Setesdals Lag was topic of interest at SON Snorre meeting in TRF

A couple of weeks ago there was an article in the Tri County Canary about the new laget being formed! The Agderlag  (which includes Setesdals) at 7Lag will be held on July 10-13, 2019 at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Fargo, ND. 

If you are interested in attending this laget in Fargo on July 10-13, registration and more information is available at www.7lagstevne.com. Contact information at www.fellesraad.com under “Agder.”

This was introduced to the members of the Snorre Lodge, located in Thief River Falls,  after the presentation about the Setesdals laget by Jan Stranlie and Barb (Anderson) Baume, members of the Snore Lodge.

The Setesdal laget program started like this: 

Sons of Norway was organized as a fraternal benefit society by 18 Norwegian immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 16, 1895.  This fraternal benefit society meant Norwegian immigrants had an opportunity to band together to help each other out in emergencies (a type of insurance), to help in the adjustment of moving to this country, to provide social activities, but also to RETAIN their Norwegian customs and heritage. 

Snorre Lodge in TRF was organized in 1908, only 13 years after the original Sons of Norway was organized.  They first met in homes of charter members. In 1921 they purchased 4 lots and built this building, with a stage and dance floor.  After the hard times of the depression and WWII, it was sold in February, 1946 to the Eagles Corp for $8,500. 

Likewise, many groups of immigrants coming from the same areas of Norway formed similar groups called “lags,” which is the Norwegian word they used. A bygdelag, in Norwegian speech, is a society whose members are of one community.

Much of the information came from the book Saga of Setesdals Laget by Bergit I. Anderson and published by Ugeblad Pub. Co. in Fergus Falls, MN.  No date of publication given. 

According to Anderson’s book, 31 Norwegian lags had been organized in the Midwest between 1899 and 1916.

About the Setesdals Lag

Setesdalen is the valley of the Otra River which flows from the Byglandsfjord to the sea near Kristiansand in the region of East Agder in Southern Norway. Connecting to other waterways, it forms an important traffic route to Bergen and the Hardangerfjord.  

A person from Setesdalen was called a Setesdoel. They came from many little villages nestled between huge mountains. Moving to the flat lands of Minnesota and ND, they tried to cluster together into communities for moral support, all speaking the same Norwegian dialect.

An important aspect of joining a lag was “our duty as good Norsemen to give the best we had of the Norse culture to our American children.”  To keep the traditions alive!!

Jan Stranlie recited a children’s song, “Rie Rie rankje” about a boy and a horse named Blank and  he is put on the horse for a ride.

In 1909 when the Setesdals Lag was organized, the area was called Polk County, MN, but it included what is now all of Clearwater, Red Lake, Mahnomen, Norman, Pennington, N part of Clay, NW part of Becker, a bit of Beltrami, and a Southern bit of Marshall counties!!!  Remember, MN obtained statehood in 1858, only 51 years before.

As settlers branched out to stake claims, an important purpose of the Lag was to gather and tell stories.

Midwife story --  Among the pioneers was an unforgettable woman, Asbjor Austad.  Along with her husband, Grunde, she took homestead N of McIntosh.  Asbjor found her calling as a midwife and helped bring 300 babies into this world. Her giving spirit, along with food (often lefse) for the families, was a welcome relief to these mothers-to-be. Asbjor said her reward was to see these babies grow into useful men and women. She was a mother of 10.

Bjorgulv Bjornaraa is credited with being the backbone of the early Setesdals Lag. He was the inspiration and energy in getting things started, and he had the organizational skills and the personality to pull people together in those days of slow communication and difficult  transportation within this large area of NW MN and Eastern ND.

Bjornaraa was born in Norway in 1878, emigrated with his wife in 1903 to Starbuck, MN.  In 1912 they took a homestead N of Gully, MN.

