Swedes in Eden Prairie: Sven is invisible
Earlier Eden Prairie Local News articles, Eden Prairie Muslim Pakistanis have praised American openness while maintaining a number of traditional Pakistani values and Eden Prairie Russian-Americans have loved America and yet appreciated their Russian heritage.
Numerically, Pakistanis and Russians are small sections of the Eden Prairie population. Continues a push to feel Eden Prairie, what is the pattern for the much larger ethnic group Swedish Lutherans?
Ole Olsson may not be the manager of your friendly Eden Prairie grocery store, and your shopping cart may not only fail to collide with a cart driven by Lena Eriksson, but Statistical Atlas tells us that about 5,000 Eden Prairie residents are Swedish.
In a recent interview, Pastor Rod Anderson confirmed that probably the thousands of Swedish-Americans are also Lutheran.
Pastor Anderson served Eden Prairie’s Saint Andrew Lutheran Church for 34 years and helped the church grow to a congregation of over 10,000. He states that he is “100% Swedish”. He admits that he served at Eden Prairie’s PROP pantry and the city’s foundation, as well as on the boards of Gustavus Adolphus College and the Minneapolis-based American Swedish Institute.
Pastor Anderson sees three levels of commitment in the Swedish population.
First (and somewhat subtle) is the level of institutions. Swedish immigrants created institutions to train pastors and take care of their communities. They built churches, hospitals and colleges. Now these institutions are a backdrop in Minnesota.
Pastor Anderson continues to note the level of community. He says that Swedish Lutherans were actually late in coming to Eden Prairie. Early inhabitants of Eden Prairie were Irish, Scots, Presbyterians, and Methodists. There are places like Spring Garden Church in Cannon Falls, Minn., And Vasa Church in Welch, Minn., Which hold Swedish midsummer festivals.
Pastor Anderson admits that his Swedish parents’ generation usually stayed with each other and got married. “My generation ahead, not so much.”
For the pastor is the third level family. While he sees some open Swedishness in Eden Prairie, he sees families showing down wooden horses and families coming together to do lutefisk or lefse. The Christmas holidays bring out many of these family traditions.
A younger generation
Sheryl Keeley, a younger Eden Prairie Swedish Lutheran, sees social Swedishness as “so diluted now”.
“Not at my age level,” she said when asked if the Eden Prairie Swedes have a group identity.
She remembers with a laugh that her grandfather changed his name from Magnusson with two s to Magnuson with one so that he would seem less Swedish.
She states that the Christmas holidays and area sports seem to bring out any Swedishness in Eden Prairie.
Many otherwise assimilated Eden Prairie residents are aware that there are a couple of Swedes in the Wild hockey team.
Keeley himself, however, is a contradiction.
She has now studied the Swedish language at the American Swedish Institute for five years. Her eldest son studied in Denmark before an internship at Volvo in Sweden.
She has traveled to Sweden three times. Her youngest son is also aiming for an internship at Volvo.
“I love my Swedish heritage,” she said. “I can get in touch with my family in Sweden. I make it a point to continue Swedish food traditions. ”
Sometimes the purist notes that lutefisk and lefse “are actually more Norwegian”.
In high school, she became good friends with an exchange student from Sweden. For a long time she “felt compelled” to write letters to relatives in Sweden.
Her grandfather’s first cousin was the only relative who answered. From that point on, there was an extended correspondence.
After many years, she hosted an exchange student from Sweden – the daughter of the Swedish exchange student she had become friends with in high school.
Keeley says that her intense Swedishness is very satisfying.
It seems that small ethnic groups such as Pakistanis and Russians proudly adhere to their traditions, making it easier for a larger ethnic group such as the Eden Prairie Swedes to become thoroughly American.
However, Keeley’s lifestyle and choices suggest that far below the surface, the trait of ancestry can be very strong, almost addictive. Yes, there is a sense of fulfillment, of completeness.
And she seems to be having a lot of fun.
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