EARLY IMMIGRANT IN MINNESOTA 2 Early immigrant in Minnesota Running head: EARLY IMMIGRANT IN MINNESOTA 1 Minnesota is a land known for its heavy welcome of immigrants. Minnesota has been regarded as a state of immigrants. The first residents, the American Indians, all arrived from different locations and origins. The names of the localities, the waterways and the landmarks around the Minnesota state reflects the waves of immigration that occurred between the 19th and 20th century. Today, immigrants comprise approximately 13% of the Minnesota’s population. In this article, we seek to explore the experiences of the early immigrants in Minnesota. Although there are many immigrants in Minnesota from different locations, this study will focus primarily on the experiences of Hmong, Karen, Latino, Liberian and Somali immigrants. Land and family were significant assets for the immigrants in the Minnesota state. Particularly, it is important to note that there are different groups of people who took refuge as immigrants in Minnesota (Oestergen, 1981). The Latino community makes up the largest proportion of the foreign-born population living in Minnesota. Approximately 7% of the people living in Hennepin and Ramsey counties are Latino. The Hennepin and Ramsey counties are homes to over 64000 people from the Hmong communities. Approximately 3000 Karen refugees came into Minnesota fleeing the violence and war experienced in Burmese civil war. Finally, the United States became home to Liberian and Somali refugees following the civil wars in their countries. Approximately 32 000 refugees from Somali live in Minnesota since the 1990s. Land was owned by families and the immigrants depended on the transition of the land through family lineages. The inheritance of land from one individual to another was done according to the customs and the cultural beliefs of the people involved. Land was particularly used for settlement and agricultural purposes. Other immigrants could also obtain land through purchasing from other land owners (Oestergen, 1981). For the first immigrants, getting to Minnesota was the first major challenge they experienced. Even if they possessed the wherewithal to their passage, the journey across the ocean often lasted for numerous weeks in overcrowded and unhealthy conditions. According to Johnson (2014), the immigrants often faced attacks from the other ethnic groups that came into Minnesota. As a result of the difference in ethnicity, Johnson (2014) explains that language barrier became a major challenge especially because most of the immigrants chose to retain their native language. While many modern refugees arrive in the western countries through the use of planes, early refugees used ships with significant proportions of those onboard dying from the strong and cold winds on the ocean. They experienced anxiety and hardships especially in cases where they had to be separated from their relatives whom they had to wait for months ...

1. EARLY IMMIGRANT IN MINNESOTA 2
Early immigrant in Minnesota
Running head: EARLY IMMIGRANT IN MINNESOTA 1
Minnesota is a land known for its heavy welcome of
immigrants. Minnesota has been regarded as a state of
immigrants. The first residents, the American Indians, all
arrived from different locations and origins. The names of the
localities, the waterways and the landmarks around the
Minnesota state reflects the waves of immigration that occurred
between the 19th and 20th century. Today, immigrants comprise
approximately 13% of the Minnesota’s population. In this
article, we seek to explore the experiences of the early
immigrants in Minnesota. Although there are many immigrants
in Minnesota from different locations, this study will focus
primarily on the experiences of Hmong, Karen, Latino, Liberian
and Somali immigrants.
Land and family were significant assets for the immigrants in
the Minnesota state. Particularly, it is important to note that
there are different groups of people who took refuge as
immigrants in Minnesota (Oestergen, 1981). The Latino
community makes up the largest proportion of the foreign-born
population living in Minnesota. Approximately 7% of the
people living in Hennepin and Ramsey counties are Latino. The
Hennepin and Ramsey counties are homes to over 64000 people
from the Hmong communities. Approximately 3000 Karen
refugees came into Minnesota fleeing the violence and war
experienced in Burmese civil war. Finally, the United States

2. became home to Liberian and Somali refugees following the
civil wars in their countries. Approximately 32 000 refugees
from Somali live in Minnesota since the 1990s. Land was owned
by families and the immigrants depended on the transition of
the land through family lineages. The inheritance of land from
one individual to another was done according to the customs
and the cultural beliefs of the people involved. Land was
particularly used for settlement and agricultural purposes. Other
immigrants could also obtain land through purchasing from
other land owners (Oestergen, 1981).
For the first immigrants, getting to Minnesota was the first
major challenge they experienced. Even if they possessed the
wherewithal to their passage, the journey across the ocean often
lasted for numerous weeks in overcrowded and unhealthy
conditions. According to Johnson (2014), the immigrants often
faced attacks from the other ethnic groups that came into
Minnesota. As a result of the difference in ethnicity, Johnson
(2014) explains that language barrier became a major challenge
especially because most of the immigrants chose to retain their
native language. While many modern refugees arrive in the
western countries through the use of planes, early refugees used
ships with significant proportions of those onboard dying from
the strong and cold winds on the ocean. They experienced
anxiety and hardships especially in cases where they had to be
separated from their relatives whom they had to wait for months
if not years to be reunited.
After their arrival in Minnesota, the next major challenge was
obtaining a job or a source of livelihood. It is important and
worthwhile noting that most immigrants arrived into Minnesota
with little education and few assets which made it difficult for
them to acquire employment in the cities they were settled.
However, most of them had transferable life skills such as
farming and carpentry thus making it easier to find employment
in the frontier states. Language difficulties even made it
difficult to survive in the new land of Minnesota. Since most of

3. the immigrants in Minnesota were not from English-speaking
countries, they were required to train themselves to read, write
and speak English in order to be in a position to communicate
with the residents and other people in Minnesota (Cameron,
2010). Those with a low awareness of English could only secure
low-paying employment opportunities while those who were
fortunate enough to learn English were in a position to secure
themselves well-paying jobs in Minnesota. Language barriers
have existed as a major challenge for both the early immigrants
as well as the most recent immigrants. The other major concern
for the immigrants in Minnesota was money (Cameron, 2010).
Becoming fully established in the new home is a common goal
of all the immigrants into Minnesota. This means purchasing a
home, settling in and making significant contributions to the
society in general. As was earlier explained, most arrived in
their new homes with few possessions and as such finding it
considerably difficult to make ends meet. The numerous cycles
of the global economic recessions have made it difficult for
these immigrants to attain their American dreams.
In conclusion, although the immigrants in Minnesota are of
significant importance to the development of the state, most of
them still live under challenging environments several decades
since their entry. According to Cameron (2010), immigrants
contribute significantly to the growth of the Minnesota’s
economy in terms of consuming the products and services from
Minnesota, providing labour, paying taxes and revenues and
establishing entrepreneurial premises, all which contribute to
the development of the state. With this understanding, the
community leaders and the state government have a
responsibility of ensuring their smooth transition from their
original environments to the new Minnesota environment.
Specifically, the leaders should put more efforts into learning
the ways of life of these people and thus provide them with
environments best suited for their transition.
References

4. Cameron, L. (2010). The Minnesota Immigrant Experience.
Common threads, 97-105.
Johnson, D. L (2014) Listening to the Pierie Swedish American
Geologist 24 (1)5-8
Oestergen, R.C (1981). Land and family in rural immigrant
communities, Annals of the association of American
Geographers, 71 (3), 400-411