Theculture ofMinnesota is asubculture of theUnited States with influences fromScandinavian Americans,Finnish Americans, Irish Americans,German Americans, Native Americans, andCzechoslovak Americans, among numerous other immigrant groups.
Stereotypical Minnesotan traits include manners known asMinnesota nice with very strong family ties and a sense of community exclusive to those with shared beliefs[citation needed].Potlucks, usually with a variety ofhotdishes, are popular at community functions, especially church activities. Movies such asFargo,Grumpy Old Men, andDrop Dead Gorgeous, the TV seriesFargo (loosely inspired by the film), the radio showA Prairie Home Companion, and the bookHow to Talk Minnesotan deliberately exaggerate and satirize Minnesota culture, speech, andmannerisms.
Some common wild Minnesota edibles includewild rice,blueberry,raspberry,blackberry,chokecherry,morels, andhazelnuts. A variety of fish, such aswalleye,panfish, andtrout are available in Minnesota's lakes, rivers, and streams. Many of these foods were long staples of Native communities before theIndustrial Revolution and white settlement in the region. TheOjibwe, for example, consider wild rice not only an important foodstuff but an "object of veneration, and an important ingredient of social and ceremonial life."[1]
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With an increased immigration from abroad, Minnesota's culture appropriated traditions from Scandinavian, German, andSlavic heritages. In areas settled by Scandinavian immigrants, such as the countryside aroundNorthfield,Moorhead, and much of the state's northern part, traditional cuisine such aslefse,lutefisk,rosettes,gravlax,krumkake,kransekake, andlingonberries are popular.
Due in large part to the public radio programA Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Minnesota nativeGarrison Keillor, Minnesotans are generally stereotyped as being of Scandinavian descent. In reality,German-Americans are by far the state's largest ethnic group. During early settlement, Minnesota's German-Americans were divided between secularForty-Eighters and religiously active Germans, who included Roman Catholics, Lutherans,Jews,Mennonites, andAmish. But like their compatriots throughout the United States, Minnesota'sGerman-Americans overwhelmingly chose to assimilate in response topersecution during World War I and, later, horror and shame overNazi war crimes. Inhistorically German-speaking parts of the state such as the farming country surroundingSt. Cloud andNew Ulm,marzipan,lebkuchen,gingerbread,stollen,Shoofly pies,potato pancakes,Spätzle,bratwursts, andsauerkraut remain popular.
In the regions settled byPolish,Czech,Slovenian,Rusyn, and otherSlavic immigrants, such as the farming country surroundingSt. Stephen,Little Falls,Browerville,Holdingford,New Prague, and theMesabi Iron Range, parties withsmorgasbord-style tables filled withkolaches,potica,halušky andpierogis are still held.
Even in communities with too small aGreek-American population to host a parish or mission of theGreek Orthodox Church, restaurants servinggyros,baklava, andspanakopita are popular.
In parts of the state with historically large Italian-American communities such as theTwin Cities and theMesabi Iron Range,Italian cuisine is popular.
Due to the historically largeCornish-American community in theMesabi Iron Range, thepasty remains popular there and has been adapted to the cuisine of other local ethnic groups.
In parts of Minnesota with a historically largeAshkenazi Jewish population such as theTwin Cities,Duluth,St. Cloud, and theMesabi Iron Range, traditional foods likelatkes andhamantashen remain popular on theHigh Holy Days. After the passage of theJackson-Vanik Amendment, the Minneapolis suburb ofSt. Louis Park had a large influx ofSoviet Jews, who brought their own culinary traditions to Minnesota. The 1979 overthrow ofthe Last Shah also brought a large influx ofIranian Jews to theTwin Cities.
Since theIranian Revolution of 1979, many non-JewishIranian-Americans have also brought their culinary traditions to Minnesota.
The aftermath of theVietnam War broughtVietnamese-American,Laotian-American,Hmong-American, andCambodian-American refugees and their culinary traditions to Minnesota.
Minnesota is also known for what is called "hotdish", a type of casserole; "jello salads"; the "Jucy Lucy", a burger with melted cheese in the patty;[2] South Minneapolis vanilla ice cream; wild rice soup;Cornish pasties;[3]corn dogs;Minneapolis-style pizza;[4]dessert bars;Bundt cakes;Minneapolis-style hotdog; deep-fried cheese curds; and walleye fingers.
