BLYN — Norwegians and Native Americans heaped praise, food and gifts on one another Saturday during a “historic” visit by Knut Vollebaek, Norway’s ambassador to the United States, to the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
The events leading to the visit, which was about three years in the making, seem the work of chance — a weekend seminar on local Native American culture sparked connections between tribal elder Elaine Grinnell and Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.
Grinnell eventually met Vollebaek and invited him to visit her tribe, and he accepted.
Several speakers noted connections between Norway and Native Americans.
Norway has a history with its indigenous people, the Samis, that is similar to the U.S. treatment of Natives — removal from land, attempts to extinguish their language, the removal of children from traditional homes.
Representatives of the Makah tribe from Neah Bay thanked Norway for supporting them in their bid to re-establish traditional treaty whaling rights.
Viking explorers
And, Vollebaek said, Viking explorers from Norway were probably the first Europeans to come into contact with the first Americans, and he said Saturday’s event renewed “a relationship that may have started more than 1,000 years ago.”