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Introduction
About the Warriors
The Väki Vahva warriors warped into different animal forms during battle. For this each warrior adopted fighting styles connected to particular animals, similar to Asian martial arts. They also needed help from the Wise Woman, whose wisdom in magic and spells and knowledge of potions, natural medicines and herbs strengthened the warriors. The more powerful the tribe’s Wise Woman was, the more powerful and successful the tribe during battles.
When the warrior warped in battle, she became at the same time seductive and beautiful, while powerful and deadly. The warrior’s outfit and jewelry became part of her. Both qualities were used against their enemies who were mainly men: one to distract the mind, the other to attack the body. In many cases, the tribe used sexuality combined with violence to create a battle lust and achieve victory.
| Warrior Outfits: |
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 Summer Outfit
The purpose of the mask was to protect the tribes enemies so that the warrior would not tear them apart too severely when she was gorged with battle lust and had warped into a half woman/half animal. The skin she wore, including the claws of the pine marten (Martes) helped her to reach her state of mind and become like the animal; stronger, more fluent in movement, and more fierce.
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 Summer Outfit
This outfit combines elements of the animal and woman. Even if the symbols, horns. and the eye pattern, come from the strongest domestic animal of the time, the bull, the effect comes from butterflies with large, eye-like patterns in their wings. They scare the enemy, and give the warrior an edge in battle. The bull was a very important animal to the small women as a symbol of dogged determination and brute strength.
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 Winter Outfit
This warrior represents the creatures of the night, such as bats, and all of the animals and mystical characters that you can only hear but not see. The mask appears to be screaming, and functions as camouflage. Warriors wearing this type of outfit often had a tragedy in their past; they showed their sorrow through the pain and screaming of the mask.
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 Winter Outfit
This warrior wears fox fur. The fox is a strong and important character in Finnish folklore. It is not so much about force but intelligence. The fox was a symbol for those who led troops into battle. The mask has a jaw, and even if the structure is lean and light, it could cause great damage when used wisely and with skill. A fox is also very sensual in its’ appearance and motion. Often, the warriors who wore the fox outfit, who were of higher position, later had offspring with men robbed from the villages.
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More About The Winter Outfits:
Furs were used for winter outfits, although the warrior’s legs and feet often remained bare. Fur was more of a symbol of the animal’s own winter outfit, not a way to keep warm. In fact, women of the tribe were able to stay outside as long as necessary even without clothing, trained to do so when very young. Even today, many Finnish people cut a hole in the ice and swim in frozen lakes in winter. Another common Finnish habit is to roll around in the snow after bathing in a hot sauna. This causes the blood to circulate faster, and gives you energy as well as naturally beautiful skin.
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About the Sacrificial Victims
 Each year, a sacrificial victim was chosen. This sacrifice was made to the Lake God. The victim was always a member of the tribe, often a beautiful and highly-skilled warrior, thereby demonstrating to the Lake God the seriousness of the offering. The victim’s face and eyelashes were painted white to represent purity. The victim wore a spine to show her willingness to die and be eaten until there was no flesh left on her body. The victim also had weights around her wrists or ankles to pull her down to the bottom of the lake. Also, the victim’s outfit was made out of fabric that became glued to her body once wet making it impossible for her to swim to safety.
By making this offering, the tribe believed that they would be granted good luck and good health for the new year, the birth of many new children, and victory in all battles.
Sacrificial offerings were made in the Lake Tokee, named after a creature called “Toke.” The lake was called Lake Tokee because when the creature’s name was shouted, the echo made it sound longer. Lake Tokee is a long and narrow lake, which in certain places is very deep.
It is believed that there are many objects at the bottom of the lake since offerings were made every year, but no-one knows the exact place to search for them.
Nobody knows either what the creature of the lake was, but everything from giant fish to monsters like the famous one in Scotland’s Loch Ness, have been reported to be seen throughout the years.
It is very likely that the creature was, or is (???), in fact, a “monni” (Silurus glanis – giant catfish), which is believed to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The monni eats everything from fish to crabs and frogs, to carcasses, and even small children. Their average length is 0,5 to 2 meters (1.65 to 6.56 feet), and weight from 1 to 60 kg. (2.2 to 132 pounds) The largest monni on record ever to be caught in Finland was 82kg (181 pounds) but legends tell about a giant fish caught in Vanajavesi that was 170 kg. (375 pounds). The largest giant catfish in the world, caught in other countries, have been recorded at 4 to 5 meters in length (13 to 16 feet) and over 375 kg (over 825 pounds).
It is said that the monni became extinct in Finland at the end of the 19th century, but several sightings have been reported during the 20th century. Monni still live with certainty in Estonia, Sweden, Ural, in the Caspian sea, in Donau, Elbe, Rein, and in several Asian countries.
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About the Wise Woman (Priest)
 The Wise Woman was leader of the tribe and she was able to communicate with the dead. Every time she visited the underworld, she added one more skull to her outfit. In the end, the weight became great, symbolizing what the weight wise woman had to carry in her mind. Every visit she made to the underworld made her lose a piece of her mind, and gave her more evil to carry.
The Wise Woman visited the underworld through a combination of spells and magical mixtures of powders and herbs made out of mushrooms and other secret ingredients. Hallucinations advised the Wise Woman in everything from battles to commonplace matters.
The Wise Woman was also able to leave her body and fly to other places. While out-of-body, the body she left behind was highly vulnerable. Therefore, she had a legion of trusted warriors to guard her while she flew away. When in this state, she had a raven (Corvus corax) also protected her body, and this is why normal people never dared to kill these important birds. This is still true in the present day; ravens are protected in Finland. If someone would have taken the feathers away from her hair during the trance, she would have dropped from the sky and most likely died, or have become severely injured.
Unlike other members of tribe, the Wise Woman was able to take other forms, fly, swim, or walk on the ground. People respected all animals because you could never tell if there was a spirit inside the animal. When people killed an animal, they always apologized for the harm they had done, and that the spirit would not revenge them.
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About the furs/skins used in the exhibition...
Important points about the animal skins and furs used in the outfits: Sheep are animals that are not wild—they are farmed for their wool. Reindeer are half wild and half domestic. Foxes and pine marten that are used are, however, wild animals. The use of fur in human clothing is a controversial subject. We approached it whereby the furs come from the Eastern part of Finland hunting is done in the same ways it has been for hundreds of years.
The animals that are used in making these outfits are not kept in cages, they have been living in forest. The matter of killing wild animals is something which can always be argued, but if you use fur, there is no more honest way to get it than through old-world skills for tracking and hunting. All the furs used for the clothing in the exhibit were received as presents from specific hunters without commercial motives. The way we see furs is very different, because it has always been quite natural for us to hunt and fish.
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