Editing Iriadamant

{{Short description|Community in northern Finland}}
[[File:Iriadamant-1992-Kittila.jpg|thumb|right|Members of the Iriadamant community in Kittilä, October 1992.]]
The '''Iriadamant '''were a community, also described as a cult,<ref name=hesari>{{cite news| last=Muilu| first=Jaakko| url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000009824405.html |title=Sata ihmistä muutti Lappiin ekokulttiin, jossa lapsilla oli 13 äitiä ja 13 isää - näin utopia paratiisista muuttui painajaiseksi |trans-title=A hundred people moved to Lapland into an eco-cult where children had 13 mothers and 13 fathers - how a utopia of paradise turned into a nightmare |language=fi |work=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] |date=October 28, 2023 |access-date=October 29, 2023}}</ref> that lived in northern Finland from 1991–1993. The residents of the community were mainly French and Belgian but dressed in Native American costumes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kaila |first=Katariina |date=5 October 2018 |title=On the Trail of the Iriadamants |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/10/05/on-the-trail-of-the-iriadamants |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=yle.fi |language=en}}</ref> The group arrived in Finland with the support of Professor [[Erkki Pulliainen]] of the [[University of Oulu]] with the intention of  "studying living in nature" and learning [[self-sufficiency]]. In the fall of 1991, the group founded a camp near [[Kittilä]]. Although of European descent, they were referred to as "Kittilä's Indians" ([[Finnish language|Finnish]]: ''Kittilän intiaanit'') or "lifestyle Indians" (Finnish: ''elämäntapaintiaani''). When the camp was first established, it was generally viewed in a positive light.<ref name=":2"/>

By the beginning of 1993, the attitude had changed. Professor Pulliainen soon called off the relationship when it became clear that no research was being done at the camp. According to newspaper reports, the conditions were miserable, cold, dirty, and residents lacked food and healthcare. Campers were accused in the newspapers of, among other things, abusing children.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Sarmela |first1=Matti |title=Kuinka iriadamantti määritellään. Delegitimointi ja kunnon ihmiset |journal=Suomen Antropologi |date=October 2004|volume=29|issue=3|url=http://www.kolumbus.fi/matti.sarmela/iriadamant.pdf| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131030144450/http://www.kolumbus.fi/matti.sarmela/iriadamant.pdf| archive-date = 30 October 2013}}</ref> It was revealed that the group was mainly dependent on external food supply. The founder of the Iriadamant, {{ill|Pierre Maltais|fr}}, usually did not live in the camp but in a hotel in [[Helsinki]]. The movement was more and more widely regarded as a "green feather show" created by an eco-cult, in which the leadership deceived the outside world and its members. The Iriadamant were deported from Finland in 1993. The community disbanded soon after.<ref name=":1" />

== Background ==
[[File:Iriadamant camp in Kittilä in October 1992 (JOKAJUK3D A-2).tif|thumb|right|Iriadamant members with spruce boughs]]
The Iriadamant camp was founded by the [[French-Canadian]] Pierre Doris Maltais. Maltais, who also used the names Norman William and Alpjoine, falsely claimed he was of [[Métis]] ancestry. He and his followers later presented themselves as [[Mi'kmaq]] people.<ref name=hesari /> In 1973, Maltais founded ''La Tribu'', an ecological group. They later changed their name to ''Ecoovie'' (English'': ecological life''). The group moved to Paris in 1978 and began to sell natural products. In 1984, the group embarked on a worldwide tour to plant trees and spread their philosophy.<ref name=":1" /> The core group was primarily French, French Canadian, and Belgian. Members of the community identified with [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Native American]] peoples and customs, dressing in traditional costumes and taking Native-inspired names.<ref name=":0" />

At its height, Ecoovie had around 500 members throughout Europe living a primitive lifestyle. They generally rejected modern diets, medical care, and tool usage.<ref name=nhf>{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Susan |title=The New Heretics of France: Minority Religions, la République, and the Government-Sponsored "War on Sects" |title-link=The New Heretics of France |date=21 October 2011 |page=218 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-973521-1 |language=en}}</ref> The group later took the name of Iriadamant, derived from the phrase "lifestyle painters".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Käyhkö|first=Hanna|date=20 July 2010|title=Intiaanit muistetaan yhä |url=https://www.kaleva.fi/intiaanit-muistetaan-yha/2265861 |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Kaleva |language=fi}}</ref>

