I grew up in rural Minnesota among people who felt a deep sense of belonging to a particular piece of ground. The bonds of family and farm work tied them to their acreage. This, and curiosity about members of my own family tree who settled and labored here before me inspired Home Lands. The project tells stories of the family roots that have nurtured multiple generations, and all with a common theme of the idea of home.
As I photographed at homestead sites of some of my own ancestors and thought about their lives, my legacy as a fifth generation Minnesotan began to feel more complicated and less romantic.
The story of my Norwegian third great-grandfather’s immigration to Otter Tail County led me to consider what these “settlers” represent to people not descended from them, and to acknowledge history that my community often insulates its members from: The United States displaced indigenous people to make way for our system of land ownership. Should I regard my third great-grandfather Even Granrud as an invader, an unwitting tool of colonialism, or as a hard-working soul who braved an ocean and half a continent in his commitment to making a better life for his family, laying the foundation for how I live today?
The answer is probably a little of each.
This project opened for me a more complete understanding of Minnesota history, parts I can celebrate and take pride in and others that evoke contemplation of the price paid by others for my privileged birth. What story will I tell my young daughter about how our family took root here? Can I help her have a full and nuanced picture of the transformation of the land under our feet that took place since her forth great-grandfather arrived in 1865?
Like me, my neighbors with roots in 19th century European immigration to Otter Tail County may have mixed feelings about their ancestors’ roles in the region’s development. They certainly also experience the same gut-level sense of belonging to a home land I feel in the woodlot where my ancestors cut firewood to warm their homes, or when I catch the earthy scent of soil after spring rain falls on a field they worked long ago.
HAUGRUD FAMILY PORTRAIT
This portrait makes reference to many photographs of rural families with recent immagrant roots. The pictures include the house as its own personality, some of the household goods and the means of making a livlihood. People in the old pictures look dignified and somewhat somber, so I aked the Haugruds to give me the same appearance for their portrait.