"From sod house to lefse house" : immigration, ethnicity, and the formation and reformulation of the Norwegian-Canadian identity in Western Canada

This thesis investigates the formation and reformulation of a distinct Norwegian-Canadian identity in western Canada. It argues that Norwegian immigrants to Canada in the beginning of the twentieth century adapted to Canadian society through their Norwegian lenses and worldview, and created a distinct Norwegian-Canadian western identity through the establishment of various organizations. During the late 1930s and 1940s, mainly as a result of the Great Depression and World War II, Norwegian Canadians seem to have become more assimilated, but there were still some who worked to revive interest in the Norwegian culture. With the movement towards official Multiculturalism in Canada and the initiation of the Multiculturalism policy in 1971, Norwegian Canadians experienced an ethnic revival. The Norwegian-Canadian identity had been reformulated and was now largely expressed through symbols. Still, their Norwegian heritage held great importance, and Norwegian Canadians again celebrated their heritage both privately and publicly