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I’ve been planning on going to the Hjemkomst center in Moorhead since the beginning of the semester to use it as a Heritage site but didn’t get around to it until this week. I’m actually glad I waited after reading Dr. Isern’s book Dakota Circle. I found some things in his book that just seemed to pop out at me more as I went through the Museum.

Hjemkomst is the name of the ship that is housed at the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center. It is a Viking ship built by Bob Asp in Hawley, MN modeled after the Gokstad burial ship unearthed in Norway in 1880. The point of building the ship was to sail it to Norway from Duluth, MN. Bob Asp built the Hjemkomst in the 70’s and first sailed it for the first time in 1980. Sadly Bob Asp passed away before the ship could be taken to Norway but his family and others still made the voyage in 1982.

The chapter in Dakota Cirle that talks about people wanting to leave their mark on the world through different things such as big things on the plains and this is a perfect example. I also remember the part about us really tying our heritage to the Vikings. I went to eastern Russia as a 16 year old and everyone I met there said they came from Mongolia or more specifically from Genghis Kahn. We want a glorious and dominant past in our lives. The Hjemkomst is another example of us as plainsfolk trying to leave a mark, follow a dream, and have pride in our past.