I remember my dad telling me when I was younger about how odd it is to have black hair in Finland. He would often be compared to a vampire while living there. Like his dark hair, the puukko knife pictured here originates from my distant relatives in the Northwest of Finland. The knife was gifted to my father by one such relative back in Finland, to be used while out in the wilderness. My brother and I grew up playing in our backyard with this knife, whittling sticks and cutting branches off of trees to make forts. I am interested in the dissent of the object; a knife traditionally used to skin animals and gut fish, being used by my brother and I for pure play. In many ways it mimics my Finnish side of the family’s immigration story; those relatives immigrated to start a farm, but that business dwindled as more of my relatives began to attend college. Now, the knife just sits on my shelf. It needs to be sharpened if I am ever going to use it. I do enjoy looking at it; it holds a certain mythology given it and my family’s history is unclear, leaving me to fill in the gaps. 

– Betty

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more