Karl Xavier's Poetry of Hope for a New Year, 1919, After A Year of Many Difficulties

Note: Published as a project still being edited (May 2013)

Rev. Karl Xavier's Poem of Hope for a New Year, 1919:
"Til min hustru. Geburtsdagvers. (1919)" ["To My Wife. Birthday Verse. (1919)"]

by John E. Xavier

Introduction

    In  February of 1919, Rev. Karl Xavier wrote a birthday verses for his much-loved wife, Bina, after he and Bina experienced a very difficult year at the end of World War I. Rev. Karl Xavier titled his brief poem "To My Wife. Birthday Verse. (1919)" ["Til min hustru. Geburtsdagvers. (1919)"]. It was written in the final year of a nine-year family residence in northeast Nebraska, in the Boone and Madison Counties area of by rural Bradish (Newman Grove), close by Albion.
   The poem is a clear expression of hope for the future, in the immediate aftermath of 1918, a peak wartime year which brought loss, sorrow and worry to the Xavier family, as well as to neighbors and friends. In contrast to much of Karl Xavier's work, the poem does not seem to have been formally published in his lifetime. It appeared in a privately published collection, Norwegian Poems, in 1982. In 2010, the poem formally appeared in print, in the Sami North American newsletter, Arran. as a supplement to a biographical article on the life of Karl Xavier
     The Arran version, reproduced below, was drawn from Norwegian Poems, a 1982 collection of Karl's poetry translated and edited by his eldest daughter, Magdalene X. Visovatti. The poem appearing here--"To My Wife: Birthday Verse (1919)"--was part of that collection, privately published in 1982. Thanks to Arden Johnson, Editor emeritus of Arran (a publication of the Sami Siida of North America)  for his past encouragement, editorial assistance and permission to use material previously published in Arran. In that vein, an interpretive and historical essay follows the poem, with endnotes.[1]

To My Wife:

Birthday Verse.

(1919)

As the sun sinks in scarlatine clouds away,
Let me print a love-wish for you this day:

May the year that is coming touch softly and gently
Each day of your life with joy and with beauty!

And though clouds may threaten, let joy gild
And color their darkest edges.

Then over the whole God's grace will shine,
And give you strength to bear all with patience.
Then surely the year will seem neat and cozy,
Though the days may be mixtures of lights and shadows.



