News that our fair state's Nordic identity is shrinking shouldn't cause unnecessary panic or a rush on smoked salmon.
As my colleague David Peterson reported in mid-September, the number of Twin Citians identifying as German-, Norwegian- or Swedish-American has dropped by nearly 100,000 in five years. Still, these three ethnic groups claim more than 50 percent of the state's population.
Such news, though, can serve to reawaken an interest in one's roots, and that brings me to croissants, something to which I'm always happy to be brought.
As David sheds light on the largest branches of our family tree, Christine Loys has been zeroing in on one of the smallest, yet most important, groups of settlers to arrive in Minnesota, though most of us know little about them.
Long live the small but mighty French, about 5 percent of the metro area's population, whose legacy will soon be featured in an hourlong documentary directed by Loys, who hails from Paris.
"How do you say that? 'I'm over the moon,' " said Loys, a veteran journalist who has spent much of the past two years traveling throughout Minnesota to answer the question: "Are the roots of French heritage still alive in Minnesota?"
She coyly wouldn't answer — she said I needed to see the film — but it's likely a hearty "Oui." Loys, whose production team includes co-producer Mark Steele and director of photography Jim Brandenburg, has traveled to Duluth, Beaulieu on the White Earth Reservation, lakes Lac qui Parle and Mille Lacs, forts including Grand Portage and La Riviere du Serpent, as well as Nicollet Mall and Radisson Road.
She's explored French architecture and the French imprint on food, law and medicine. She's learned about fur trapping during the Voyageur period and the French settlers' abiding friendship with the state's Native Americans.
