Link to download the 2021 newsletter

Newsletter 2021 FINAL

Sámi Interest Group

Karen Sorensen, Poul Jouksu, and several others have started a Sámi interest group at our Community Centre for social, cultural, and educational purposes. Please join us. Membership is not limited to those of Sámi heritage. Anyone may come who has an interest in Sámi history, decorative arts, or current Sámi political and environmental issues. There is lots we can learn and much fun to have if we are together.  

People of Sámi heritage traditionally fished, hunted, and herded reindeer in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. According to Dr. Zita McRobbie (talking at Leif Erikson Day, 2017), DNA studies suggest the Sámi were already together as a people before the last Ice Age, far earlier than other Scandinavians became distinct. Sámi people are famous for surviving for millennia in a harsh environment, for peaceful co-existence among subgroups, and for the beauty and deep meaning in their decorative arts. It is a culture well worth our interest and attention. 

Indigenous Canadians, especially those in our far North have faced prejudice, environmental issues, and the loss of their traditional lands and way of life. It has been similar for the Sámi. Both peoples continue to search for the best place for themselves in modern culture and economy while keeping the traditions of their heritage. We will talk about this, too, and see how we can work together.

Let us know if you are interested to join our Sámi group around our Scandinavian Community Centre in Burnaby, BC.

Contact Carolyn Thauberger 778 228-2334 or cthauber12@gmail.com

Newsletter 2019

On July 27 – 28, 2019, the Scandinavian Cultural Society organized an exhibit and information table at the Richmond Maritime Festival in the historic Britannia Shipyards site. We presented a subset of our 2018 Nordic Spirit heritage photo exhibit, focusing on the contributions of Nordic Canadians to BC’s fishing and boatbuilding industries. The history of Nordic boatbuilding grows directly from the traditions of Viking ship design, so we included information about Viking ships as background.

The Richmond Maritime Festival was a rewarding venue, with good attendance and attentive organizers. We enjoyed talking with a number of interested visitors at our exhibit.

Maria Lakes, John Stuart,  Bent Ostergaard, and Judith Anderson manned the exhibit. Here are Bent’s photos of the Festival and the Britannia Shipyard.

We are excited to participate in the 2019 Richmond Maritime Festival on July 27 and 28, in Steveston, BC.

https://www.richmondmaritimefestival.ca/

Our exhibit will feature a small sample from our 2018 Nordic Spirit exhibit — stories and images of Nordic immigrants in BC’s fishing industry. People from the Nordic countries brought with them centuries of seafaring experience and tradition, an unbroken lineage from Viking ships to the present. Their contributions to our local fishing and shipbuilding industries have been substantial.