The 1919 World of Karl and Bina Xavier: An Interpretive and Historical Essay

     The year 1918 had brought to the Xavier household a seemingly relentless series of untoward events on both family and worldwide levels, giving us examples of the war-wracked world of that year, the year of the winding down of World War I. A corner of rural Nebraska is our focal point, at a time when urbanization was pulling city population to equality with that of the rural United States. In that context, the family home of Karl and Bina is a fitting example for a small-scale, or microhistory, view of society, as a means to better understand the larger world of 1918.
     The Xavier household was a nearly textbook model of the "gentry tradition" of the old state church of Norway and its offspring in the United States, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Synod (known simply as the Synod). Karl and Bina exemplified the educated clergy family, fully engaged in the "gentry tradition" of high service (very near unto noblesse oblige).
     Such families, part and parcel of "a strong leadership class," would carry on the "old tradition of Christian humanism" dating to the founding of the Synod in 1853. The leadership class would carry out its centuries-old tasks, transferred to North America, guiding and educating a heavily rural church through the great shocks and adjustments of immigrant life. Of course, many clergy would also carry out those tasks in an increasingly urban-industrial America, where social, economic and political pressures encouraged assimilation to the English language as well as the larger culture. [2]
   World War I itself magnified the shocks and adjustments for the Norwegian American Lutheran church communities, even before  the American declaration of war in 1917.  Several of those Norwegian faith communities had merged by social and theological agreement in 1917, altering the size and scope of the Scandinavian Lutheran elements in America. By the following year of 1918, many other outside forces converged on the rural-based family of Karl and Bina and so, larger understanding should come our way from our sojourn in their time and place. Thus this exercise in microhistory finds its justification [3].
     Many forces converged and the untoward events of 1918 were legion, and included for Karl and Bina an almost unending inventory of untoward events, most notably, the death of Karl's father, Rev. Nils Paul Xavier, the torpedoing of Karl's brother, Army Engineer Garth Xavier while aboard the troopship Tuscania (Garth survived); and concern over five of Bina's cousins in Army uniform. Bina's cousins included Julia Hippe, serving as an Army Nurse; she had also been a rural school student of Bina's.
     Beyond the immediate heartache of all that, two of Karl's brothers-in-law, Jakob O.A. Larsen and Henning Larsen were in the various army roles, while two more family members, Karl's brothers, Nils Paul II and Heinrich, were subject to draft but not called; seven local funerals for soldiers and sailors who were casualties in uniformed service (this in a young church where there had been not one funeral in 1917!). Meanwhile, there was a fog of other concerns, such as the continuing ill health of Karl's sister, Sara Amanda Xavier, forced to return from missionary nursing duties in China due to malaria; the suspect health of Karl's brother, Johan Ulrik Xavier, who had left teaching and then suffered injuries while working construction at Ft. Lewis, near Seattle.
     In the context of general wartime hysteria, and that word is no exaggeration, political repression carried on, based on ethnic or language differences, whereby Norwegians were viewed by many as suspect of Germanic sympathies. the vast swath of death and fear cut by the great "Spanish" Influenza epidemic (all members of Karl and Bina's family, were stricken, except baby Borghild, but all survived); and, finally, a kick to the head by a family horse for four year-old son, Valdemar (he survived, recovered, and lived a long and fruitful life). [4]
     All of this, and more, made for a lot of worry for a family to carry, and much of the burden had fallen on Bina, who through it all also managed a large and active household. Bina had been through seven successful pregnancies in twelve years, and so the Xavier household often had ten or eleven children ranging in age from newborn to twenty-one. Even taking into account the help of three older children from Karl's first marriage to the late Henrietta Larsen (with further assistance from Bina's niece Mabel Holtan) there were vast household duties. In the case of Karl and Bina, their baron-like life on a twenty-acre estate included the many duties pertaining to church activities, extensive gardens and the need to care for horses, as well as dealing with the new complexities of  a Model T Ford.
     Beyond the very busy home front, Bina was active, as an educated pastor's wife in the "gentry tradition" of the Synod, in the on-going parish life of Immanuel Lutheran Church. The Immanuel parish was a large and prosperous one and was probably the dominant Norwegian Lutheran one in Nebraska outside of Omaha. Accordingly, Karl held various roles as a well-known church leader, whose speeches and writings were both in demand and respected, and who was elevated by his peers to the office of Circuit President. That post today would approximate that of bishop.
     Bina also had a major role as a music leader called on to coordinate and direct regional mass choir concerts, in the Norwegian Lutheran choir movement in Nebraska, the Omaha Choral Union. Karl served as regional secretary of the Omaha Choral Union, allowing the couple to travel to Omaha and other locales for musical events. Indeed, Karl and Bina were an active and creative couple of shared interests in church, music, family, "the good, the true, the beautiful in human culture," who embraced and loved life well as each other.[5]
    Upon Karl's death in 1924, his eldest daughter with Bina, Valborg Henrietta Xavier, was aware of her father's reputation as an author and translator. She also knew that her father, in anticipation of an anthology of Norwegian American poets, had assembled the poem "To My Wife: Birthday Greeting" along with other works, having put them on paper in his "beautifully written manuscript."  As Valborg later explained in 1980, in 1924 she had feared that "everything would go and that people would [burn or] take all the papers away." So, to prevent the loss of the many pages of manuscript and some other papers, they all were "carefully preserved" by Valborg for over a half-century. [6]. 
    In the fulness of time, which was in 1980, the manuscripts of the poems emerged, as Valborg Henrietta (Xavier) Houghtelin, by then a 75 year-old widow, needed assistance from several family members to move to a nursing home. The poems were discovered in a manila folder by her brothers, Karl Astrup Xavier and Valdemar Ulrik Xavier, who immediately shared the news with Valborg's sisters-in-law Edith (Bethke) Xavier and Elna (Johnson) Xavier, and her nephew John E. Xavier. The author recalls the degree to which Valborg was adamant that the poems be somehow preserved. Valborg vividly and eloquently recalled her father's death fifty-six years earlier, as though her father's death were a contemporary event. She recounted, as those present listened intently, the hurried disposal of the bulk of her father's books and papers.
    With all of this in mind, it was decided, on the spot and unanimously, to refer the folder and, indeed, the entire matter of preservation and translation, to Magdalene X. Visovatti. "Mag," the eldest daughter of Karl's first marriage to Henrietta Larsen, was for decades in various ways, an extended family elder, leader and matriarchal figure who would in all situations bring to bear brains and creativity.
     In addition, Mag had good literary material to work with: most of Karl's poems were already proven worthy of  preservation and translation, having previously "appeared in various papers and magazines."  It also was widely known that Karl had been a respected colleague and collaborator of O.E. Rolvaag, notably for the periodical Nord-Norge and other educational, publishing, and church-related projects.
    Rolvaag was Professor of Norwegian at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and was also generally recognized as the premier Norwegian-American writer, having authored of Giants in the Earth, among other works of a literary and ethnic history nature [7].
   Finally, Magdalene herself had studied Norwegian at St. Olaf under Prof. Rolvaag, had maintained correspondence with him, and had herself published "a few poems in Norwegian and had taught Religion in Norwegian Parish Schools." And thus, it fell upon elder-sister-aunt Mag to put forth great effort in her preservation and translation work. She had printing and production help through the good offices of brother Valdemar who knew printers from his school principal days in Albert Lea, Minnesota. The resulting privately published book, Norwegian Poems, was completed in time for the holiday season of 1982. The following summer, Mag received great family recognition for her work at the Xavier Family Reunion at Glacier Park in August of 1983. [8].


