Calling all sons (and daughters) of Norway
UND CONNECT Initiative seeks to grow Norwegian language, cultural acquisition among young learners
Two UND faculty members have been awarded a grant to help advance Norwegian language and culture in the region.
The initiative is funded through the UND CONNECT program, which sponsors research and experiential learning projects addressing quality-of-life issues in North Dakota.
Melissa Gjellstad, professor and director of UND’s Norwegian language program, and Emily Midkiff, assistant professor of Teaching & Leadership, serve as co-principal investigators on the project.
The Grand Forks region – and the state as a whole – has strong connections to Norway due to high rates of Norwegian immigration dating back to the 1870s. Central to the region’s Norwegian heritage since 1905 is the Gyda Varden Lodge.
The lodge is part of the greater Sons of Norway order – a fraternal organization with chapters throughout the United States and Canada – dedicated to promoting and preserving Norwegian language and culture.
However, participation at the lodge has been declining in recent years, particularly among younger members – a trend Midkiff observed with her own son.
“When I first started coming to the lodge, I would bring my son, and he would be the only kid there,” Midkiff said. “I asked why there weren’t any other kids coming, because I could see pictures on the walls of all these young people in years past. They told me that the population had aged to such a degree that people’s children had grown up, and it became sort of a parents’ clubhouse.”
A Viking ship, among other attractions
With declining participation in mind, one of the initiative’s key objectives is early language and cultural acquisition. Midkiff also sought to make the lodge a more welcoming place for children by using UND CONNECT funds to purchase toys and games for children to use, and funding from the Sons of Norway Foundation for a model Viking ship.
Another major component of the UND CONNECT grant is funding for UND Norwegian students to help the lodge’s youngest members with language acquisition and story time events.
“Students were quick to volunteer to be part of the project,” Gjellstad said. “I always love it when they take advantage of co-curricular activities that build community.”
“It’s just been fun,” Gjellstad added. “I’ve really enjoyed working with the students, seeing the intentional game playing, and intergenerational mixing of people – which is part and parcel to why we’re doing this.”
UND alumna Heather Chatham, founder and CEO of Grand Forks based Chatty Learners LLC — a consultant for early childhood literacy acquisition — also played an integral role in facilitating the lodge’s story time events for children. The story time events began during the 2024-25 school year; through funding Chatham received from the North Dakota Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant, and were continued through UND CONNECT funding.
Chatham also conducted group activities to foster early literacy acquisition during these events.
Norwegian cuisine is also a fixture of the lodge. Members have cooked traditional Norwegian dishes such as pannekake —a pancake similar in consistency to crepes—and lefse, a traditional flatbread made from riced potatoes, flour, butter, and cream.
Norwegian cuisine is also marked by heavy use of cardamom. The spice is historically associated with India and Southeast Asia but is also a common ingredient in kitchens throughout Scandinavia.
“If you like the taste of cardamom, come hang out with us,” Midkiff joked.
The UND CONNECT initiative also comes at an apt time in the history of Norwegian American relations.
In 2025, the two nations celebrated the bicentennial of the sailing of the sloop Restauration, which in 1825, carried the first 52 Norwegian emigrants to the United States when it arrived in New York’s harbor. To commemorate the event, a replica was built which retraced the route from Stavanger, Norway to New York – arriving exactly 200 years to the date of the Restauration – with dignitaries including Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, in attendance.
Gjellstad said she used the occasion as an opportunity to renew scholarship on historic migration trends with her NORW 350 course titled “Norwegian Culture: Scandinavian Migration to North America.”
“In the spirit of that, it was a really compelling way to capitalize on that energy and momentum, revitalizing some of those ties and reigniting the strong ties between the United States and Norway,” she said.
“I’m hoping this interest continues to grow, through folks wanting to learn the language, participating in lodge events and students wanting to study abroad,” Gjellstad added.
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