LuWaana Marjamaa Johnson and Norma Pylypuw | Butte, Montana
The tradition of weaving rag rugs was brought to Butte in the early 1900s by the Finnish miner families who settled in the east Butte neighborhood called “Finn Town.” Large floor looms were easily constructed, and being very frugal, the Finnish women (and a few men) continued making their traditional woven rugs for their own homes and to sell. This exhibit is set up to explain the process of making traditional Finnish woven “rags to rugs.”
LuWaana’s grandparents emigrated from Finland and homesteaded in Minnesota. Her Father, Jonas Marjamaa, followed his older siblings to Butte and began working as an underground miner when he was very young. WWII and the Army brought him to Europe and after the war, Jonas married his sweetheart from Minnesota, returned to mining in Butte, and they raised their family in Finn Town. As a young girl LuWaana was mesmerized trying to figure out how to make rugs. A wonderful elderly Finnish lady, Amanda Hill, showed her how to cut old rags and clothing into lengths of fabric and sew them together to make a weft for weaving. Another elderly Finnish lady, Sophie Maki, had a large floor loom and explained how to weave rugs by pulling the weft through the warp and beating them together. Woven rugs are special to LuWaana.
Norma’s weaving adventure started by choosing the Adult Education Weaving class in Butte. She had done many types of fiber crafts but had not done weaving. Norma thinks that rugs are wonderful, not only do they keep your feet warm but back in the day they were sometimes used to hang on the walls, not just because they were pretty, but for added insulation. They are useful and last many years.