Aleksi Hihnavaara

Aleksanteri (Aleksi) Hihnavaara, (November 21, 1882 - January 8, 1938) better known by his nickname Mosku, was a famous Finnish frontiersman and reindeer herder in Sompio region, Northeastern Lapland.

Before World War I, Hihnavaara earned his living by hunting, logging and reindeer herding. He bought a house beside the Luiro river from a Sami reindeer keeper and began to build up his own reindeer stock. His nickname "Mosku" came from Moskuvaara farm, which belonged to his grandfather. As the World War and impending revolution brought growing instability and restlessness to the region (which was close to the Russian border and the strategically important Murmansk), Hihnavaara became embroiled in a complicated border conflict between the Whites, the Reds, local Finnish reindeer keepers, and the indigenous Skolt Sami. The reindeer were the most important livestock in the area, so they were a strategic asset and frequent target of raids by various groups of revolutionaries, bandits, deserters, and local people.

During the Finnish Civil War, Hihnavaara patrolled the borderlands, guarding reindeer herds. According to archives and his own testimony, he shot three Reds in 1918 and at least one Skolt in 1919. It was during this period he met and befriended Jäger Captain (later General) Kurt Wallenius. Despite Hihnavaara not being a military man, Wallenius used his services in post-Civil War pacifying acts. In 1919, Wallenius and Hihnavaara undertook a punitive expedition against the Skolts. The expedition was made up of Finnish Border Guards and local civilians, and they crossed the Russian border, confiscating hundreds of reindeer. Wallenius would later detail the expedition in his 1933 book Man-hunters and Frontiersmen. The book became a best-seller in Finland and made Hihnavaara famous. The local population, however, was not always supportive of his sometimes ruthless measures, and his nickname was modified to Paha-Mosku (Mosku the Bad). In 1920 Wallenius recruited him as a guide for the Finnish attempt to conquer Petsamo. However, the expedition ended in defeat.

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