Story by Carl Walrond

Main image: Scandinavian parade, Wellington, 2003

Seafarers

Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland have long coastlines, so the first Scandinavian visitors were often great sailors. When they reached New Zealand, some left their whaling and trading ships to search for gold.

In the 1920s and 1930s Norwegian whalers, as fearless as their Viking ancestors, chased the giants of the southern ocean.

Pioneers of the bush

Courage and stamina were also needed to slash and clear the dense forests of Manawatū for settlement. Some Danes tackled this task in the 1860s, and more Scandinavians were recruited in the 1870s.

In return for land, they opened up the native bush from Wairarapa to Hawke’s Bay. This helped later settlers, but life for these trailblazers was harsh – sharing rough huts, facing hunger and fever. One little girl aged eight, Inger Jacobsen, had to work like a man. Constant toil quickly aged the men and women.

Later immigrants

Forests provided more work in the 1950s and 1960s, triggering a small wave of Finnish immigrants who worked in pulp and paper factories in Tokoroa and Kawerau.

In the same period many young Danes arrived as government-assisted immigrants.

From the 1990s Swedes and other Scandinavians began to choose to live in New Zealand because of work, marriage or lifestyle.

Communities and culture

From the 1870s to the 1920s, Dannevirke, Norsewood and Palmerston North had a Scandinavian flavour. For relaxation, the ‘Skandies’ gathered to drink coffee or dance the polka. On Sundays many attended the Lutheran Church. But their languages and customs often died with the older immigrants, and the next generation quickly adopted new ways. Even so, around a dozen Scandinavian clubs are still active today.