The Setesdals Lag held their first meeting at Grand Forks, at the ND College Auditorium on June 30, 1909.  62 attended – 44 men and 16 women. Bjorgulv Bjornaraa from Starbuck, MN was elected chairman, a position he held for 32 years.  Grunde Grundeson was elected secretary, and continued as secretary for many years.

2nd mtg – Erskine – set up their Constitution and By-laws

3rd mtg – TRF – many came on the train

4th mtg – McIntosh – 50 men slept in the hay mow of the livery stable. Women on floors in houses.

5th mtg – TRF – “A good Setesdoel ought to be a good American, a good Norseman, and a good Christian!”

6th mtg – Fairgrounds in St. Paul – different lags had their own stages on the grounds.

7th mtg – (1915) Grand Forks -- $2,286.25 had been collected since 1911 to send to poor in Norway.

In these early days, transportation to the lags was a problem. Many traveled by train, and who should be on the platform waiting the arrivals but loud, boisterous Pres. Bjornaraa, welcoming one and all.

President Bjornaraa’s key to success as a 32-year leader was his insistence on informality at the Lags. Meetings were always open and interspersed with impromptu dancing and spontaneous fun. At no time was a “program committee” heard of, until they started bringing entertainers here from Norway.  A loud commotion would arise at the door and President Bjornaraa would call out, “Hev Eivind komme endnu??”  Much applause would ensue as Eivind Aakhus with his violin “Sigrid,” would take the stage.

From the NAHA (Norwegian-American Historical Association). There have been occasional banquets. If meetings included Sundays, religious services were held. Programs have included speeches, readings, music, folk dances, films from Norway, and other entertainment. 

1918 -- WWI Resolution

And so it went --- in 1918 a resolution was passed to participate in America’s part in WWI, buying bonds, saving goods, and pledging loyal support with their sons and daughters.

1926 lag held in TRF – There was dancing onstage with prizes given to the best couples.

1930-- $600 was collected to send Pres. Bjornaraa to Trondheim, Norway for the 900 yr. anniversary of entry of Christianity to Norway.  That year 2,000 attended the Setesdals Laget with Gov. Floyd B. Olson as speaker. When Bjornaraa made his trip to Norway, he was called upon to speak 30 times to various communities in Norway.

1933 – TRF – Rev. Hallvord Lie from Trail gave the sermon in Ny Norsk, a very old language, renewed.

1934 – TRF – 25th anniversary! Spirits were low due to the depression. A Highlight was the “Kapp dans” on stage. 1500-2000 attended, 

1940 – Crookston – women were not included in the count!

1942 – Oklee -- “marked the lowest point in its lag history to that date.” WWII was raging, Bjornaraa was ill, Treas. Grundeson had fallen and could not attend, and Setesdalen in Norway was overrun by Nazis.  200 present (women were not counted)  A week after the lag, Bjornaraa died.

According to another source, at some point in the history, Oklee was declared the permanent site for the Lag and now OKLEE IS THE SETESDAL CAPITAL OF AMERICA. !!

The Setesdals Lags were an annual celebration held on a weekend, usually in towns of NW MN until about 2008. It was a time of music, dancing, visiting, and eating lots of good Norwegian foods.  And most of all, fellowship and fun!!! 

By the time of Y2K (year 2000) all the old-timers were gone, and often it was their children or grandchildren who kept up the tradition. It was a lot of work to put on a celebration for hundreds of people, it cost money, and soon, with attendance dwindling, those in charge had to call it quits. Glenn Hofstad from Oklee  was the president at that time, and the decision weighed heavily on him. If they would have been able to hang on, they would have celebrated their centennial anniversary in 2009, and what a celebration they would have had! It was decided to divide their treasury between the two nearest Sons of Norway lodges – Granlund in Fosston ---- Snorre in TRF. Stranlie said, “I remember well the meeting where Glenn announced this monetary gift in honor of the Setesdals Lag.  We continue to thank you!!”

Snorre Lodge member Jan Stranlie is willing to present this Setesdal Laget program to other groups. Contact the Snorre Lodge in TRF.