Endnotes: 

Abbreviations key: NAHA = Norwegian-American Historical Association; NAS = Norwegian-American Studies; US Postal Service abbreviations for states (e.g., NE = Nebraska)

[1]  Magdalene X. Visovatti, "Introduction," in Rev. Karl Xavier, "To My Wife: Birthday Verse. (1919)" / ["Til min hustru. Geburtsdagvers. (1919)"], Magdalene X. Visovatti, trans. and ed., Norwegian Poems, (Albert Lea, MN: Valdemar U.A.H. Xavier, 1980), p. 1. The poem, "To My Wife" appears in English and Norwegian (Dano-Norwegian) on facing pages, pp. 73a and 73b. Minor changes in translation and "progressive spelling" were made by John E. Xavier. 
[1a] John E. Xavier, "Karl Xavier (1869-1924)," Arran No. 54 & 55 (2009-2010), pp. 5-8. This article is useful for those seeking more details on the life of Karl and Bina Xavier. 

[2] On assimilation and urbanization trends: Jon R. Jenswold, " Becoming American, Becoming Suburban: Norwegian-Americans in the 1920s," NAS XXXIII (1992), pp.3-26. Jenswold addresses immigrant assimilation and urbanization trends.
    On the role of clergy in the Norwegian Lutheran tradition: Leigh D. Jordahl, "The Gentry Tradition--Men and Women of a Leadership Class: How Shall the Faith and Human Culture Interrelate, " in Charles P. Lutz, Ed., Church Roots. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1985), pp. 101-117.The Lutz work, has become a standard source in the history of The American Lutheran Church  (TALC), a successor the Synod of pre-World War I.  
     Church Roots includes considerable information and bibliography on the process of church body mergers, and spin-offs by those remaining outside of the big merger of 1917, including solid essays on other Norwegian-American Lutheran groups. These include Hauge Synod, as well as Iowa, United Norwegian, and Lutheran Free groups. It is worthy of note that member of the extended Xavier family had roles in all of these Norwegian ethnic Lutheran groups, over many decades, and up to and including our time in 2012.
     An example of the active gentry-class leadership of Karl and Bina in the work of religion and assimilation is found in Karl's leadership in favor of the adoption of English-language worship services at the Immanuel and Vor Frelsers churches. The move to English was well in advance of the war-inspired anti-foreign language pressures and measures to require political conformity which emerged after the United States declared war in April of 1917. Larry Spomer, Ed., 100th Anniversary History of Immanuel-Zion Parish. 1874-1974. (Albion, NE: 1974), p. 6.
     For a thorough study of the complexities of the Norwegian-American situation in mid-America in World War I,  see Carl H. Chrislock, Ethnicity Challenged: The Upper Midwest Norwegian-American Experience in World War I. Topical Studies, Vol 3. (Northfield, MN: NAHA, 1981), especially the chapter "The Politics of Loyalty," pp. 89-121.
     On microhistory: Jill Lepore, "Historians Who Love Too Much: Reflections on Microhistory and Biography," Journal of American History, Vol 88, No. 1 (June, 2001), pp. 129-144. Prof. Lepore explains the workings and advantages of close-in studies such as this, as scholars and the reading public-at-large seek to understand the larger picture.

