8th Finglish trip May 2009 #3
One of the speakers on the FinnFest USA cruise to Alaska is Don Bibeau. He’s a Finndian, as Finnish-Americans say, half Chippewa and half Finnish. His grandmother’s surname was Muhonen; she had come from Finland to North Dakota, where his mother, Lempi Mathilda, was born. The mother was in close contact with her own Finnish family.
The Finnish community, however, did not accept Don Bibeau’s family, and for this reason it was only towards retirement that he also began to understand his Finnish identity. Don Bibeau studied philosophy and law. He worked as a teacher in Minneapolis. Don Bibeau has a site at the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota, where he plans to build a house when he retires.
Next Lois Lakso Munch Ketchikan Alaska USA