The relatively short growing season demanded agricultural innovation. The Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at theUniversity of Minnesota has developed three newapple varieties, theHaralson,Honeycrisp, and the Sweetango. These fare well in the harsh Minnesota climate and are popular fruit.
At theMinnesota State Fair dozens of foods are offered "on a stick", such asPronto Pups and deep-fried candy bars. Though not typical Minnesota cuisine, these are archetypal fair foods. Minnesota is also home to several breweries, includingHamm's,Summit Brewing Company,Surly Brewing Company, andAugust Schell Brewing Company, which also producesGrain Belt.
Minnesota is known for its churchpotlucks, wherehotdish is often served. Hotdish is any of a variety ofcasseroles, which are popular throughout the United States, although the term "hotdish" is used mainly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Hotdishes are fillingcomfort foods that are convenient and easy to make.Tater tot hotdish is popular, as iswild rice hotdish; Minnesota is one of the leading producers of wild rice.Dessert bars are also common at Minnesota potlucks. Other dishes includeglorified rice,German baked apples andcookie salad.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports,Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in theWinter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations, and active amateur teams and individual sports. The state has a team in all four major professional leagues (MLB,NFL,NBA, andNHL) and theUniversity of Minnesota is one of the founding members of theBig Ten.
In theTwin Cities, which has always had a large Irish-American community, theGaelic Athletic Association has a club named afterIrish republican iconRobert Emmett. The club fieldshurling,camogie, andGaelic football teams. On August 2, 2019, the women of the Robert Emmets Hurling Club's Camogie team won the Silver Cup at the 2019 Gaelic Athletic Association World Games atCroke Park in Dublin.
Natives and tourists enjoy a variety of outdoor activities in Minnesota's warm summers, though it is mostly known for its winters. The state has producedcurlers andskiers who have competed in theWinter Olympics, pioneers who invented thesnowmobile,Rollerblades,water skiing and legions ofice fishing enthusiasts.[5] It is also known for enthusiasticice hockey players, both at the amateur and professional levels.Eveleth, Minnesota, home to theUnited States Hockey Hall of Fame, boasts of the city's and the rest of theMesabi Range's contributions to the growth and development of hockey in the United States.[6] The abundant indoor and outdoorice rinks provide ample opportunity to learn and practice several winter sports.
Minnesota's more than 10,000lakes play an important role in the state's recreation patterns. It has the most per-capita boat registrations of any state.[7]
Children in Minnesota play the game Duck Duck Gray Duck, in contrast to other American states, where "Duck Duck Goose" is played instead. In "Duck Duck Gray Duck", all ducks are given a color, often "Grrrrr-eeen Duck".[8][9]
In a 2021 interview with theSt. Cloud Times,Sauk Rapids resident Tracy Rittmueller, the founder of theLyricality poets and writers organization, said, "We have literally one of the best literary cultures in the United States. It's, as far as I'm concerned, as good as New York, as good as California. We don't get the national press because we're in that flyover zone... They're just not paying attention. So I felt it was our job in Minnesota to pay attention."[10]
William Whipple Warren, who was born in 1825 inLa Pointe, Wisconsin, into a family of mixedLake Superior Ojibwe,French Canadian, andWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant descent, moved in 1845 to the drunken and hedonistic boom town ofOld Crow Wing, Minnesota, where he worked as an interpreter for fur traderHenry Mower Rice. Bilingual and educated in the manner of America's elite, Warren collected stories from the oral tradition of theOjibwe people to tell their story before and after their first encounter withvoyageurs fromNew France, which Warren carefully compared against documents from French, British, and American sources. After having suffered fromtuberculosis for many years, Warren died at age 28 on June 1, 1853, and was buried inSaint Paul. TheMinnesota Historical Society published his unfinished history in 1885.
Charles Eastman, who was born in 1858 into a family of the SanteeDakota people in atepee nearRedwood Falls, Minnesota, published many literary works about the history, culture and folklore of the Dakota. He is considered one of the first Native American authors to write aboutAmerican history from a Native perspective.
