FINNISH AMERICAN RAG RUGS; ART, TRADITION & ETHNIC CONTINUITY

Finnish American Rag Rugs is about rag rug culture and the role of rag weaving in Finnish America. In a larger sense, it is also a study of how a craft can persist over centuries, reinforcing the culture, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and values of an immigrant group that retains a strong sense of its ethnic identity.
     Finnish American Rag Rugs provides a history of Finnish immigration to and settlement in Michigan's Upper Peninsula alongside an examination of the tradition of rag weaving in the United States and the Nordic region. Although many other immigrants have a tradition of making rag rugs, Finnish Americans are one of the few groups to have maintained the culture of rag weaving since their immigration. In the process of studying this one activity of one ethnic group, the author uncovers new information about both the history of a ubiquitous form of fiber art and the beliefs and values of an understudied ethnic group. Illustrated with more than 200 color photos, Finnish American Rag Rugs is both informative and beautiful.

Yvonne R. Lockwood is Curator of Folklife at the Michigan State University Museum and Associate Coordinator of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program. She is co-editor of the Michigan Folklife Annual and of Michigan Folklife Reader.