From eating lutefisk to cheering for the Vikings, Nordic culture is embedded in Minnesota.
Norway's Crown Prince Haakon told Gov. Tim Walz in [a recent visit](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/norway-crown-prince-haakon-minnesota-visit-immigration/) that it makes him "proud" to see how Minnesotans with Norwegian ancestry "take care of their culture and history."
The countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway make up what is known as "Scandinavia," while Finland, Iceland and Greenland are considered "Nordic" countries.
Lily Obeda, who teaches Scandinavian Emigration at the University of Minnesota says many people in the region moved to Minnesota because it was considered a frontier area in the 1860s.
The Homestead Act was signed in 1862, which allowed European settlers to buy a large plot of land for very little money. Iowa and Wisconsin had been settled much earlier, so Minnesota came next, Obeda says.
In general, Obeda says Norwegians came to the U.S. to farm, Danes came fore religious freedom, Finns for labor jobs and Icelanders for white collar jobs.
"And many of them came also via a process called chain migration, which essentially means somebody came here first, someone was the brave one," Obeda said.
Now, one third of Minnesotans have Nordic heritage. For some, the Minnesotan terrain reminds them of their ancestry.
"When you come up Highway 8, you literally feel like you've entered the Swedish landscape," said Carline Bengtsson, who moved to Lindstrom with her Swedish late husband Lars.
Another reason that the Nordic and Scandinavian culture is so alive is because of preservation organizations like the Swedish Institute, the Norway House and the Finlandia Foundation.
The famous Minnesota accent also stems from the Nordic language.
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