     [3] On the life of N.P. Xavier (1839-1918): Einar Niemi, "Nils Paul Xavier: Sami Teacher and Pastor on the American Frontier," NAS, vol. 34 (1995), pp.245-270. Also on N.P. Xavier: Karl Xavier, "Nils Paul Xavier: En skisse," Nord-Norge, 12 (1918), p.14-18. (P. 18 includes Karl's unsigned poem, "In Memoriam," dedicated to the honor if the late Nils Paul Xavier.) Finally: John E. Xavier, "Nils Paul and Amanda: Technology Expands theStory of My Sami-American Family," Arran, Number 46 (Gidda/Spring 2007), pp. 4-6.
     On the torpedo attack and sinking of the troopships Tuscania: an in-depth website, managed by Steve Schwartz: Tuscania, An American History: Histories, Photos, Memorials, and more, at http://www.freepages. history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~carmita/index.htm (Site visited Jan 10, 2012. Thanks to Mr. Schwartz for posting detailed information about Pvt. Gothard Xavier of 6th Batallion, 20th Engineers Regiment, Company F (later 18th Co.). When the Tuscania was torpedoed with heavy loss of life, Mr. Schwartz notes, it "was a story that shocked America, for it was the first time since the American Civil War that Americans had felt the loss of mass casualties on such a large scale." (from Home page). Garth survived the war, and re-entered the lumber industry, where he held several positions, including as a government lumber inspector.
     Bina's cousins in World War I military service were Edwin S. Camrud, Martin M. Camrud and Richard M. Camrud (of the "Kamruds with a C"-a family branch that chose alternative spelling); Julia E. Hippe, serving as a nurse; and Theo. I. Rotto. All five returned from the war safely, although Theo. "Ted" Rotto died shortly thereafter from general ill health and tuberculosis. Carl Narvestad and Amy Narvestad, Valdres Samband 1899-1974: A History of the Oldest Norwegian Bygdelag in America, (Granite Falls, MN: Valdres Samband, 1974, pp. 354, 360, and 370. Also, Chester Habberstad Jr. and Marlys (Kamrud) Habberstad, The Kamrud Tree (Fergus Falls, MN: The Authors, c. 1981), pp.13, 21-22.
     Regarding brothers of Karl Xavier, see Johan U. Xavier, List of Nils Paul Xavier's Descendants gathered by his son Johan at age 90," (Parkland, WA: The Author, 1960), pp.1. Johan's Ft. Lewis work is related on p. 2. Material on Johan's Ft. Lewis work and injury can be found in Pacific Lutheran University Archives, The Diaries of J.U. Xavier (Seattle, WA 2004), p.4 (Materials in Box 3). Summary states: "He now works at the [Ft. Lewis] Army Post doing some sort of construction. The scaffolding he's standing on breaks and he falls 17 feet. He is confined to bed rest for the next two days and he is laid off when he returns on the third day." A puzzling fact is noted in the summary: Johan U. Xavier, given the wide-ranging Xavier family involvement in the larger events of the war years, "only mentions World War I when the Armistice is signed." p.4, (Materials in Box 3).
   Two of Karl's brothers-in-law (from his first marriage to Henrietta Randine Larsen) served in World War I. Henning Larsen, a Luther College graduate, was training as an army officer when the war ended. Jakob Aal Otteson (J.A.O.) Larsen (1888-1974) entered service as a U.S. Army officer in the military attache office of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Henning would later earn the degree of Ph.D. at Princeton; J.A.O., the first Norwegian-American Rhodes Scholar, went on to earn the degree of Ph.D. at Harvard.)
   The impact of the Influenza epidemic on the Xavier family is recounted in Valborg (Xavier) Houghtelin, "The Flu and our Family," in The Grandmother Book (1983), p. 8, as assisted by Mary Xavier LaBelle. Valborg recalled that no doctors could come to assist the family, as the entire area was stricken and doctors were spread too thin. Everyone was miserably ill, Valborg states, "except the baby." (Borghild [Xavier] Selid, the last of the children of Karl and Bina, born just a few weeks before the epidemic struck Nebraska.
     For a general discussion of the ("Spanish") Influenza Epidemic, which killed worldwide more people than what was then called the Great War, John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic (New York: Viking, 2004). In that regard, also, see, Carol R. Byerly, Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army in World War I, (New York: New York University Press, 2005).
     Valdemar Xavier's incident of a horse kick to the head has long been an item of family lore, and was mentioned by brother Karl Astrup Xavier in a family remembrance in Larry Spomer, Ed. Immanuel Lutheran Church Centennial 1874-1974 (Albion, NE, 1974), p. 15.
     For a thorough study of the complexities of the Norwegian-American situation in mid-America in World War I,  Carl H. Chrislock, Ethnicity Challenged: The Upper Midwest Norwegian-American Experience in World War I. Topical Studies, Vol 3. (Northfield, MN: NAHA, 1981), especially the chapter "The Politics of Loyalty," pp. 89-121.
[4]   John Edward Xavier, "Karl Xavier 1869-1924," pp.5-8. For biographical details on Karl and Bina, see Olaf Morgan Norlie, School Calendar: A Who's Who of Norwegian Education, 1824-1924 (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1924), pp***** and Norlie N

