According to the DNA test, Arne Nygårdsmoen from Stange in south-eastern Norway is the closest relative on the paternal line to Seppo Alaspää from western Finland.
Their common ancestor is most likely Olli Mikonpoika Kainu, or one of his sons from the late 16th century. The family originates from Vetil in Central Ostrobothnia in Finland.
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– I didn’t know about my family’s forest Finnish background before Seppo contacted me. It was a surprise, says Arne Nygårdsmoen.
Seppo Alaspää ended his holiday trip by riding a motorcycle from Southern Europe to Svullrya in Norway, one mile from Värmland, to meet his newfound relative for the first time.
“Not everyone came from Savolax”
For Alaspää, it was a surprise that all the forest fins did not come from Savolax in Eastern Finland.
– In Finland, people think – or at least I thought – that they all came from Savolax, but apparently that’s not the case, states Alaspää.
Sweden’s role is an unsolved mystery
It is still unclear what role Sweden has had in their family tree.
Alaspää and Nygårdsmoen hope that one of Olli Mikonpoika Kainus’ descendants in Sweden would do a DNA test, as it is known that the forest Finns moved to Norway via Sweden.
– Maybe someone living in Värmland is the missing link? thinks Alaspää.
In the 16th–17th centuries, Finns settled in large forest areas in central Sweden and southeastern Norway, and these Finns are called forest Finns.
In the video you can see how Seppo and Arne’s first meeting went.