Anton Treuer's 2011 bookThe Assassination of Hole in the Day tells the story, based on government documents, old newspapers, and theoral history of theOjibwe people, of the life of ChiefHole in the Day and his ambush and murder by members of the Pillager Band of Ojibwe on a road nearGull Lake, Minnesota, on June 27, 1868. On the day of his death, Hole in the Day had left his home in a horse and buggy and was on the way to Washington, D.C. to renegotiate the treaty regarding the Ojibwe's planned migration to the newWhite Earth Reservation. In the meantime, he had issued orders that noOjibwe people were to move to White Earth until the federal government actually built everything on the reservation that it had promised in the previous treaty. The chief's murder was national news, but for decades, the reasons for it remained a mystery. The names of the assassins were known, but no one was ever charged. In 1911, the surviving assassins testified that they had been hired by a group of mobbed-upMétis (mixed-race) businessmen and illegal whiskey peddlers led byClement Hudon Beaulieu, theDemocratic Party'spolitical boss of the region that surroundedOld Crow Wing, Minnesota. The reason was the chief's recent vow to "use the knife's edge" to keep certain "mixed-bloods" off the new White Earth Reservation and to have them cease to receive tribal annuity payments from the federal government. While negotiating with a previous group of hired gunmen, who had demanded half their money in advance, Beaulieu had said that Hole in the Day was like a great big log and, if he was not killed, it would be impossible for Beaulieu and his confederates to get past him.[11] According to Treuer, the assassins risked the vengeance of Hole in the Day's relatives and testified about the murder because they had come to regret their actions. Beaulieu and his confederates had kept none of the lavish promises they had made to their hired gunmen. Furthermore, Beaulieu, the other conspirators, and their families had also taken control of the government, law enforcement, and business community of the White Earth Reservation and enriched themselves by defrauding and impoverishing everyone else. Their hired assassins had grown aware, not only of Hole in the Day's ability to force the federalbureaucracy to keep its promises to the Ojibwe people, but also of the chief's ability to keep Clement Beaulieu and his confederates in check. For these reasons, all the chief's murderers had come to mourn his absence. Treuer describes the chief's assassination as a watershed moment in the history of the Ojibwe people and argues that the aftermath of his murder was a major factor in the continuing collapse oftheir language and culture.
Louise Erdrich is aNative American author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American characters and settings. She is an enrolled citizen of theTurtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota. Erdrich is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of the Native American Renaissance. She has written 28 books in all, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and children's books. Among other awards, Erdrich was awarded the 2012National Book Award for Fiction for her novelThe Round House[12] and the 2021Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novelThe Night Watchman.[13] She ownsBirchbark Books, a smallindependent bookstore inMinneapolis that focuses on Native American literature and the Native community in the Twin Cities.[14]
Since the early days of settlement, Minnesota has been home to poets who wrote in English and every other language spoken by the many immigrant groups who settled in the state. The best-known English-language poets from Minnesota areOscar C. Eliason,Robert Bly,Gregory Corso,Siri Hustvedt, andThomas M. Disch. The statePoet Laureate wasJoyce Sutphen, who grew up inSt. Joseph and teaches atGustavus Adolphus College inSt. Peter. The current state Poet Laureate isGwen Westerman, who teaches atMinnesota State University, Mankato.[15]
AlthoughHenry Wadsworth Longfellow never visitedMinnesota, his poemThe Song of Hiawatha is set there and is based onOjibwe andOttawa legends collected and published byHenry Rowe Schoolcraft, onMary Henderson Eastman's 1849 bookDahcotah, or Life and Legends of the Sioux Around Fort Snelling, and on an 1855 photograph ofMinnehaha Falls byAlexander Hessler. The epic tells the story of Hiawatha, a warrior from theLake Superior Ojibwe, and his star-crossed love affair withMinnehaha, aDakota woman. Longfellow's hero is based heavily upon the Ojibwe legends surrounding the trickster spiritNanabozho and also contains Longfellow's own innovations.
Some locations, such asLake Nokomis, are named in honor of the poem. TheDakota people called the falls "Minnehaha", which means simplywaterfall, long before the construction ofFort Snelling, and Longfellow namedHiawatha's wife in honor of the falls and set romantic scenes between them there. For this reason,Minnehaha Falls remains a very popular tourist site.[16]
InMinnesota folklore, the ghost ofConfessional poetJohn Berryman, who killed himself on January 7, 1972, by jumping from theWashington Avenue Bridge inMinneapolis onto the west bank of theMississippi River, is said to be seen sitting on the railing of that bridge.