== Establishment of the camp ==
[[File:Iriadamant camp in Kittilä in October 1992 (JOKAJUK3D A-6).tif|thumb|right|A member of the Iriadamant community presents structural drawings of gwam tents]]
[[File:Iriadamant camp in Kittilä in October 1992 (JOKAJUK3D A-3).tif|thumb|Gwam construction at the Iriadamant camp in Kittilä]]
The group came to Finland via Sweden after walking from Italy in 1991.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Herva |first1=Vesa-Pekka |last2=Seitsonen |first2=Oula |last3=Äikäs |first3=Tiina |last4=Ikäheimo |first4=Janne |last5=Okkonen |first5=Ilpo |date=2021 |title="Indians" in Lapland: The Iriadamant Community, Monocultural Ethos and the Materialities and Geographies of Marginality in Recent Past Finland |url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JCA/article/view/21214 |journal=Journal of Contemporary Archaeology |language=en |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=207–227–207–227 |doi=10.1558/jca.21214 |s2cid=251302889 |issn=2051-3437|url-access=subscription }}</ref> They were invited to Finland by architect {{Ill|Ilpo Okkonen|fi}} and [[Erkki Pulliainen]], a professor of zoology at the University of Oulu and MP of the [[Green League]]. According to the agreement with Pulliainen, the group came to Finland to implement the interdisciplinary ESSOC project (“Ecological Sylvilisation and Survival with the Aid of Original Cultures”) in cooperation with the [[University of Helsinki]]. On this basis, they were granted a residence permit until the end of July 1992. It was reported that the group initially included about 140 people.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="EDUS">{{Cite web |date= |title=Mäkelä: Ns. iriadamant-intiaanien oleskelusta Suomessa / Sisäasiainministeri Mauri Pekkarisen vastaus |url=http://217.71.145.20/TRIPviewer/show.asp?tunniste=KK+171%2F1993&base=erkys&palvelin=www.parliament.fi&f=WP |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104153044/http://217.71.145.20/TRIPviewer/show.asp?tunniste=KK+171%2F1993&base=erkys&palvelin=www.parliament.fi&f=WP |archive-date=4 January 2014 |access-date=13 September 2022 |website=Kirjallinen kysymys 171 / Valtiopäivät 1993 |publisher=Eduskunta |pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Oinaala |first=Sampsa |date=26 July 2017 |title=1990-luvun alussa Ilpo Okkonen toi elämäntapaintiaanit Suomeen – hanke traumatisoi ja vei maineen sekä rahat: "Toipuminen vei vuosia" |url=https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000005302761.html |access-date=16 November 2018 |website=Helsingin Sanomat}}</ref>

The Iriadamant group stated that their goal was to scientifically study the adaptation of humans to nature through the lifestyle of native peoples. They opposed the western way of life, and in contrast, the group practiced [[silvilization]] and religious rituals.<ref name=":2" /> They also sought to study organic life within the arctic. Their proposed experiments were to run for seven years, by which time they hoped to be self-sufficient.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Jokelin |first=Jantso |title=Metsään meni |url=https://www.veikkaus.fi/fi/x/suomen-muotoinen-jarvi-neitokainen |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Veikkaus |language=fi}}</ref>

The community was thought by some to be a true tribe of Native Americans, and were met with curiosity and positivity from the public. Their first camp was near [[Oulu]].<ref name=":4" /> Although the original goal was to end up in southern Finland, they made a deal with a tourism company in Kittilä. They agreed to act as a tourist attraction in exchange for land and provisions. The group was settled in Lainio, a small tourist village near [[Neitokainen]].<ref name=":3" /> However, within a year, the camp was closed to outsiders.<ref name=":4" />

In Lainio, the Iriadamant built permanent turf-covered shelters called "[[Wigwam|gwams]]". The settlement was divided into sub-camps for men, women, and children, which surrounded a central forum and marketplace.<ref name=":3" />

== Lifestyle and troubles ==
[[File:Iriadamant camp in Kittilä in October 1992 (JOKAJUK3D A-8).tif|thumb|Iriadamant camp members inside a gwam]]
[[File:Iriadamant camp in Kittilä in October 1992 (JOKAJUK3D A-7).tif|thumb|Gwam exterior]]
The Iriadamant practiced [[animistic]] religious beliefs. Daily rituals and routines were planned around planetary cycles and the seasons. Four "guardians of the elements" were elected quarterly to delegate duties to tribal members. The community lived on a vegan diet and sought to gather much of their food. The group led sustainable living workshops in nearby municipalities as part of their "[[School of Hard Knocks|University of Life]]" program.<ref name=":1"/>

In Finland, the Iriadamant were unsuccessful in their quest for self-sufficiency. The camp was reliant on food donations from local farmers and members of their support organization. Potatoes were illegally smuggled from [[Sollefteå]] as they were unable to grow their own.<ref name=":1" /> Four truckloads of firewood were delivered each day. Despite this outside support, camp conditions were inadequate. Hygiene and dental health were noted to be issues.

