Song Lyrics Explanation: "Tom Sukanen's Dream"

Song by Shawna Audet and The Overlanders

Verse 1- An ocean-going ship is a strange sight on the prairies of Saskatchewan. The reconstructed ship is a tribute to the life of Tomi Jannue Alankola (Tom Sukanen). Tom has been reburied and he now rests beside the ship.

Verse 2 - Tom came to the New World (from Finland) in 1989. He was just twenty years old. He was strong, intelligent, and eager to seek his fortune. He was a ship builder by trade. He settled in Minnesota where he got married and started working as a farmer.

Verse 3 - Tom and his wife could not make a living at farming. Before long, they had one son and three daughters to feed. Tom decided to walk to Saskatchewan to obtain new land. Once he had the farm set up, he planned to go back for his family.

Verse 4 - Tom had an amazing sense of direction. He walked 600 miles to Saskatchewan. He was also incredibly strong. He carried all of his belongings on his back as he walked to the prairies.

Verse 5 - Tom was very successful while on his new Prarie homestead. He was popular with his neighbours because he was always willing to help other farmers by fixing their machines. He saved a great deal of money ($9000.00) and then decided that it was time to go back to Minnesota to get his family. After Tom made the 600 mile walk again he was shocked to find that his family had disappeared. While he was away, his wife had died and his children had been put into foster homes.

Verse 6- Tom was unable to find his daughters, but he did locate his son. Tom and his son started their walk to Saskatchewan. They got within miles of the U.S. border, but then they were caught by the police. Tom's son was taken back to his foster parents. Tom tried to rescue him one more time, but failed again. Tom had to walk back to Saskatchewan alone. He was heart-broken.

Verse 7- Tom reached his homestead, but he had no more dreams of farming. This made sense because the prarie farmers were experiencing tough times. Tom decided to use the money that he had saved up to buy ship building materials. Tom had an eleborate plan of building the ship in stages so that it would be able to float down the Saskatchewan River and out to the ocean. Tom became obsessed with building his ship. He had no time for his neighbours.

Verse 8- Tom was spending great amounts of money to build a ship at a time when his neighbours could barely feed their children. His neighbours grew to resent him because he was no longer social and because he seemed so irresponsible with his money. While Tom was finishing building the cabin section of the ship (by the river) some of his neighbours vandalized another portion of the ship. When Tom saw that his ship was destroyed, he was devasted.

Unfortunately, Tom's neighbours didn't leave him alone after their great act of vandalism. They weren't finished with him yet. They put Tom in an insane asylum. Tom died in the asylum and his neighbours stripped his ship of its valuables.

Tom's story is a great tragedy. It is wrong that those small -minded jealous neighbours were allowed to prevent Tom from realizing his dream. In the 1970s, a group of idealists decided to set things right for Tom. They reconstructed the ship. Next, they moved Tom's remains so that they rested beside the ship. The "Sukanen Ship, Pioneer Village and Museum" still operates today. It is located near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.