Jill Schramm/MDN Norway’s ambassador to the U.S, Anniken Huitfeldt, wearing a Norwegian bunad, stands among the volunteers at the rommegrot booth at Norsk Hostfest Wednesday, Sept. 24. From left are Jennifer Hunze, Cindy Jenson, Huitfeldt, Darcy Schiele and Angie Speiser.

Norway’s ambassador to the United States began planning her trip to Norsk Hostfest shortly after assuming the ambassadorship in August 2024.

Ambassador Anniken Huitfeldt said Kelly Armstrong, then North Dakota’s Congressman, was the first member of Congress she met with after assuming her duties, and he told her she needed to be at Norsk Hostfest in Minot in 2025.

“It was decided from there that next year I’ll come and join the Hostfest because I’ve heard so much about it,” she said.

She arrived Tuesday and participated in Hostfest events on Wednesday.

“I saw the Scandinavian Heritage Park, which I think was amazing and much, much bigger than I expected to see. So, I’m so extremely happy and proud to see everything that’s happening here,” she said. “North Dakota is not the biggest state, but everything is big in the U.S., and also this festival is huge – so many people.”

Although she missed the annual observance at the McHenry County gravesite of Sondre Norheim, known as the father of modern skiing, she promises to be back to take that in.

Her visit also included meeting North Dakota’s first lady, Kjersti Armstrong, the wife of Kelly Armstrong, now governor. Kjersti Armstrong is a dual citizen of Norway and the United States, coming to America to study at the University of North Dakota School of Law.

Both coming from the Oslo, Norway, area, they became friends immediately and plan to stay in touch, Huitfeldt said.

Huitfeldt has an extensive background in government, having had a longstanding career in the Storting, the Norwegian parliament, and in Cabinet positions. She served as minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021-23.

Norway has had only five ambassadors to the United States over the past 25 years, Huitfeldt said.

“It tends to be bipartisan, so we are not being replaced if there is a change in government,” she said. “It’s very interesting to work on behalf of the whole political spectrum in Norway. We have common interests here in the U.S – first and foremost, when it comes to defense cooperation. That’s at the very core of the Norwegian-American common interest.”

She said she spends considerable time taking Americans to Norway, where they can see the hostile neighborhood in which the country exists with Russia next door. One of the largest nuclear bases in Russia sits just across Norway’s border.

Another common interest is oil development. The Norwegian oil and gas industry was developed with the help of Americans, while Norwegians were active in establishing the cruise industry in Florida, Huitfeldt said.

Huitfeldt added Norway has strong connections to a number of congressional members, with ties to North Dakota among the strongest. Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota chairs the congressional Norwegian caucus.

“After all, this has to do with personal relationships and these relationships have to be built. Before, it was family connection. They are still there,” Huitfeldt said of connections, “but we need to take care of them every day.”

She has used her speaking opportunities on this trip to promote student exchanges, such as the one that brought Kjersti Armstrong to North Dakota.

“I met students all over the U.S., coming here for maybe only one year. That is always making a big impression on those who are studying here, so we need to strengthen those connections,” she said.

Lutefisk is another commonality, although the fish dish is more of a Christmas specialty in Norway, eaten with a lot of bacon, which is an accompaniment Huitfeldt highly recommends.

This summer Huitfeldt attended the 200th celebration in Norway of the start of organized emigration to America, which is traced to the first ship to launch from Stavanger, Norway, on July 4, 1825. The anniversary celebration featured the first time all six members of the Norwegian royal family participated in an event together, she said.

A replica ship will sail from Stavanger, arriving for a celebration in New York Oct. 9. Norway’s crown prince will attend that celebration as well as celebrations in Minneapolis and Decorah, Iowa. Huitfeldt also plans to be there.

Hostfest’s celebration of the immigrants’ arrival is part of that celebration, Huitfeldt said. Although many Norwegian immigrants came to big cities such as New York, Chicago and Minneapolis, the dream was to settle in rural areas like North Dakota.

“Norwegians, more than other groups, wanted to stay in the countryside. These people were rural people who wanted to settle in rural America. So, that’s what we had in common,” she said. “The beauty here was the beauty of fertile soil and the beauty of freedom and religious freedom.”

Huitfeldt said she had relatives who were early emigrants but tracing that ancestry has been difficult because of the limited records prior to 1870. Her uncle has taken on the task of hunting down that ancestry. Assisting in ancestry discovery, the National Archives of Norway has made free digital searches available online to anyone in the world, with access in the English language.

Internet resources have led to a surge of interest in ancestry research in Norway, Huitfeldt said.

“In a globalized world, people are paying more attention to that,” she said.