The group also pretended to live more organically than it actually did, secretly using modern supplies and tools. Dishware made to look like bark and cloth was actually plastic and glass.<ref name=":4" /> Donated clothes were discarded or used as building insulation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-09-07 |title=Ekologisuus ei toteutunut Kittilän intiaanileirissä |url=https://yle.fi/a/3-5881133 |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Yle Uutiset |language=fi}}</ref> It was found that they used modern saws to fell trees. After the camp was abandoned, a large amount of plastic trash remained.<ref name="outojoukko">{{Cite web |title=Outo joukko "intiaaneja" leiriytyi Suomeen |url=http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/04/23/outo-joukko-intiaaneja-leiriytyi-suomeen |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=yle.fi |date=23 April 2010 |language=fi-FI}}</ref>

In August 1992, a three-year-old boy died in the camp from [[bronchitis]] and [[duodenitis]].<ref name=":4" /> One of the group's members, Ilpo Okkonen, claimed that the boy may have been sexually abused by Maltais before his death. According to Okkonen, the child and Maltais privately retreated to Maltais' gwam following a ceremony on the boy's birthday. The child's scream was later heard from the gwam. After the incident, the boy became frantic and withdrawn.<ref name=hesari />

== Media and press reports ==
The press covering the Iriadamant was sharply divided into two groups. Many weekly magazines presented the group and its ideology in a positive tone after it arrived in Finland. Conversely, a few newspapers and ''[[Vihreä Lanka]]'', a Green League affiliated magazine, began to write negatively about the group.<ref name=":0" />

The camp was said to be completely isolated, and the residents were said to have run into trouble with the local population and authorities. The group was accused, among other things, of abusing children and keeping people in the camp against their will. The leader of the group, Maltais, was connected to the international drug and arms trade and terrorism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'affaire Ecoovie |url=https://www.lesoir.be/art/l-affaire-ecoovie_t-19890208-Z01CVA.html |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Le Soir |date=8 February 1989 |language=fr}}</ref> The accusations were based on the book ''Ecoovie: le mic-mac des services secrets'', published in 1990, and interviews with Elisabeth Rydell-Janson, the former international secretary of the [[Green Party (Sweden)|Swedish Greens]].<ref name=":0" /> The media described the conditions in the Kittilä camp as miserable and reported that the residents were suffering from hunger and cold.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2010 |title=Outo joukko intiaaneja leiriytyi Suomeen |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/04/23/outo-joukko-intiaaneja-leiriytyi-suomeen#media=46788 |access-date=13 September 2022 |website= |publisher=YLE |pages=}}</ref>

According to {{Ill|Matti Sarmela|fi}}, professor of anthropology at the University of Helsinki, it was a case of smearing and delegitimization.<ref name=":0" /> According to historian {{Ill|Maarit Niiniluoto|fi}}, it was telling that the authors of the most negative articles never visited the Kittilä camp and had no interest in learning about the messages and lives of the group.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Niiniluoto |first=Maarit |date=10 June 1993 |title=Käytiinkö nyt viimeinen taisto yhtenäiskulttuurin puolesta? Iriadamant-kiihko jakoi median puolesta ja vastaan |work=Journalisti}}</ref>

== Deportation and disbandment ==
Erkki Pulliainen withdrew from the project after he suspected a scam, and ceased funding their research.<ref name=":4" /> Pulliainen later described the leader of the group, Maltais, as charismatic, socially gifted, and an excellent manipulator.<ref name=":2" /> 
After Pulliainen pulled his support, the Finnish Immigration Office did not want to extend the residency permit of the group. The decision was appealed by {{Ill|Antti Seppälä|fi}}, then the Commissioner for Foreigners.<ref name=":0" />

