Culture and Education

A fairly large number of newspapers for Swedes, most of them written in the Swedish language, have been published in Canada over the years, including secular, religious, and political periodicals. The earliest, Den Skandinaviske Canadiensaren (The Scandinavian Canadian; Winnipeg, 1887–95), was founded by the immigrant agent Emanuel Öhlén. It was published monthly, and according to the first issue its purpose was to treat the “political, economic and religious questions of the Scandinavians in Canada” and to report “general and Scandinavian news.” In addition, the paper promoted Scandinavian immigration to Canada.

When Den Skandinaviske Canadiensaren ceased publication, its second owner, J.E. Forslund, took over another newspaper that had been started by the Swedish Lutheran congregation, which he first named Canada (Winnipeg, 1895–1907), then Svenska Canada Tidningen (Swedish Canada Times; Winnipeg, 1907–32), and eventually simply Canada Tidningen (Canada Times; Winnipeg, 1933–70). Now a secular organ, this weekly publication had a Canadian focus, in opposition to its American competitors, as well as a Swedish character. It was not, however, involved in immigrant propaganda. The political outlook of both newspapers, like that of most Scandinavians of the time, was liberal. The paper had its heyday in the 1920s, when it was competing successfully with its Swedish-American counterparts; but, with fewer and fewer Swedish immigrants coming to Winnipeg in the years after World War II, it was forced to merge with the American-based Swedish American Tribune in 1970.

The most important and longest running Swedish paper in Vancouver has been Svenska Pressen (Swedish Press; Vancouver, 1928–36), which under various names has survived to the present. During the 1930s it supported Swedish culture, but it was constantly in financial difficulty. One probable reason, in addition to the Depression, was that the majority of the Swedes in British Columbia were poor transient workers who were more concerned with keeping body and soul together than with cultural matters. Moreover, the newspaper was liberal in orientation, while many working-class Swedes were radicals. In 1936 the paper was sold to a firm that published a Swedish newspaper in Seattle, but it was re-established as Nya Svenska Pressen (The New Swedish Press; Vancouver, 1937–53) and later renamed the Swedish Press (Vancouver, 1953– ). The new publication contained half Swedish news and half Finnish. As of the late 1990s, the Swedish Press is about one-quarter Swedish, the only periodical currently in Canada with any Swedish-language content.

The first Swedish religious periodical in Canada was Zions Väktare (Zion’s Watchman; Winnipeg, 1892–95), published as an answer to Den Skandinaviske Canadiansaren, which was viewed by some as unfavourable to Lutheran missionary work. It was bought by new owners and became the secular paper Canada. One other primarily religious newspaper in Swedish was the Mission Covenant’s Canada Posten (Canada Post; Winnipeg, 1904–52). It eventually became a weekly, and during the 1920s one of its pages, mainly for young people, started appearing in English. In response to a declining readership, articles of a secular nature were added, but despite this change, and possibly also because the same church had started a biweekly English-language newspaper in 1943, Canada Posten closed down in 1952.

At least two political Swedish-language newspapers have been published in Canada. Forum (Winnipeg, 1919– 24), which billed itself as an “independent magazine for Swedish farmers and workers,” supported and publicized the Saskatchewan Non-Partisan League and the One Big Union. Forum was also the only Swedish labour paper actively to support the preservation of Swedish culture. Frihetsvännen (The Friend of Freedom; Winnipeg, 1922–24) was a Christian Socialist paper whose goal was to represent Canadian Swedish Lutherans and oppose the power of money.

Radio programs in Swedish or in English directed at the Swedish community have been broadcast in various places. One of the longest running was the Scandinavian Program from the radio station CKUA in Edmonton. The Swedish segment of this program, in which items of interest to the community were read in Swedish and music from the homeland was played, lasted from 1952 until 1994.

Much of the literature written by Canadian Swedes has been in the form of reminiscences, which have frequently appeared in English or in an English translation. Examples include the autobiography of Vancouver businessman Edwin A. Alm, titled I Never Wondered (1971), and the collection edited by Sylvia Edstrom and Florence Lundstrom as Memoirs of the Edberg Pioneers (1955). Other autobiographical sketches of Swedish pioneers in Canada appeared in the Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly (Chicago, 1950–81) and Swedish-American Historical Quarterly (Chicago, 1982–). Karl Gunnar Schulze, who wrote under the pen-name Karl Gunnarson, was an agricultural inspector who travelled in this country and wrote at least two books supposedly based on his experiences: Som emigrant i Kanada (As an Emigrant in Canada, 1930) and Kamratliv och äventyr på Kanadas prärier: färder och äventyr (Life Among Friends and Adventures on the Canadian Prairies: Travels and Adventures, 1931). These fall into the category of dime novels and have little artistic merit.

Of considerably higher literary quality are the writings of Sven Delblanc, who was born near Minitonas, Manitoba, and spent his early childhood there before moving back to Sweden with his parents in 1935. In 1980 Delblanc came back to his childhood home in Manitoba and interviewed people who remembered his parents and had known their neighbours. Based on this information and his own experiences during a brief visit in 1947, he wrote Kanaans land (The Land of Canaan, 1984), a thinly veiled fictional account of his family’s life in Canada. It forms part of a widely read tetralogy about Delblanc’s family that stretches back into the previous century.