German poetry written in Minnesota was often featured in the manyGerman-language newspapers formerly published in the state. For example, during the early years of settlement in Stearns County by German-speaking Catholic "peasant-pioneers", the valley made by the North Fork of theWatab River was namedSchönthal ("beautiful valley").[17] According to local historian Coleman J. Barry, the Watab Valley's beauty inspired many works of locally composedGerman poetry.[18] Furthermore, on July 18, 1863,Die Minnesota-Staats-Zeitung, a newspaper published by and for German-speakingForty-Eighters in the state, printedAn die Helden des Ersten Minnesota Regiments ("To the Heroes of the First Minnesota Regiment"), a poetic tribute to theUnion soldiers of the1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment and their charge fromCemetery Ridge during thesecond day of theBattle of Gettysburg. The poet was G. A. Erdman ofHastings, Minnesota.[19] Another important Minnesota poet who wrote in German wasRose Ausländer, a Jewish immigrant from theAustro-Hungarian Empire and future survivor of theHolocaust in Romania. While living inMinneapolis during the aftermath ofWorld War I, Ausländer worked as an editor for the German-language newspaperWestlicher Herold and collaborated on the anthologyAmerika-Herold-Kalender, in which she published her first poems.[20]: 7
While serving as aRoman Catholic missionary to theOjibwe and local Irish andGerman-American pioneers,Francis Xavier Pierz wrote many works ofSlovenian poetry about his experiences.
Hieronim Derdowski, a major figure inPolish poetry, emigrated to the United States fromToruń inPrussian Poland, and settled inWinona, Minnesota, where he died and was buried in 1902. Poems were written and published in both English and Polish byVictoria Janda, who was born inNowy Targ,Austria-Hungary in 1888 and died inMinneapolis in 1961.
AmongBlue Earth County'sWelsh-American pioneers, the most highly regarded figures in localWelsh poetry were James D. Price, whoseBardic name was "Ap Dewi", Ellis E. Ellis, whose Bardic name was "Glan Dyfi", Edward Thomas, whose Bardic name was "Awenydd", and John I. Davis, whose Bardic name was "Ioan Idris".[21]: 128
According to a memoir by D.M. Jones, Price (Ap Dewi) was so highly regarded by his compatriots in the state that he was urged to act asPrifardd, or "Chief Bard", of Minnesota.[21]: 138 Also according to Jones, during the late 19th century a group ofWelsh-languageBards regularly met under Ellis's leadership at the Cheshire and Jones Shop inMankato, where the packing paper in the shop was often used to write downenglynion in Welsh.[22]
In 2016, award-winning memoiristKao Kalia Yang, who was born inBan Vinai Refugee Camp in Thailand and grew up inSt. Paul, publishedThe Song Poet, a biography of her father,Bee Yang, a well-known poet in theHmong language, cultural critic, and highly respected figure in theHmong-American community in and around theTwin Cities.
In theTwin Cities and other communities such asSt. Cloud that are home to largeSomali-American communities, the composition ofSomali poetry in traditional verse forms remains a large part ofSomali culture in Minnesota. By 2017, some younger poets from the community had begun adapting traditional Somali verse forms to the rhythms ofAmerican English and composing poems about their experiences as immigrants.[23]
After theTreaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851,Welsh immigrants settled much of what is nowBlue Earth County. The first Welsh literary society inMinnesota was founded, according to Price, at a meeting inSouth Bend Township in 1855.[21]: 129 Price wrote, "The firsteisteddfod in the state of Minnesota was held inJudson in the house of Wm. C. Williams in 1864. The second eisteddfod was held in Judson in the log chapel in 1866 with the Rev. John Roberts as chairman. Ellis E. Ellis, Robert E. Hughes, H.H. Hughes, Rev. J. Jenkins, and William R. Jones took part in this eisteddfod. The third eisteddfod was held in Judson in the new chapel (Jerusalem) on January 2, 1871. The famousLlew Llwyfo (bardic name) was chairman and a splendid time was had."[24]
According to theMankato Free Press, the custom of local Eisteddfodau went into abeyance during the 1950s. The Blue Earth County Historical Society and theLeague of Minnesota Poets made an effort to revive the tradition by in the early 21st century. During the 2006 Eisteddfod at theMorgan Creek Vineyards inNew Ulm, adjudicator John Calvin Rezmerski awardedBrainerd poet Doris Stengel theBardic Chair.[25] After Rezmerski's death in 2016, the custom of local Eisteddfodau again fell into abeyance.
