Recent from talks
Norwegian Canadians
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Norwegian Canadians
Norwegian Canadians (Norwegian: Norsk-kanadiere) refer to Canadian citizens who identify themselves as being of full or partial Norwegian ancestry, or people who emigrated from Norway and reside in Canada.
Norwegians are one of the largest northern European ethnic groups in the country and have contributed greatly to its culture, especially in Western Canada.
According to the Canada 2016 Census there were 463,275 Canadians, or 1.3%, who claimed Norwegian ancestry, having an increase compared to those 452,705 in the 2011 Census.
Significant Norwegian immigration took place from the mid-1880s to 1930.
Norwegians have played important roles in the history of Canada. The first Europeans to reach North America were Icelandic Norsemen, who made at least one major effort at settlement in what is today the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (L'Anse aux Meadows) around 1000 AD. Snorri Thorfinnsson aka Snorri Guðriðsson, the son of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Guđriđ, is thought to be the first white baby born in Canada and North America.
In 1960 archaeological evidence of the only known Norse settlement in North America (outside of Greenland) was found at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Although this proved conclusively the Vikings' pre-Columbian discovery of North America, whether this exact site is the Vinland of the Norse accounts is still a subject of debate. There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings did reach North America, approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
The main sources of information about the Norse voyages to Vinland are two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders. These stories were preserved by oral tradition until they were written down some 250 years after the events they describe. The existence of two versions of the story shows some of the challenges of using traditional sources for history, because they share a large number of story elements, but use them in different ways. For example, both sagas feature a mariner called Bjarni, who is driven off course on a voyage to Greenland, and whose authority is subsequently called into question; in "Greenlanders" he is Bjarni Herjolfsson, who discovers the American mainland as a result of his mishap, but in "Eric" he is Bjarni Grimolfsson, who is driven into an area infested with shipworms on the way home from Vinland, with the result that his ship sinks. A brief summary of the plots of the two sagas shows many more examples.
The major reason for Norwegian migration appears to be one of economics. Farms in Norway were often small and unable to support a family. Added to that was the lack of other employment to augment the family income. Between 1850 and 1910 approximately 681,011 Norwegians made their way to North America. Very few originally stayed in Canada but some, after a stay in the American Midwest, made their way across the border and settled in the present provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. One of the earliest Norwegian parties to America in the nineteenth century sailed from Stavanger. This party was led by Kleng Pedersen (Cleng Peerson). The ship, Restauration, of 45 tons, master being Helland, was a rebuilt sloop carrying 52 passengers. To that number was added baby Larson, who was born on the voyage. Many of this party were Quakers, leaving Norway for religious reasons. The voyage took 97 days and they arrived in New York on October 9, 1825. In 1836 the Norden and Den Norske Klippe sailed to America with 167 passengers. Another two vessels sailed the following year.[citation needed]
Hub AI
Norwegian Canadians AI simulator
(@Norwegian Canadians_simulator)
Norwegian Canadians
Norwegian Canadians (Norwegian: Norsk-kanadiere) refer to Canadian citizens who identify themselves as being of full or partial Norwegian ancestry, or people who emigrated from Norway and reside in Canada.
Norwegians are one of the largest northern European ethnic groups in the country and have contributed greatly to its culture, especially in Western Canada.
According to the Canada 2016 Census there were 463,275 Canadians, or 1.3%, who claimed Norwegian ancestry, having an increase compared to those 452,705 in the 2011 Census.
Significant Norwegian immigration took place from the mid-1880s to 1930.
Norwegians have played important roles in the history of Canada. The first Europeans to reach North America were Icelandic Norsemen, who made at least one major effort at settlement in what is today the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (L'Anse aux Meadows) around 1000 AD. Snorri Thorfinnsson aka Snorri Guðriðsson, the son of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his wife Guđriđ, is thought to be the first white baby born in Canada and North America.
In 1960 archaeological evidence of the only known Norse settlement in North America (outside of Greenland) was found at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Although this proved conclusively the Vikings' pre-Columbian discovery of North America, whether this exact site is the Vinland of the Norse accounts is still a subject of debate. There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings did reach North America, approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
The main sources of information about the Norse voyages to Vinland are two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders. These stories were preserved by oral tradition until they were written down some 250 years after the events they describe. The existence of two versions of the story shows some of the challenges of using traditional sources for history, because they share a large number of story elements, but use them in different ways. For example, both sagas feature a mariner called Bjarni, who is driven off course on a voyage to Greenland, and whose authority is subsequently called into question; in "Greenlanders" he is Bjarni Herjolfsson, who discovers the American mainland as a result of his mishap, but in "Eric" he is Bjarni Grimolfsson, who is driven into an area infested with shipworms on the way home from Vinland, with the result that his ship sinks. A brief summary of the plots of the two sagas shows many more examples.
The major reason for Norwegian migration appears to be one of economics. Farms in Norway were often small and unable to support a family. Added to that was the lack of other employment to augment the family income. Between 1850 and 1910 approximately 681,011 Norwegians made their way to North America. Very few originally stayed in Canada but some, after a stay in the American Midwest, made their way across the border and settled in the present provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. One of the earliest Norwegian parties to America in the nineteenth century sailed from Stavanger. This party was led by Kleng Pedersen (Cleng Peerson). The ship, Restauration, of 45 tons, master being Helland, was a rebuilt sloop carrying 52 passengers. To that number was added baby Larson, who was born on the voyage. Many of this party were Quakers, leaving Norway for religious reasons. The voyage took 97 days and they arrived in New York on October 9, 1825. In 1836 the Norden and Den Norske Klippe sailed to America with 167 passengers. Another two vessels sailed the following year.[citation needed]
Recent media