Again, on the social status and role of the Pastor and wife, see Jordahl, p. 106.

****[4] See Xavier, p. 1, for a brief recounting of the role of Valborg Henrietta Xavier in the preservation of her father's papers. Valborg was during her entire lifetime a boundless source of family history.

 [5] On Rolvaag's own evaluation of Rev. Karl Xavier, see also, O.E. Rolvaag, Concerning Our Heritage, Solveig Zempel, trans. and editor. Travel and Description Series, Vol. XII. (Northfield, MN: NAHA, 1998), p. 151. Rolvaag states: "...many others [are] now dead around whose names some of us see a halo, and with good reason...[including] Karl Xavier...." [Italics added by John E. Xavier].

    See further, as an example of Karl's writing in both prose and poetry, Karl Xavier, "Nils Paul Xavier: En skisse," Nord-Norge, 12 (1918), p.14-18. (P. 18 is Karl's poem, "In Memoriam," dedicated to the honor of the late Nils Paul Xavier.) The Nord-Norge quarterly, in which O.E. Rolvaag actively participated, was published as the print organ of the Nordlandslaget [Nordlands Society or Lag], an association of Norwegian immigrants from the upper regions or Norway. The Saami (usually referred to a century ago as "Lapps") did not in the early part of the 1900s have their own ethnic association. At that time, the organizations now known as the Sami Siida of North America TM and the Finnmarkslag did not yet exist, so several prominent Saami, Kven and Norwegians from the Arctic regions tended to associate with the Nordlandslaget and the Nord-Norge publication.

[6] On Rolvaag's stature among Norwegian-American authors, see Theodore C. Blegen, Norwegian Migration to America: The American Transition, Vol. 2. (Northfield, MN: NAHA, 1940), pp. 594-596. Blegen writes of Rolvaag's monumental Giants in the Earth: "Its truth was not merely that of a realistic portrayal of scenes and events, but ... that of a wise understanding of the psychological realities underlying the immigrant frontier experience." (p. 595)

   On the same topic, see also, Einar Haugen, "O.E. Rolvaag: Norwegian-American," Studies and Records, Vol. VII (1933), pp. 53-73.  Haugen's article and others in this volume were dedicated to the memory and honor of the then-recently deceased Rolvaag.
    Yet another contemporary of the era of Rolvaag, saw him as one of the great voices of immigrant literature. See N.N. Ronning, Fifty Years in America (Minneapolis, MN: Friends Publishing, 1938), p.

    As an example of the on-going scholarly interest in Rolvaag, see, Raychel A. Haugrud, "Rolvaag's Search for Soria Moria," NAS XXVI (1974), 103-117. Prof. Haugrud both summarizes and interprets major themes in across the spectrum of the work of Rolvaag.

    Finally, Rolvaag's historic place often reminds me of a question asked at different times about Irving Berlin's place in American popular music. I recall the answer was to the effect that "Irving Berlin is American popular music." As to Rolvaag's place in Norwegian-American literature, well, it seems to me "He is (or he defines) Norwegian-American literature."