At the end of March 1993, MP {{Ill|Tina Mäkelä|fi}} of the [[Finnish Rural Party]] submitted a written question in the parliament about the residence of the Iriadamant Indians in Finland. Mäkelä inquired about prohibiting future 'lifestyle studies', and asked whether the government was going to compensate the interested parties for the costs caused by the group. She estimated financial damage to be above one million [[Finnish markka|markka]]. Interior Minister [[Mauri Pekkarinen]] stated in his answer that there was nothing suggestive of a crime in the group's activities and that the inquiry did not give rise to further action in that regard. Pekkarinen said that the processing of expenses the group might cause to individuals or companies was not part of the tasks of public authorities.<ref name="EDUS" />

In the summer of 1993, the group performed a "Walking Speech" across Finland. The Iriadamant spread their philosophy and gathered signatures for a petition showing support for the movement. Overall, 7,000 signatures were accrued and the petition was sent to president [[Mauno Koivisto]].<ref name=":1" />

The group was ultimately deported by the decision of the Ministry of the Interior, which was justified by the expiration of the temporary residence permit.<ref name="EDUS" /> The Iriadamant were subsequently prevented from accessing the camp in Lainio.<ref name=":1" /> In August 1993, over two truckloads of garbage were removed from the camp by volunteers.<ref name="outojoukko" /> The [[Supreme Administrative Court of Finland|Supreme Administrative Court]] rejected the group's appeal against the deportation decision at the end of September 1993.<ref name=":5">''Mitä-Missä-Milloin, Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1995'', Helsinki: Otava, 1994. ISBN 951-1-13254-7.</ref>

The members of the group, of which there were 56 in the final stage, had announced that they would depart the country from [[Helsinki-Vantaa Airport]] on November 3, 1993. However, they did not appear.<ref name=":5" /> In actuality, a busload of passportless Iriadamant drove across the border to Sweden and down to the Netherlands. The group made it as far as Italy before they decided to disband.<ref name=":1" />

In 1993, a Belgian court charged Maltais of, among other things, fraud and embezzlement. He escaped prosecution. He later moved to [[Nicaragua]], where he allegedly died in 2015.<ref name=":1" /> Ecoovie appeared on the ''[[Rapport Gest-Guyard]]'' list of French cults in 1995.<ref name="nhf" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Commission d'enquête sur les sectes|url=https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/rap-enq/r2468.asp |website=assemblee-nationale.fr |access-date=3 December 2022}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
In 2017, [[Yle]] aired a radio program about the Ecoovie movement called ''Intiaanit tullee!'' featuring Ilpo Okkonen. The documentary series ''Gaialand'' was released in 2022 using footage taken by Okkonen.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kytölä |first1=Laura |title=Dokumenttisarja Gaialand kertoo ekoyhteisöstä, joka herätti kohua 90-luvun alun Kittilässä – Yhteisön taustalta paljastuu käänteitä kuin agenttielokuvassa |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000009069019.html |website=Helsingin Sanomat |access-date=3 December 2022 |language=fi |date=15 September 2022}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[List of new religious movements]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |last1=Herva |first1=Vesa-Pekka |last2=Seitsonen |first2=Oula |last3=Äikäs |first3=Tiina |last4=Ikäheimo |first4=Janne |last5=Okkonen |first5=Ilpo |title="Indians" in Lapland: The Iriadamant Community, Monocultural Ethos and the Materialities and Geographies of Marginality in Recent Past Finland |journal=Journal of Contemporary Archaeology |volume=8 |number=2 |pages=207–227 |date=2022 |doi=10.1558/jca.21214 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Deliège |first1=Jean-Frédérick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dj2VAAAACAAJ |title=Ecoovie: le mic-mac des services secrets |last2=Brewaeys |first2=Philippe |date=1990 |publisher=EPO |isbn=978-2-87262-041-8 |language=fr}}
* {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.nfb.ca/film/affaire_norman_william/ |title=L'affaire Norman William |date=1994 |last=Godbout |first=Jacques |type=Documentary |language=French}}

[[Category:Environmental organisations based in Finland]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in Finland]]
[[Category:1993 disestablishments in Finland]]
[[Category:Kittilä]]
[[Category:Animism]]
[[Category:Belgian expatriates in Finland]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriates in Finland]]
[[Category:Controversies in Finland]]
[[Category:People deported from Finland]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Finland]]
[[Category:Native American cultural appropriation]]
[[Category:Vegan communities]]
[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1990s]]