From: The Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples/Danes/Christopher S. Hale
The earliest Danish immigrants read Danish-language U.S. newspapers and periodicals. Norwegian newspapers also entered Danish-Canadian homes, especially before 1914, because of the similarity in the languages.
Danebrog (Danish Flag; Ottawa, 1893–32) promoted immigration and provided newcomers with information. A large portion of its weekly print run was bought by the Department of the Interior and handed out on trains to Danes heading west to keep them from crossing into the United States. The widely read Danske Herold (Danish Herald; Kentville, Nova Scotia, 1932–40), published by Odin Kuntze, included articles from a national network of Danish correspondents. The bimonthly church paper Kirken og Hjemmet (Church and Home; Dickson, Alberta, 1930–61) was begun by Pastor Paul Nyholm and covered church and other matters. Other publications included the Dansk Canadisk Tidende/Danish Canadian Times (Toronto, Montreal, 1930–c. 1940), Viking/Danish Canadian Weekly (Toronto, 1928–31), Danskeren (Dane; Calgary, 1930–34), Dansk Canadieren (Danish Canadian; Winnipeg, 1928–c. 1931), and the more recent Modersmaalet (Mother Tongue; Toronto, 1956–92). Newsletters are still put out by clubs, churches, and other organizations. Articles about Danes and Danish Canadians, mostly in English, have appeared in such periodicals as Scandinavian Forum (Toronto, 1985– 93) and Scandinavian (Centre) News (Edmonton, 1958– 87).
The “Scandinavian Program” broadcast by radio station CKUA in Edmonton lasted from 1952 until 1994, with a Danish segment, narrated by Erik Pedersen, including news from the home country and Danish music. Though originally in Danish, the segment became more and more bilingual, later being presented almost entirely in English.
Most of the writing by Danes in Canada is in the form of reminiscences. Rosa Hansen’s recollections of the life of her family in New Denmark, New Brunswick were published by Benedicte Mahler as Cathrine og Valdemar. Et udvandrerpars skæbne skildret gennem breve (Cathrine and Valdemar: The Fate of an Immigrant Couple Depicted through Letters, 1975). Idun Engberg’s 1950 book Danske Nybyggere i Canadas Skove (Danish Pioneers in the Forests of Canada, 1950), described her marriage in the 1930s to a Danish settler and contained anecdotes about life in Pass Lake, Ontario. Kirstine Pedersen wrote Mine Erindringer (My Memories, 1968) about her immigration to Canada in 1927 and experiences in Saskatchewan and in Swan River, Manitoba. H.F. Feilberg based De Derovre (The Ones over There) and Hjemliv paa Prærien (Home Life on the Prairie) on immigrants’ letters that he received in the 1910s.
Aksel Sandemose fictionalized immigrant life on the Canadian prairies in his Alberta trilogy. He based part of Ross Dane (1928) loosely on the life of Simon Hjortnæs of Dannevirke and on his own Canadian trip in 1927, mentioned above. En sjømann går i land (A Sailor Goes Ashore, 1931), in Norwegian, traces the adventures of Sandemose’s alterego, Espen Arnakke, who kills a man in Newfoundland and later struggles to establish himself on the Canadian prairies and to come to terms with what he has done. September (1939), also in Norwegian, concerns a love triangle and the extent to which Scandinavian settlers on the prairies have become Canadian.
The Danish language has been taught in private classes in homes and in evening classes sponsored by high schools and universities. Only McGill University in Montreal offers university credit courses in Danish in its regular program. The University of Alberta accommodates students interested in Danish culture, literature, and linguistics and grants a bachelor’s degree in Scandinavian studies; it will start offering courses in the Danish language in the fall of 1998. Its library and that of the University of Toronto have extensive collections of Danish literature, both in the original and in English translation.
While almost all first-generation, urban-based Danes speak Danish, most of their children do not. In New Denmark more than one hundred people in the fourth generation and a few even in the fifth communicate with each other in Danish as well as in English. In the Dalum area between thirty and forty second-generation people speak it. Danish has virtually disappeared in most of the other rural colonies, except for Pass Lake, where it has been preserved primarily among post-1945 immigrants.
Most Danish-Canadian homes bake Danish pastries and celebrate Christmas Eve. In New Denmark the Danish flag flies from many farmhouses, and a restaurant, the Valhalla, serves Danish cuisine. In some places, such as Pass Lake, Midsummer’s Eve was celebrated by lighting bonfires, and this tradition has been revived elsewhere. From the 1920s through the 1950s Dalum’s Folkefest (People’s Festival), held for two days each summer, attracted Danes from all over Alberta and included church services, lectures, folk dancing, skits, and a picnic.
