Norlandslaget
The following has been taken from the 75th Anniversary 1909-1984 publication
NORDLANDSLAGET
The early years
by Christian Skjervold
Nordlandslaget was formally organized in Minneapolis on January 20, 1909, as the fifth national bygdelag in America. Seventy-five years of continuous activity is, of course, an impressive achievement for any kind of organization; for an ethnic society which many assumed would not survive the immigrant generation, a seventy-fifth anniversary celebration is an event that not only commands great respect, but one that impels us to reflect on the history of the entire movement of which Nordlandslaget is a part. (Odd Lovoll) On October 22nd, 1908, a large gathering in Minneapolis listened to an enthusiastic address by Rev. I. A. Johnsen who urged his audience to organize a Nordlandslaget. The organization that emerged invited immigrants from Helgeland to Vadso to join together. It was estimated that the immigrants from northern Norway at this time furnished a potential membership of from 30,000 to 40,000, with descendants. Who were the people who were instrumental in forming an organization of North Norwegians?
Mr. C. B. Morck had lived in Minneapolis several years and had been quite involved in the Norwegian business life of the Upper Midwest area. He also was a personal friend of Professor Veblen and it was only logical that he would begin to give thought to a Nordlandslaget. In the summer of 1908, Bishop Anton Christian Bang visited America. He had been President of Nordlendingernes Forening in Oslo, 1892-1893. During Bishop Bang's visit that summer he met with three Nordlendinger - Mr. C. B. Morck from Leirfjorden, Dr. Hendrik Nissen from Harstad and Dr. Knute Hoegh from Kaafjord. The Bishop was very interested in thses individuals' thoughts on forming an association of North Norwegians in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. He likened it somewhat to Nordlendingernes Forening in Kristiania. This organization in Norway had been founded in the year 1862, and as far as we are able to determine, was one of the original organizations of its kind in Norway. In August of 1908, Mr. Morck called together a meeting at Richman Hall in Minneapolis to seriously discuss the formation of a Nordlandslaget. At that meeting Mr. Morck was elected as a temporary president and it was decided to call a second meeting. At the second meeting 33 people came together and Minneapolis.
Tidende reported about the meeting (Oct. 5, 1908)
At this first meeting of what has become Nordlandslaget, a great many Nordlendings from St. Paul and Minneapolis were invited. One of the individuals present was Professor Veblen who spoke in his Valdres dialect and informed the gathering about how a Bygdelag could be organized. The first Nordlending to speak from the group was Pastor I. A. Johnsen. He gave a rather lengthy speech about the battle which was to begin. One of his projects at the time was to inform the public about the battle which the Nordland fishermen had to fight against the elements, and that often times this battle ended in a "watery grave covered by tears." In conclusion he proposed a worthy project for Nordlendings here in America. They should gather-in money for a lifeboat to be used along the Norwegian coast. It is not important to name all who spoke at this meeting, but the end result was that a national Nordlandslaget was formed and the name was Nordlandslaget i Amerika, which later was changed to av Amerika og Kanada. Also at this same meeting a temporary committee was named to make certain that a general meeting would be held in Minneapolis in June and this group was to function as leadership for that meeting. The following people were elected as temporary officers of the organization: President, C. B. Morck; Secretary, Pastor I. A. Johnsen; Vice-President, Pastor Tollefsen; Financial Secretary, A. C. Hoegh; and Treasurer, Dr. Knute Hoegh.
Once the Lag was formed and business came before the committee, Pastor I. A.Johnsen once again put forth his idea that money should be gathered for a lifeboat for Norway. The resolution was unanimously adopted and a committee was elected to work on this problem and give a report at the next meeting. As members of this committee Dr. Knute Hoegh, Professor O. E. Rolvaag, and Pastor I. A. Johnsen were named.
In those days Norway and America were very far apart. When one from Norway traveled to America he was often out-of-sight and out-of-mind. It was cetainly true of the thousands upon thousands that traveled out from Norway -- there were very few who ever returned to their place of birth. Certainly after the Norwegian Ameria Line began its operation, Norway and America came closer together and today only hours span the oceans. However for the emigrant there were often separations of years to begin with. Naturally, one found his own countrymen and felt himself to be at home in their company. Without question, the Bygdelag Movement found a fertile ground in America.
The first Stevne
The first stevne of Nordlandslaget was held at Dania Hall on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis, June 24-26, 1909. The highlight of that meeting was an organized tour from Dania Hall to Lake Minnetonka by special streetcar. On Lake Minnetonka the members took a short steamboat ride around the beautiful lake. For entertainment, a group of young men formed a choir which still bears the name Nordkap.
At the same time a local organization, just for the Twin Cities, was formed. Nordlands Minde is still in existance today. Nordlands Minde and Nordkap Male Choir sailed out into the world together on the 18th of March, 1909, as a result of the organizational meeting for the first stevne.
The first day of the lag's first national convention took place under pleasant sunshine on June 24th, 1909. It is estimated that approximately 250 persons attended.
The Stevne was complete with membership badges and Nordlenging being spoken (as remembered by Iver O. Iverson, of Lamberton, Minnesota) "Do you need to ask if we had badges? Yes, you can certainly believe. We even had a picture of a Nordlands boat on the badge and we talked Nordlending."
It was decided to make this an annual affair. Iver Iverson continues, "The next meeting was to take place on the 22nd of June, 1910. At that time we desired to have the meetings as close to St. Hans Day as possible. For this reason the meeting was also very often called a St. Hans or a Jonsokk Fest."
