The Tale of Hermit Eemeli

At Lapiosalmi, in a small forest cabin, lived a man named Elias Mäkelä from the late 1950s until 1966. The campers at Lapiosalmi got to know him as "Erakko-Eemeli" or Hermit Eemeli. He himself preferred the nickname "Kala-Eemeli" or Fisherman Eemeli. The red cabin, located on state land, has been preserved as a sightseeing spot and a place for quiet contemplation. Eemeli's harsh life story resonates with people in many ways.


Kala-Eemeli, or Elias Reinhold Mäkelä, was his true name. He was born on March 22, 1905, in Yli-Kiimingi. Not much is known about his life. According to oral tradition, Eemeli had been engaged as a young man, but his bride suddenly passed away before the wedding. It is likely that Eemeli had been at sea, as he had a tattoo on the palm of his hand. In the 1960s, tattoos were mainly seen on sailors and prisoners.

Eemeli was also skilled in shoemaking. Old residents of Posio remember him going from house to house, doing shoemaking work. His toolbox and a few shoe lasts are still preserved in the entrance hall of his cabin.


Eemeli gradually made his way from the coast to the open wilderness of Posio. From his belongings, it can be inferred that he was still living in Pudasjärvi in 1958. Eemeli had various forestry jobs, including work in the Kuusamo management area of Metsähallitus (Finnish Forest Administration) in Posio. From the withholding tax receipts, it can be seen that Eemeli did tasks such as stacking lumber and other contract work. Before he built his remaining cabin in the ravine between Latva and Salmijärvi lakes, on a peninsula between two ponds, he had lived in a cabin near Lake Ojennusjärvi, a few kilometers away from Lapiosalmi. According to neighbors, the burial place of his dog can still be seen there.

CABIN IS BEING COMPLETED


Eemeli began building his final cabin in 1959 when the Posio-Ranua road bridge was being reconstructed. The debris from the old bridge was available to the villagers for some time, and Eemeli also obtained timber from it for his cabin. He transported the materials by boat to a cove in the backwaters of Salmijärvi, at the mouth of the stream flowing from Latvajärvi, and carried them from there to the construction site. According to his own account, he worked on the cabin day and night. When rain or fatigue caught up with him, he would doze off in his makeshift shelter next to the construction site.


In his final years, Eemeli's health began to decline, and he applied for retirement, which was granted to him starting from the beginning of 1964. Eemeli's pension was a generous 139 marks (approximately €23) per month. By 1966, the pension had increased to an astounding 179 marks (approximately €30), and at that time, a liter of milk cost just under one mark.


Eemeli had a pen pal in Germany named Reinhold Frommer. He wrote in fluent Finnish and, in his letters, expressed admiration for Eemeli's way of life. The letters also mention the names Reiner and Ann-Marie Frommer (-Braxen), as well as their son Akim. The text written in Ann-Marie's name is so fluent in Finnish that one could imagine her being originally from Finland.



THE PEACE OF THE WILDERNESS IS SHAKEN


In the summer of 1963, the tranquility of Lapiosalmi was momentarily disturbed when dozens of scouts appeared for their first camp on the clearing. One morning, Eemeli showed up at the camp kitchen with a bunch of whitefish and wanted to exchange the fish for coffee and sugar. After some small conversations, the deal was made, and thus began the friendship between the camp leaders Jaakko Grandlund, Martti Kauppinen, and Erakko-Eemeli, which culminated in the tradition of the camps. Eemeli became a regular visitor and helper in building the camps. The Sighs Bridge in Lapiosalmi has been raised to its current height under the guidance of Lapiosalmi's "original inhabitant" so that Eemeli's Kiva boat with its rowers can pass underneath it.

eEmeli's Legacy


It was as if Eemeli had foreseen his fate because in the autumn, when the first ice came, he drowned near the stream that flows into Lake Salmi. Eemeli was on his way to Manninen's house on the road to Ranua. He had stopped to assess the solidity of the ice but decided to continue walking on the ice towards the road. Just a few steps later, the ice gave way beneath the king of the wilderness. Although the shore was only a few meters away, the old man couldn't get up from the deep, icy water because the steep shores of Lake Salmi quickly deepen. Eemeli's hat remained on the edge of the hole, and his dog Musti longed for his master.


Eemeli was buried in the cemetery of Posio, and the only "relatives" present at the gravesite were officials. When the Lapiosalmi Cabin was inaugurated in 1979, the celebrants erected a wooden cross made of deadwood on Kala-Eemeli's grave. A copper plate with personal information was attached to the cross. Every year on All Saints' Day, the staff of Lapiosalmi would place a candle on Eemeli's grave. On the 22nd day of March in 2005, one hundred years had passed since Eemeli's birth. Lapiosalmi also possesses a video made by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yleisradio) in 1966, which is approximately ten minutes long and features Kala-Eemeli. The program was aired on television in November 1966, about a month after Eemeli's drowning.


(The original text was composed by Jouko Rautkivi based on the information available.)

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