I took a summer course in June of 2019 that focused on Norwegian-American folklore. The online part focused on the history of immigration to the U.S. from Norway, the immigrant experience, and the art, food, and music that were carried over. The course was a total of six weeks with the fourth week being a field study.
Full disclosure: I was not happy about the field study. I was made that I had to miss a week of work and adjust some summer plans. I was also afraid. I was afraid that the people in this course would all be smarter than me and even a little weird. I mean, who spends a week in Iowa? Yes, the field study was a week-long vacation to Northeastern Iowa. The Driftless Area is made up of Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Wisconsin, and Northeast Iowa. It's called 'Driftless' because the large rolling hills and bluffs were not created by glaciers.
After it was all said and done, however, I was sad it ended. It took me a few days to get over the enjoyment I had that whole week. It was almost blissful being with a great group of people who share similar interests (in this case it was the study of people), a phenomenal sense of humor, and love of ice cream.
I have put together a sort of itinerary of where we visited in the region. I also included some stops that we made as we conducted ethnographic research.
On Tuesday, we left Madison, Wisconsin at around 8:00a and headed to Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center for a tour. It was a beautiful spot! Make sure to pack bug spray and a pen and pad to take notes. I would also recommend snapping some photos. The place is run by volunteers and it's inspiring to see their passion for educating the community about the Norwegian experience after getting to the Midwest.
After the tour, we ate at Borgen's Cafe in Westby, Wisconsin. What a place! It's not everywhere that you can a truly home-cooked style meal served with a side of lefse and unlimited trips to the salad bar. This place comes highly recommended by the locals as well. In fact, it's so popular, you may want to make a reservation or call ahead.
Our group stayed in Decorah, Iowa for the week. We actually bunked at Luther College's Baker Village, which are Scandinavian-style townhouses.
After arriving at Baker Village and settling in, we took a walk downtown to have supper at T-Bocks. You MUST try the peanut butter burger. I was skeptical, but it was one of the BEST things I've ever eaten.
Classwork for the day: get to know the recording and camera/video equipment, watch
The Flight of the Condor and have a discussion about how the fieldwork was presented.
Wednesday started out with a big breakfast at Luther's dining hall, and then a tour of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. My goodness, the museum was absolutely wonderful and so were the staff. Our guide was so knowledgeable and lively - and I loved how vibrant the museum was. Vesterheim is dedicated ot their community and they offer folk art classes such as rosemaling, metal and woodworking, or weaving.
We stopped at the Oneota Food Cooperative in Decorah for lunch.
Classwork: conduct an interview with a Norwegian-American baker and eat kransekake, krumkake, and other Norwegian treats, conduct an interview with a young wood carver, attend a dinner and presentation about heritage language speakers.
On Thursday, we drove to Spring Grove, Minnesota to tour Giants of the Earth Heritage Center. Not only are they a museum, but they teach young people the Norwegian language AND have genealogy services for community members.
We ate lunch at Ivy Grove Cafe where we couldn't get enough ice cream floats or coconut cake.
After lunch we toured the Spring Grove Pop factory.
Dinner was at Mabes Pizza. Mabes has been around for years and is a Decorah must. Their pizza is so good ~especially~ paired with a side salad.
Classwork: interview the woman who made all of the Spring Grove historic records possible (her father-in-law was the artist of the Han Ole og han Per cartoons). Then we interviewed a gentlemen who was the impersonator for han Per. He even had his old props with him. He spoken fluent Norwegian as a kid and claims he doesn’t known it anymore until he starts throwing out some one-liners that only our Norse speaking professors can laugh at.
Friday was fantastic! We made our way to Lanesboro, Minnesota to interview three people. The first interview was with a silversmith who works with gold and silver to make traditional Norwegian jewelry such as solje and her work is fantastic. Then we interviewed a couple who have taken the most Norwegian folk art classes at Vesterheim. They dabble in everything from wood working to metal working and painting to weaving. I even got to do a little crafting myself while I was there.
We ate lunch at Pedal Pushers Cafe which was absolutely delicious. It's very cute and on-trend with hearty food. I paired my pulled pork and slaw sandwich with a house-made root-beer in a frosty mug.
I had a memorable interview after lunch in Rushford, Minnesota with a 95-year-old mandolin player of Norwegian-American music. She shared a lot of great stories about her role in music traditions in the community, and of course how she became interested in music. She and her daughter put on a little concert for us afterwards.
We finished the evening off with a spectacular time at the Luna Valley Farm out in the bluffs with gourmet pizza and Iowa craft brews. It was a perfect evening.
Saturday was a busy day. After breakfast, we headed to Brock's Tattoo, a tattoo parlor where we interviewed a tattoo artist about her work and Norwegian heritage tattoos. She assisted in an exhibit called "Tattoos: Identity through Ink" at the Vesterheim Museum. I have never been in a tattoo parlor so it was awesome to see that!
Afterwards, we got to explore downtown Decorah before meeting at Ede's Angry Pickle for lunch. Sadly, I had to head out after lunch.
However, the group continued on with their ethnographic research and exploration of the Driftless Area. I think the highlight was attending the Highlandville Dance. You can read about the tradition via Inspired Magazine on page 16.
After a night of folk tunes and dancing, the group woke up on Sunday with full hearts. Before heading home, the group at a hearty lunch at Ruby's Restaurant.
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