Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Kivajat Finnish American Folk Dance Group founder and leader, Kay Seppala, receives the 2025 Michigan Heritage Award from Micah Ling. Seppala was honored for her outstanding contributions to preserving and promoting traditional arts.

HANCOCK – Ontonagon native and founder and leader of the internationally known Kivajat Finnish-American Folk Dance group, Kay Seppala, was honored Monday evening by the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and the state of Michigan.

Seppala was the recipient of the 2025 Michigan Heritage Award at Monday’s Kivajat Dancers Performance and Michigan Award Ceremony, held at the Finnish American Heritage Center, in Hancock.

The Michigan Heritage Awards honor individuals who continue their family and community folk traditions with excellence through practice and teaching, or individuals who are recognized as outstanding community leaders in the maintenance, documentation, or presentation of traditional arts.

Micah Ling, associate director of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and curator of the Michigan Traditional Arts Research Collections at the Michigan State University Museum, presented the award. “What we’re here to celebrate tonight is the awarding of one of our Michigan Heritage Awards, which is one of our flagship programs at the Michigan Traditional Arts program,” Ling said. “And Kay will be receiving that tonight, so we are very happy about that.”

Ling described the award as “honorific” for traditional artists and practitioners who work to preserve cultural heritage in the state of Michigan. “It was modeled after the National Endowment for Arts National Heritage Fellowship,” said Ling.

State Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, also presented Seppala with an award on behalf of the state of Michigan.”One of the joys of serving the 110th District is that Senator (Ed) McBroom and I get to issue legislative tributes and special tributes,” Markkanen said, “and I think we all agree tonight that this event of honor needs a special tribute. This special tribute for Kay Seppala, from Governor Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Gilchrist, Senator McBroom – who wishes he could be here tonight – and myself, (is) in behalf of Kay’s achievements over the many, many years.”

Seppala described herself as a Finnish-American — “fiercely Finnish.” She then reflected briefly. “I have just recently experienced a major life change, and so I have been thinking about my identity – who I am.”

Seppala said her husband of 42 years, Hal, passed away in February and caused her to think about her new title of widow.

“But more importantly than that, I have several other titles,” she said. “First of all, I’m a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ. That’s the most important thing.” Additionally, she continued, she is a mom, a grandmother, a sister, and the friend of neighbors.

“All four of my grandparents were born in Finland,” she said. “My parents taught me to love to dance. My parents taught me how to waltz.”

Her love of dance continued to grow. She learned to dance as a child at local dances. When she graduated from high school, she moved to Minneapolis, to attend college. She was trained as a Finnish folk dancer while performing with the Kisarit Finnish-American Folk Dancers in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1977-1997. It was in Minnesota she met her future husband, Hal.

In 1997, Hal retired and he and Kay returned to the Copper Country. Kay founded the Kivajat Children’s Finnish American Folk Dance Group in 2004, with support from the Finnish American Heritage Center. The Center states the dance group is a successful youth outreach, and preserves, interprets and performs traditional Finnish folk dances and music, wearing traditional Finnish folk costumes.

The dance groups practice throughout the school year, preparing a new set of dances each year. Starting in January, they perform at least once a month at a local nursing home.

As the dance year progresses, the children perform at different cultural events and festivals, including Finnish Independence Day, Heikinpäivä, Juhannus, Hanka Homestead, Houghton County Fair, and others, ending the dance year with the local Parade of Nations performance in September.

Since its founding, the Kivajat Dance group has performed in three different FinnFests (Marquette 2005;Duluth 2008′ and Hancock 2013), twice in the Canadian Finnish Festivals (Sault Ste Marie 2010 and Thunder Bay 2016), as well as Finland at the Tanssiva Turku Children’s International Folk Dance Festival in 2009, 2015, and 2019.

As of 2025, Seppala said, the group consists of 53 students in three groups, K-12.

The youngest group, the Pikku Kivajat (Little Finnish Dancers) are Kindergarten -2nd grade; Kivajat, grades 3-7; and Loistavat (Older Kivajat), grades 8-12.

“So, I’m very honored to thankful to receive this award, but it doesn’t come just to me,” Seppala said.

Among directors, including Jim Kurtti, former director of the Heritage Center and Dave Maki, current director.

“But most importantly,” she said, “it goes to those dancers.”