Celebration of Marriage of Saami-American Linnea Mueller and Trevor Huinker

Deep Roots in Marriage of Linnea Mueller and Trevor Huinker

Linnea and Trevor were married on Sunday, September 4, 2011 in St. Paul. Their roots go deeply into the worlds of Minnesota and Iowa. Linnea is a Saami-American, of the line of Nils Paul (N.P.) and Amanda (Norum) Xavier who came to the U.S. in 1873. Her great-grandfather, Rev. Karl Xavier, attended Luther College in Decorah, as did both Linnea and Trevor. So, Trevor with his Dutch background has welcomed our many-branched family into the Huinker family and we are honored. More soon to be edited into this post, but for now, congratulations all around, to Linnea and Trevor!

Terror Tragedy in Norway by John E. Xavier

Terrorism or Acts of a Lone Wolf Madman?

 There can be no doubt that the recent acts of violence in Norway are acts of terrorism. Whether or not there is found to be a network of accomplices, the sheer audacity, hate, racism, and cold calculation-coupled with mass murder-easily fit this event into the category of terrorism.
   It was dismaying to see even respectable news media, including a columnist for the Washington Post, jumping to the unwarranted conclusion, in early commentary, that the terrorism had roots in radical Islam. Well, in fact, the opposite was the case. Now that the mass killings are known to be perpetrated by a blond, blue-eyed white, European male, there will be vast forces tilting the argument away from terrorism toward theories of the solitary madman, the lone wolf, etc.
   Basic logic says that the accused, named Anders Breivik, could not have carried out his terroristic monstrosity without friends and suppliers. For example, he did not manufacture either his weaponry or the fertilizer used in his bomb. For another example, he had a uniform and identity papers of sufficient quality to get him close in for mass murder by shooting. For both examples, it will be necessary to determine who sold what and when, whether forgery is involved, and who knew of the plans he had.
     All of that information will come out in the context of on-going and thorough investigation, but the investigation must be truly on-going and thorough, with no loose ends and no easy acceptance of shrugged shoulders from persons being interviewed.

Future Reports on the Attack and Implications of  Public Debates

    The reports of the details will be long in coming, but after investigators conduct interviews with several hundred people, some patterns will emerge:

1) Fallacies about superiority of race, gender, religion, and culture.

     Breivik, to be blunt, is an ignorant, hate-filled man of small intellect who does not represent a superior race, gender or culture. And yet he claimed to act in defense of what he defined as indigenous culture. His defense was simply nothing more than terrorism by mass murder, through bombing and shooting unarmed people.
   Well, then, he did not claim to defend the indigenous culture of the Arctic region Saami, who in fact are among the oldest indigenous cultures in Eurasia. The Saami and related groups, included the Kven cultures, according to the most ancient of historical records, have been present in Norway (and Sweden, Finland and Russia) since before the beginnings of written history. Furthermore, given the vast importation of slaves from all over the world by vikings over hundreds of years, it is simply impossible to describe the dominant Norwegian society as pure or indigenous.
     Finally, contrary to Breivik's narrow views on his main complaints, Norway has always had a variety of small religious groups. And, as in ancient times and in our contemporary times, women in Norway exercise power in many, if not all, elements of Norwegian life.
     So how could Breivik possibly hope to reverse all of the ways of Norway by his shallow arguments and his terrorist acts? Well, like the thugs who usually embrace his type of thinking, he hoped to change Norway by committing mass violence and killing, which in turn (he thought) would shock society into action along the lines of his thinking. He did so the way the old Brown Shirts and the Ku Klux Klan always have: by being rough and tough around defenseless or unprotected people, by cowardly attacks, and by using overwhelming violence to destroy and to intimidate opposition.
   The utter nonsense of Breivik's ideas of racial, gender, religious, and cultural superiority have been refuted for so long and in so many ways that it is almost a waste of time here to add further put-downs of such concepts. Yet the reports coming out of this terrorist attack will show that thousands of people, even in educated, wealthy Norway, are influenced by, or even filled with the utter nonsense of Breivik's ideas. And furthermore, many will make statements to the effect that, we can hardly blame the poor, frustrated fellow for his feelings.
   Beyond that, some will deplore his violence, but argue for the validity of his ideological points. The problem with that approach is that, in fact, Breivik's violence arises as the logical result of his ideology. Surely, that ideology, in the long-range debates of our nations, must be refuted and shown for the utter nonsense that it is. Breivik's ideology, if indeed it can be dignified with that term, is a stale rehash of old racism, male chauvinism, aryanism, and perverted interpretations of Christianity. The refutation of the screeds of Breivik (and his ideological entourage) needs to be a relentless refutation, point-by-point, and accompanied by frank discussions of Breivik's multiple false ideas of superiority of race, gender, religion and culture.