The Swedish language has been taught at several Canadian institutions of higher learning. The first to offer courses was Brandon College in Manitoba, which had a program that lasted from the end of the first decade of this century until the early 1930s. Its success was probably the result of the college’s affiliation with the Baptist Church, to which many Swedes belonged. The University of Manitoba also offered Swedish-language instruction from 1911 until the end of World War I. In Ontario the language was taught at Queen’s University from 1920 to 1931 and briefly at the University of Guelph around 1970.

Currently, there are only two universities in Canada where Swedish is taught: the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Alberta. At UBC there has been a Swedish program since 1974 which consists of two years of university-level Swedish, taught by a visiting lecturer who is brought over from the home country. Originally financed by the university, the program was later supported by money donated by the Swedish retailer IKEA and then by funds raised in the Vancouver Swedish community through the efforts of the Swedish Charitable Association. At the University of Alberta the language was first taught in the fall of 1986. Alberta is the only university in Canada that offers a bachelor of arts degree in Scandinavian languages, and Swedish, together with courses in Norwegian and in Scandinavian literature, culture, and linguistics, is an integral part of this program.

Most people in Canada who are still able to speak Swedish, other than those born in the homeland, are members of the second generation. In very few cases has the language survived into the third. People may still greet one another in Swedish in the old settlements, but it is almost never spoken in daily conversation. Except for the one congregation of the Swedish Church Abroad in Toronto and an occasional special service, its use in the churches died out by the middle 1940s. In most chapters of the Vasa lodge the changeover to English was complete by around 1950, but in organizations where the membership has consisted primarily of first-generation Swedes, such as the Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA), Swedish is still spoken.

A number of Swedish traditions have been maintained and some more important holidays observed in the community in Canada over the years. For example, folk dancing has been popular in many places, and folkdance groups have been formed in several cities, including Toronto, Prince Albert, Edmonton, and Vancouver, sometimes independently and at other times in conjunction with a Swedish or Scandinavian organization or centre. Also, some traditional Swedish foods, such as lutfisk (boiled cod, previously soaked in lye) and Janssons frestelse (potatoes, anchovies, and onions cooked in a cream sauce), as well as Swedish baking, are served in private homes or at club functions.

Most celebrations of Swedish holidays are held in the various clubs and churches. The Vasa Order, SWEA, and other groups observe Midsummer and St Lucia. Julotta, the early morning church service held on Christmas day, is the most important Swedish religious tradition preserved in Canada. This custom is still quite widespread in both urban and rural areas, and it is observed by Lutheran, Mission Covenant, and Baptist congregations alike. In some places, such as the Mission Covenant Church in Minnedosa, the service is followed by a traditional herring breakfast.

Midsummer, observed on or around 24 June, is the most popular Swedish holiday to have been preserved and has been celebrated in the majority of settlements, in some cases as far back as the end of the nineteenth century. A picnic is held, and in many places this is combined with the raising of a maypole. Another popular Swedish celebration in Canada is that of St Lucia in December, which is marked by a procession led by a young woman wearing a crown of candles on her head and the singing of traditional songs. Since this practice did not become widespread in Sweden until 1927, it is currently found mainly in the cities in Canada and has only recently been adopted by a few rural groups. Toronto is one of the few places in Canada where a M årten G åsmiddag (Martinmas dinner with goose) is held on 10 November, and Valborgmässoafton (Walpurgis night) on 30 April is observed in Montreal.

In the early part of the twentieth century, performances of Swedish-language plays were very popular in both Winnipeg and Vancouver. These were often put on by travelling performers, including many from the United States, but local organizations produced them as well. Another cultural undertaking was the establishment of several local libraries by the Swedish national library in the 1910s and 1920s.

Other than seminaries and Bible institutes, Swedish Canadians have not established any schools. Since the 1980s, five Swedish-language schools have been organized, but these have not been intended for immigrants. Rather, their main purpose is to teach the Swedish language and culture to the children of Swedish citizens living in those cities. Financial aid for teachers’ salaries, rent, and supplies is provided by the Swedish government according to the number of pupils. The turnover at these schools is considerable, since the families of pupils are often business people from Sweden on contracts of one or two years.

The school in Montreal, which is under the direction of the Swedish Club of Montreal, was started in 1991 and has four classes with children ranging in age from six to sixteen. There are about thirty pupils in all the classes each year. The school in North York, Ontario, founded in the late 1980s, holds classes for three hours on Saturdays and three additional hours on a weekday evening. In addition to the money provided by the Swedish government, one teacher is paid for by North York’s Heritage Language Program. Pupils range in age between six and seventeen, and number approximately forty in two groups. In Burlington there are normally twelve or thirteen pupils in two groups aged from six to eighteen years, and classes are held at the IKEA store.

The school in Vancouver conducts classes once a week for between twenty and thirty pupils. Calgary’s school has two programs, according to the child’s fluency in Swedish, with a total of around thirty-five pupils per year in four or five classes. It is the only Swedish school in Canada that offers courses for which high school credit is given. These start in September and last until the beginning of June. The school was established in 1975, and the credit classes begun about ten years later.