On February 10, 1934, 33 Minnesota poets met at the Lowry Hotel inSt. Paul and became the charter members of the newly formedLeague of Minnesota Poets. Marie d’Autremont Gerry became the league's first president. Three meetings were held annually. By year's end, there were 74 members.[26]
The first two books the League published that year are Maude Schilplin'sAnthology of Minnesota Verse and Clara Clausen'sSteps in Creative Poetry. These early members endeavored "to make Minnesota poetry conscious, and conscious to its own poets."[26]
Minnesota has been home to many great fiction writers.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's novelOn the Banks of Plum Creek is based on her memories of living in a dugout as part of aWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant pioneer family nearWalnut Grove, Minnesota.
F. Scott Fitzgerald grew up in a wealthy, cultured "Lace Curtain Irish" family that lived onSummit Avenue inSt. Paul. Fitzgerald graduated fromPrinceton University and became, during theJazz Age, a major figure in 20th centuryAmerican literature. In several of his short stories, such as "The Ice Palace" and "Winter Dreams", he depicts his upbringing in theTwin Cities.
Although his award-winning novelGiants in the Earth takes place amongNorwegian-American homesteaders inSouth Dakota,Ole Edvart Rølvaag wrote both it and its sequels while a professor atSt. Olaf College inNorthfield. The Northfieldhouse where the author lived is now a museum.
Rølvaag's novels and his own research in memoirs of Swedish settlers on the Minnesota frontier inspired Swedish authorVilhelm Moberg to composeThe Emigrants series of four novels between 1949 and 1959. They describe aSwedish family's emigration fromSmåland toChisago County, Minnesota in the mid-19th century.
American poet, novelist, and essayistSiri Hustvedt grew up in Northfield, where her father,Lloyd Hustvedt, was a professor atSt. Olaf College. She now lives inBrooklyn, New York.
Nobel Prize-winning novelistSinclair Lewis was born and grew up inSauk Centre, which he satirized as "Gopher's Prairie" in his novelMain Street. Although the people of Sauk Centre were reportedly deeply offended by the novel, Sauk Centre now celebrates it and uses it to attract tourism. TheStearns County Historical Society inSt. Cloud has an extensive collection of materials relating to Lewis and his family, including many tapedoral history interviews with Sauk Centre residents who knew him as a child.
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area is the long-standing home of severalfandom organizations such asSF Minnesota,MISFITS, and Mnstf, which annually holdDiversicon,CONvergence, andMinicon, respectively. These are large gatherings of fans interested in science, speculative, and fantasy fiction; panels are held where authors, publishers, and scientists interact with readers, viewers, and fans offilk music with the goal of increasing knowledge of the topics discussed.
Word-initialth-stopping is possible among speakers of working-class backgrounds, especially with pronouns ("deez" forthese, "doze" forthose, "dem" forthem, etc.). In addition, traces of apitch accent as inSwedish andNorwegian persists in some areas of heavy Norwegian or Swedish settlement, and among people who grew up in those areas (some of whom are not of Scandinavian descent).
Certain phonemes appear in particular words, setting the North-Central dialect apart from some other American English:
Music has played a significant role in Minnesota's historical and cultural development. The state's music scene centers onMinneapolis-Saint Paul, and most Minnesotan artists who have become nationally popular either came from that area or debuted there. Rural Minnesota has also produced a flourishing folk music scene, with a long tradition of traditionalSwedish,Finnish andNorwegian music.[31]
InAvon, Minnesota,Cy Pfannenstein Music Service both records and distributes, among other things, traditional music by local German-, Polish-, andSlovenian-American folk musicians.[32]
In 1893, during his stay in theCzech-American farming community ofSpillville, Iowa, composerAntonín Dvořák read a translation intoCzech ofHenry Wadsworth Longfellow'sThe Song of Hiawatha and decided to visitMinnehaha Falls. Dvořák's visit on September 5, 1893, inspired him to compose a tune he wrote down on his shirt cuff that later became the second movement of hisSonatina in G Major.Fritz Kreisler dubbed the tune the "Minnehaha Melody".[33]
Minnesota's modern local music scene is home to thousands of bands, many of which perform with some regularity.[34] Some performers from nearby regions of neighboring states, such as western Wisconsin andFargo, North Dakota, are often considered part of the Minnesota music scene.