The second Stevne
The Nordlandslaget convention assembling in St. Paul in 1910, had as one of its primary features, a trip on the Mississippi for "those who again want to rock themselves on the gray waves." There evidently was, however, a great difference between the quietly-flowing Mississippi and the fickle and treacherous coastal waters of North Norway. The Nordlendings concluded a three-day convention (June 22-24) with a fish supper. They aslo continued the serious discussion about the financing of a lifeboat for North Norway.
The lifeboat
In 1911, a contract was signed between Nordlandslaget and a firm in Larvik to build a lifeboat to be used along the Nordland coast. The cost of the boat was 13,000 kroner and finally after a great deal of discussion it was decided to name the boat Nordland. Other names that were also suggested were Vesterheimen and Amerika. It was reported as early as the meeting of June, 1911 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, that the lifeboat had received its baptism and had proved to be a valuable lifesaving instrument in West Lofoten. It was reported, for example, during the year 1913 that 25 fishermen were saved by the boat. Nordland itself had a strange odyssey. It was reported on June 30, 1955 that the lifeboat had been sold in 1946 after hard use during WWII. The boat had been sold to some amateur sailors and was lost that same year off the coast of Africa. As far as it was known, the entire crew had been saved. This information came to Nordlandslaget in 1955 from the Norsk Selskap til Skipbrudnes Redning, by Hans Holter, Secretary General.
The role of the lag
Nordlandslaget continued to hold its yearly conventions, even during World War I when there was a great press to prove your Americanism. The stevne traveled around the states of the Upper Midwest and attracted 200 and even 300 participants. The popularity of the annual get togethers grew for several reasons.
Ole Rolvaag used a Biblical sense of the "old and new man" in reference to the immigrant situation, his marginal position between cultures. He saw grave danger in the quick loss of cultural identity among Norwegian-Americans, and he believed that unless they cultivated their ancestral heritage they would not succeed in making a potentially large contribution to the American culture. Rolvaag's consistent emphasis on a cultural solidarity with the past thus represented a strong rejection of the melting pot ideology. The "old man" in the immigrant must not be discarded -- instead he must be preserved and cultivated until the immigrant is ready to take on the "new." Nordlandslaget appealed to the "old man" and the Norwegian settler because of its relationship to the most basic elements of his ethnic make-up -- including a deep attachment to old country scenery and familiar folk ways.
Nordlandslaget on the West Coast
The first society of Nordlendings on the West Coast was organized as Nordlyset on March 12, 1912, in Tacoma, Washington. It was local to that town, but it stimulated activity elsewhere. The next summer the small Tacoma group visited their fellow Nordlendings in Seattle with "baskets crammed full of food and shining coffee pots, in Sunday clothes and good humor." As a result of this picnic, a local Seattle Nordlandslag organized as Femboringen on September 7, 1927, thus gaining tax exempt status. The club invested in real estate of various kinds and realized financial prosperity in the 1940s; so as to enable it to support a number of projects both in Norway and in the United States.
Nordlandslaget in Canada
Norwegian settlements in Canada, especially in the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia became large enough to organize lags in the 1920s. Several Middle West societies had members living across the border who attended meetings when convenient and who supported American lag projects and publications. Nordlandslaget held its 1928 meeting in Winnipeg.
July 8-11, 1928, a large convention of Norwegians hosted by the Canadian League of Norsemen was to gather in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The site of the Winnipeg convention was inconvenient because the heaviest concentration of Norwegians was further west. The Winnipeg Festival was intended to show the force of the united Norwegian spirit in Canada. However, reports from this gathering do not show that harmony was attained. The week-long event had been directly influenced by the 1925 Centennial activities in the Twin Cities at which a number of Canadians had been present. There was even a special Bygdelag day. Nordlandslaget of Amerika was the only society to actually conduct its annual stevne in Winnipeg. Nordlandslaget won the convention prize for the largest attendance with 200 people.
The future (written in 1984) and Nord Norge
What is the future of Nordlandslag? We continue to hold annual stevner. Attendance has not declined appreciably below 100 for the past several meetings. One of the factors leading to our continued existence is the publication of a periodical of general worth. Nordlandslaget first began to publish in 1912, beginning with the December issue. The first two numbers, December, 1912, and December, 1913, were titled simply Nordlandslaget. After these two issues the title was changed to Nord Norge and the magazine became a quarterly. Nord Norge printed anecdotes that reflected the humor of the North: "Well, if you let me fall into the sea so I drown," said Henming from Slyngen, "then I will, by golly give you such a beating as you never had before." "After you are dead?" asked his companion, "Well, I am certainly a man of my word whether I am alive or dead," answered the first. In an other example Peer Hansa says, "I have aches and pains in every single bone in my body." Ole Olsa answers, "Then you can be happy that you do not have as many bones as a herring." Julius b. Bauman edited Nord Norge from the beginning until his death in 1923. One of the most famous authors of the Norwegian-American community, Ole E. Rolvaag contributed much to publications of the magazine. Throughout its history Nord Norge has been characterized by material descriptive of the home district of Nordland. This policy was regularly followed through the editorships of C. A. Sandhei, Molly Endresen, and out present editors Donna and Stanley Anderson.
Nordlandslaget is alive and well and will continue to live because it represents a genuine folk movement of Norwegian-Americans. It promotes the common and familiar in the immigrants' ethnic past and can serve as a touch stone for generations yet to come.
This page last modified
05/21/10