2) Failure to examine various sources of terrorism.

     Yet another pattern will emerge, which is that security personnel all over the world have been obsessed with Islamic radicals, and have overlooked on the one hand other potential sources of terrorism such as the Breiviks, and on the other hand methods of prevention and response. That discussion will go on for the foreseeable future. One example comes to mind: It is no failure of democracy to have rapid-response SWAT-type teams available for such horrific situations. Simply put, the unconscionable delay in Oslo of the authorities turned out to cost lives, due to the lack of basic equipment (helicopters, for example) and thorough training.
     This represents a failure of Norwegian leadership, when every modern nation is morally obligated to have plenty of resources and training for rapid response to such large-scale terrorism as in the Breivik case. Another example comes to mind: Breivik claims affinity to or influence from many racist or supremacist groups. Again, it is no failure democracy to investigate those claims and to root out financial or logistical support systems that might exist among these groups.

Looking to the Future and a Bit of Saami Context

     Breivik's terrorist acts took many lives, including the lives of Saami who were participating in the summer programs offered them. In the wake of Breivik's terrorist acts, Norway as a nation, and the various social and ethnic elements of Norway seem to be united in affirming the human rights of all, and in rejecting the nonsense and violence of Breivik and his ilk. Surely the future of Norway will be subject to self-examination. In a democracy this is on-going and desirable. And surely, as historical events are retold, Norway will examine its own history of religious and ethnic oppression.
     Among those historical events of oppression are included just a few things that come to mind:  1) former restrictions on Jews; 2) the great Saami Kautokeino Uprising of 1852, recently portrayed so well in  Nils Gaup's film Kautokeino opproret; and 3) the cooperation of many Norwegians with the Nazi occupation during World War II. I would hope too that many scholars would step forward to reiterate that the Vikings brought so many wives and slaves back from their wars that the very concept of racial and ethnic purity in Norway becomes worse than a joke, and instead becomes a complete impossibility.
   Let us, then, in the Churchillian phraseology, draw on our Saami or other ties to Norway, and let us so brace ourselves that a thousand years hence, people will read of us, see us on film, know how we rose to the challenge of living together, and say of us all that this has been among their finest hours. A worthy challenge, for a worthy purpose.