Minneapolis has produced a number of famous performers, such asBob Dylan, who, though born in Duluth and raised inHibbing, began his musical career in the Minneapolis area, andJimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who eventually formedThe Time and produced forGladys Knight andJanet Jackson. Minneapolis's most influential contributions toAmerican popular music began in the 1970s and 1980s, when its music scene expanded the state's cultural identity and launched the careers of acclaimed performers like the multi-platinumsoul singerPrince and cult favoritesThe Replacements andHüsker Dü. More recently, the Twin Cities have played a role in the national hip-hop scene with record labelsRhymesayers Entertainment and Kamorra Entertainment and artists such asAtmosphere,Brother Ali,P.O.S andManny Phesto.[35] Musicians of various other genres have been popular, including harmony singersThe Andrews Sisters, the alternative rock groupSemisonic,Owl City, and the cult favoritesMotion City Soundtrack.[36]
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area is considered the arts capital of the Upper Midwest. Its major fine art museums include theMinneapolis Institute of Art, theWalker Art Center, and theFrederick R. Weisman Art Museum. TheMinnesota Orchestra and theSaint Paul Chamber Orchestra are prominent full-time professional orchestras that perform concerts and offer educational programs. Attendance attheatrical, musical, and comedy events in the area is high, which may be attributed to the cold winters, the large population of post-secondary students, and a generally vibrant economy. In 2006 the nationally renownedGuthrie Theater moved into a new building overlooking the Mississippi River with three stages. The number of theater seats per capita in Minneapolis-Saint Paul ranks behind only New York City among U.S. cities; in 2000, 2.3 million theater tickets were sold.[37] TheMinnesota Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of theater, dance,improvisation,puppetry, kids' shows, visual art, and musicals. It consists of over 800 performances in 11 days, and is the nation's largest non-juried performing arts festival.[38] Minneapolis'sChildren's Theatre Company, and St. Paul'sSteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development are leading youth theaters.
The public radio programA Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Minnesota nativeGarrison Keillor, aired live for many years from theFitzgerald Theater inSaint Paul. The show ended its run in 2016, with its successorLive from Here also airing from the same venue.
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Minnesota's climate has done much to shape the state's image and culture. Minnesotans boast of their "theater of seasons", with a late but intense spring, a summer of watersports, a fall of brilliantly colored leaves in the state's parks and hardwood forests, and a long winter made bearable by outdoor sports and recreation.
"Summer at the lake" is a Minnesota tradition.Water skiing was invented in Minnesota byRalph Samuelson, and theMinneapolis Aquatennial features a milk carton boat race. Contestants build boats frommilk cartons and float them on Minneapolis-area lakes, with recognition based more on colorful and imaginative designs than on actual racing performance.[39]
To many outsiders, Minnesota's winters seem cold and inhospitable. Even among Minnesotans, a common expression is that there are only two seasons, winter and road construction. (The long winters damage road surfaces, and the annual frenzy of repair work causes traffic congestion.[40]) AWorld War II newscaster, describing the brutally cold conditions of the Russian front, stated that at least Minnesotans could understand it.[5] A New York journalist visitedSt. Paul and declared the city "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation." In response, the city built a huge ice palace in 1886, similar to one thatMontreal had built in 1885. It hired the architects of the Canadian ice palace to design one for St. Paul, and built a palace 106 feet (32.3 m) high with ice blocks cut from a nearby lake.[39] This began the tradition of theSaint Paul Winter Carnival, which spawned a legend with the King Boreas. Each winter, Boreas declares a ten-day celebration with feasting, fun, and frolic, along with the Queen of the Snows and singer Klondike Kate.Ice sculptures are featured, and periodically ice palaces are built; one was the setting of Fitzgerald's story "The Ice Palace", published inFlappers and Philosophers. On the tenth day of the festival, Vulcanus Rex, the king of fire, storms the castle with his Vulcan Krewe, compelling Boreas to relinquish winter's hold on the land until he returns again.[41]
Tourism has become an important industry, especially in the northern lakes region. In the North Country, what had been an industrial area focused on mining and logging has largely been transformed into a vacation destination. Popular interest in the environment and environmentalism, added to traditional interests in hunting and fishing, has attracted a large urban audience within driving range.[42] The memory of the great logging industry is exemplified by local folklore.[43]
The headwaters of theMississippi River are atItasca State Park, where archaeologists have found artifacts showing that the lakeshore was inhabited more than 2,000 years ago and that, at that time,American bison were routinely driven into the swampy ground alongLake Itasca to be speared to death at close range.
