By Ellen Ahlness Minnesota State University, Mankato From the Author: During my first few years delving into Norwegian culture, I was always interested in the culture and struggles of the Sami people. Lapp illustrates the difficulties of being Sami, especially in the 1960s through the 1990s, through the eyes of an unnamed boy. The very title “lapp,” taken from the Northern Sami term láhppon olmmoš (one who is lost), is a slur towards the nomadic nature of the traditional Sami…
By Ellen Ahlness Minnesota State University, Mankato During the 2013 annual reciprocal troop exchange between Norway’s Heimevernet Home Guard and the Minnesota National Guard at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, Norwegian General Kristin Lund addressed her fellow officers with the adage, “If you stop visiting your friends, they stop being your friends.” In Scandinavian culture, maintaining connections with friends is a premier value, especially when there is a national attitude towards a “culture of closing off those outside your circle of connections.”((Biehtar…