Minnesota folklore, although its study and documentation has never been a priority among academics, is exceptionally rich. As the state has been the residence of such a wide variety of ethnic groups, Minnesota's folktales and

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s are reflective of its history.

Folk heroes

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the or ...

, the legendary giant

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

* Otto Walta, a

Finnish-American Finnish Americans ( fi, amerikansuomalaiset, ) comprise Americans with ancestral roots from Finland or Finnish people who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population numbers a little bit more than 650,000. Man ...

homesteader and strongman from the northern

Iron Range The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...

, is the hero of many folktales told around St. Louis County, Minnesota. * Ola Värmlänning, a booze swilling,

Swedish-American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. Today, ...

prankster from

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, can easily be compared to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is ...

. * Father

Francis Xavier Pierz Francis Xavier Pierz ( sl, Franc Pirc or ''Franc Pirec''; german: link=no, Franz Pierz) (November 20, 1785 – January 22, 1880) was a Roman Catholic priest and missionary to the Ottawa and Ojibwe Indians in present-day Michigan, Wisconsin, Ontar ...

, a pioneer missionary

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, is the subject of many tales told among the

Ojibwe people The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

White Earth Reservation The White Earth Indian Reservation ( oj, Gaa-waabaabiganikaag, "Where there is an abundance of white clay") is the home to the White Earth Band, located in northwestern Minnesota. It is the largest Indian reservation in the state by land area. T ...

and the German- and

Slovenian-American Slovene Americans or Slovenian Americans are Americans of full or partial Slovene or Slovenian ancestry. Slovenes mostly immigrated to America during the Slovene mass emigration period from the 1880s to World War I. History The first Slove ...

Catholics of

Stearns County, Minnesota Stearns County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,292. Its county seat and largest city is St. Cloud. The county was founded in 1855. It was originally named for Isaac Ingalls Stevens, th ...

.''Stories of Father Pierz,'' collected on the

during the 1920s by Father Benno Watrin, OSB. Taken from the Archives of the

College of Saint Benedict The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are two closely related private, Catholic higher education institutions in Minnesota. The College of Saint Benedict is a women's college located in St. Joseph, while Saint John's Univ ...

St. Joseph, Minnesota St. Joseph is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,534 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and according to 2019 census estimates is now 7,351. It is home to the College of S ...

. A photocopy is in Father Francis Pierz file in the Archive Room, Stearns County Historical Society,

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

Folk creatures

* While not restricted to Minnesota, many

wendigo Wendigo () is a mythological creature or evil spirit originating from the folklore of Plains and Great Lakes Natives as well as some First Nations. It is based in and around the East Coast forests of Canada, the Great Plains region of the Uni ...

myths and sightings originate from areas within Minnesota. * The

Minnesota Iceman The Minnesota Iceman is a sideshow exhibit and elaborate hoax that depicts a fake man-like creature frozen in a block of ice. It was displayed at shopping malls, state fairs, and carnivals in the United States and Canada in the 1960s and early 1970 ...

. *

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, Minnesota is home to a myriad of supernatural urban legends and folktales.

Folk songs

Much work of collecting Minnesota folk songs was conducted during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

by Bessie M. Stanchfield, whose papers and research are now housed by the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

. * "The Beauty of the West", a Minnesota pioneer ballad from the 1850s, was collected by Stanchfield in spring 1936. She arranged for it to be published for the first time in the '' Minnesota History'' in September 1946.

References

{{Folklore-stub