Pipestone National Monument, where theDakota people used to quarrypipestone long before European settlement, remains a popular tourist attraction.
In 1732, when Minnesota was still part ofNew France,Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, builtFort St. Charles onLake of the Woods as part of his many expeditions to the far west ofLake Superior and into theGreat Plains in search of theNorthwest Passage. The fort was ultimately the burial place of the explorer's son,Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye, and hisJesuit chaplain,Jean-Pierre Aulneau. It was found in 1908, based on the oral tradition of Natives, excavated, and rebuilt in the 1950s by theKnights of Columbus.
Grand Portage National Monument is onLake Superior's north shore and preserves a vital center offur trade activity andAnishinaabegOjibwe heritage. Until the end of theAmerican Revolution, Grand Portage was one of theBritish Empire's four main fur trading centers in North America, along withFort Niagara,Fort Detroit, andFort Michilimackinac.
Fort Snelling, built by theUnited States Army during the 1820s at the confluence of theMississippi andMinnesota Rivers, remains a popular tourism site and sometimes hostshistorical reenactments.
Sites related to theDakota War of 1862 are also popular tourist sites. These include the battlefields atFort Ridgely,Birch Coulee, andWood Lake. InHutchinson, Minnesota, a statue of Dakota ChiefLittle Crow stands where a settler shot him in the back while picking raspberries.
TheAmerican flags Minnesota'sUnion Army regiments carried during theAmerican Civil War are displayed under the rotunda of theState Capitol. During the repulse ofPickett's Charge on the third day of theBattle of Gettysburg, PrivateMarshall Sherman of the1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment captured theregimental colors of the28th Virginia Infantry,[44] which now belongs to Minnesota as awar trophy. For this feat, Sherman was awarded theCongressional Medal of Honor. Despite theState of Virginia's repeated requests, demands, and threats of lawsuits for the flag's return, Minnesota GovernorMark Dayton once explained, "It was taken in a battle with the cost of the blood of all these Minnesotans. It would be asacrilege to return it to them. It's something that was earned through the incredible courage and valor of the men who gave their lives and risked their lives to obtain it... ...As far as I'm concerned it is a closed subject." Some years earlier, Minnesota GovernorJesse Ventura had been more succinct: "We won... We took it. That makes it our heritage."[45]
Since they were first built as a petition for relief from the 1870sRocky Mountain locust plague, theAssumption Chapel andCalvary Hill nearCold Spring have been a place ofChristian pilgrimage. There is a similar outdoor Way of the Cross inNew Ulm.[46]
Minnesota is not usually considered part of theWild West, but theJames-Younger Gang's 1876 failed bank robbery and gun battle with local townspeople is celebrated annually with a festival andhistorical reenactment inNorthfield.
InSt. Joseph, the grave of SisterAnnella Zervas, a Benedictine nun and candidate for Roman Catholic sainthood, is a site of Christian pilgrimage.[47]
The childhood home of aviator and best-selling memoiristCharles Lindbergh is preserved as a tourist attraction inLittle Falls.
TheMinnesota State Fair, advertised asThe Great Minnesota Get-Together, is an icon of state culture. More than two million people attended the fair in 2018.[48] The fair covers the variety of Minnesota life, including fine art, science, agriculture, food preparation,4-H displays, music,the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays ofseed art, butter sculptures ofdairy princesses, and the birthing barn. On a smaller scale, these attractions are also offered at the state's many county fairs.
Other large annual festivals include theMinneapolis Aquatennial,Lakes Jam, the Mill City Music Festival,Detroit Lakes's10,000 Lakes Festival andWE Fest, andMoondance Jam & Jammin' Country, both held every summer inWalker.
In St. Paul, which has a large Irish-American community, there is an annual parade onSt. Patrick's Day. St. Paul also has an annual Irish Fair. It was the largest free Irish fair in the U.S. until it began charging for admission in 2021.
As Minnesota has always had a very largePolish-American population, the Polish Cultural Association of Minnesota hosts an annual Polish Festival in Minneapolis.
TheMinnesota Renaissance Festival takes place every year inChaska.
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