The Nordic Heritage Museum tonight will feature an author who has written a book about Sámi immigrants discovering their roots. Ellen Marie Jensen, an American scholar living in Norway, will read from her book We Stopped Forgetting – Stories from Sámi Americans, which tells stories and experiences of Sámi immigrants scattered across North America.
About her book, from the publisher’s website:
During the immigration period of 1880-1940 an unknown number of Sámi people left Sápmi (Samiland; “Lapland”) for North America alongside Nordic peoples. It has been estimated that there are at least 30,000 descendants of Sámi immigrants in North America and most of them are unaware of their Indigenous ancestry. The storytellers in this book give moving accounts of the history of their ancestors and tell their own life stories of cultural revitalization.
The presentation will start at 7 p.m. tonight. Jensen will also present her book at the Swedish Cultural Center on Friday, and at the Poulsbo Library on Saturday. To get more information or to make a reservation (reservations are encouraged), call 206-789 5707 x10, or email rsvp@nordicmuseum.org.
There will be more upcoming exhibits about Sámi culture at the Nordic Heritage Museum. Click here for a full list of the events.
