. At the end of WW2, Finland had to drive out its former allies, the German forces, who retreated north towards Norway, burning everything behind them. The road to and from Kilpisjarvi — the Northern Lights road — was much improved during the war; at the peak, between 1915-1916, 1400 horses transported military materials along it.