Hannah Rane started an Instagram account in January 2025 to share the history of the Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset in Sweden, growing her following to about 18,000 people, Ruijan Kaiku reported.
Rane grew up in Stockholm far from her family roots in Norrbotten. She took an online course at Tornedalens folkhögskola after finding it difficult to locate information online about her people.
“Why is no one talking about this on the internet?” Rane told Ruijan Kaiku.
She recorded her first video in January 2025 while walking in Björkliden near Abisko. She worried her friends would think she had lost her mind.
Rane’s grandfather’s sister was sent to a work school in northern Sweden. These schools were originally established to provide food and housing for poor children, but they also functioned as part of Swedish assimilation policy.
The experience marked her grandfather’s sister for life, and she eventually moved from Norrbotten without returning properly. Rane explained that shame caused older generations to remain silent about their background.
“I think it was because of the shame after what had happened at the work school,” Rane told Ruijan Kaiku, describing how her relative hid her mother in a bedroom in Stockholm to avoid speaking in front of guests.
Outside of her history communication, Rane has an academic background in environmental science that began in 2014. She recently completed a research project in England and returned to Stockholm.
The Met Nuoret Tornedalian youth organization contacted Rane after discovering her Instagram content. She now works part-time with communications for the organization while continuing her research career.
By October, Rane received her first invitation to cross a national border to share the history of the Kvens in northern Sweden. She uses the account @tievaki to document the history of her people and the Swedish assimilation policies.