Mark A. Selid (1947-2011), Requiescat in Pace

By John E. Xavier

   A major loss to the extended Xavier family and the siida of Saami North Americans was the passing in  June (2011) of Mark A. Selid  from complications of a bicycle accident and heart attack, at the age of 63. While this blog certainly will be edited further, Mark's life merits consideration at this very time of deep, disappointing, and premature loss felt by so many. So, while this is fully in the Scandinavian tradition of an interpretive Life Sketch, it may be lacking of some names and details, more of which will appear in the fullness of time.
   Mark Alvin Selid was an American of Saami and Norwegian background. His mother, Borghild (Xavier) Selid, is at 93 the surviving elder of the Xavier family of Rev. Karl Xavier and Bina (Kammerud) Xavier and also recognized as a Saami American elder in a long Saami American line. That line was established in the late1860s by Mark's great-grandparents, Rev. Nils Paul Xavier (1839-1918) and Amanda Magdalena (Norum) Xavier (1849-1934). Mark's parents, Rev. Alvin Selid and Borghild (Xavier) Selid were active for decades in Lutheran Church circles in Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington and Oregon.
   Mark was born in Minot, North Dakota, attending public schools in Enderlin, North Dakota and Spokane, Washington. Mark earned a bachelor's degree in 1969 from Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) in Tacoma. It was at PLU that his great-uncle, Prof. Johan U. Xavier, served briefly as President, and as professor for about forty years, during the first half of the 1900s. Following a brief US Army stint, Mark was in Chicago with Florsheim before returning to his beloved Pacific Northwest.
   In 1986, Mark earned a Master's in Taxation at Portland State University, had a long run practicing as a CPA and serving many years as a faculty member at George Fox University. He combined the linear and analytical thinking of accountancy with the humanistic interpretation of the liberal arts. He loved people, and he clearly understood accountancy as a way of helping society to measure itself, not only to measure money.
   As was the case with his parents, nearly all of his siblings and several cousins, Mark visited Norway and Sapmi, and traveled with family elsewhere as well, in the USA, Canada, and Europe. He was involved in family events, not just for the triennial Xavier or various Selid reunions, but as part of life. He remained active throughout his years in various sports and outdoor activities.
   He poured enormous amounts of time, effort, and love into the lives of his children Stephanie and Chris. In this family dedication and indeed in his entire life, I always saw Mark as a classy guy, to be counted on, who had a thoughtful and ofttimes wry and dry-humored approach...all as he endlessly gave of himself to family, work, community, church, and to life itself. He drew from deep wells.
   Mark and his first wife, the late Marcy (Runnels), had two children, Stephanie (Selid) Ostrem and Chris. Stephanie and her husband, Andy Ostrem, just had a baby, Owen Mark, Mark's first grandchild, a few weeks prior to Mark's death. In addition to Stephanie and Andy, Chris, and Owen Mark, he is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and by siblings Rebecca (Selid) Matson (Bill); Ruth Selid; Rachel (Selid) Gunderson (Art); Naomi (Selid) Tweet (Steve); and Stephen Selid, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded in death by first wife Marcy, who died of cancer in 1991; by his father, Rev. Alvin Selid, by paternal grandparents Nels and Jennie Selid; and by maternal grandparents Rev. Karl Xavier (1869-1924) and Bina (Kamrud) Xavier (1880-1931).
   I've read that more than one politician or leader of industry has lived in the fear of being summed up, as if there is shame in that. I sum up Mark as a great cousin, the sort of fellow many of us will miss for all of our earthly time, and whose memory will be recalled with frequency and fondness. May we all have such a legacy as that of this man, this fine gentleman.

Saami Rights in Europe as Indigenous People

John E. Xavier

   Magne Ove Varsi spoke this month, February 15th, at the Norwegian Memorial Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Varsi is the lead official af the Galdu Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, headquartered in Guovdageainnu (Kautokeino), Norway. Mr. Varsi's presentation centered on Saami history and his experience working on a worldwide basis, including with the United Nations. His presentation included examples from the audio-visual presentation materials developped by the Saami people for education and information. The audience was both large and attentive, as Mr. Varsi presented in English.
   Mr. Varsi spent considerable time explaining the assimilation policies of the past, where Norway (and Sweden, Finland and Russia) systematically worked to absorb Saami society by what was once called Norwegianization. Norwegianization included, said Mr. Varsi, required attendance in the Norwegian State Church, repression of Saami languages, degrading Saami customs and general policies which were destructive of reindeer herding, salmon fisheries, and rural hunting and gathering. These policies made for a kind of imperialism or colonialism to the detriment of the Saami peoples. To show Saami participation in Norwegian socity, Mr. Varsi gave several examples of Saami presence in historical events, such as Nobel Prize winner Nansen's exploration of Greenland. In Nansen's Greenland efforts, two Saami accompanied him, including Sam Balto. (Note: Balto was a cousin of Nils Paul Xavier, the patriach-founder of the Xavier family in North America, through the Tornensis side of things.The second Saami, whose name I am unable to read from my notes, was related to Mr. Varsi.)
   On the more positive side of things,  Mr. Varsi mentioned the trends since the World War II era. Saami languages and culture are now in full revival and the Saami in Northern Europe have improved education and healthcare opportunities at this time. Challenges continue in the areas of professional training for such areas as petroleum engineering and formation of Saami-owned companies. Finally, Mr. Varsi's well-produced dvd materials were impressive in their depiction of Saami music, and contemporary life.
   For further information, Mr. Varsi gave Galdu's website: http://www.galdu.org/ and I add to that http://www.mindekirken.org/ for local contact which has an archive newsletter (monthly) listing various Nordic cultural and historical activities. Thanks to the Mindekirken (Norwegian Memorial Church) for sponsoring Mr. Varsi.