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Swedish Press N Y A
S V E N S K A
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Learning with a Touch of Nobel
P R E S S E N
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February 2019 Vol 90:01 $5.95
01 2019
Nobel Prize Teacher Summit Ideon Science Park Sรกmi National Day
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Company File
A Swedish Good Idea for Sale in America By Peter Berlin
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n the Good Idea website (www.goodideadrinks. com) one can watch four amusing videos describing the benefits of the company’s flavored sparkling water. After a brief introduction by Dr Elin Östman, the Swedish co-inventor, a rather overweight man in a white coat appears on the scene. He begins to indulge in a meal rich in sugar and carbs which is fed through a funnel stuck into his upturned mouth. Afterwards he goes to sleep on the floor.
The carb orgy would normally trigger a major spike in a person’s blood sugar and the body’s attendant
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Photos: Good Idea Inc
insulin production, followed by post-meal drowsiness once the spike subsides. In another of the videos the spike is illustrated by a tennis ball machine firing a volley of “insulin balls” at the man who struggles initially to fend them off with his racket. But if he drinks some of the Good Idea sparkling water before the meal and imbibes the rest during the meal itself, he perceives a slow-down in the machine’s frenzy and returns the balls with ease. You get the picture: The sparkling water decapitates the blood sugar spike, thereby mitigating both the stress on the body during the meal and the subsequent drowsiness. This is achieved by adding a blend of five amino acids and chromium to the water. The amino acids prepare the metabolism to take care of the carbs in a better way, while the small amount of chromium fine-tunes the process and reduces
sugar cravings. The effect is claimed to have been confirmed by independent studies in Sweden, Germany, Canada and the US. The co-inventors of the beverage are Professor Dr. Rickard Öste and Associate Professor Dr. Elin Östman at Lund University in southern Sweden. Dr Öste is a leading European scientist in the field of nutrition and food chemistry, and the inventor of Oatly – a healthy oat-based milk alternative that is currently gaining popularity in the US. Dr Östman has a 20-year career as a food scientist, focusing on the preventive properties of foods in relation to lifestyle-related disease. She is currently serving as the Chief Scientist of Good Idea Inc., located in Larkspur, CA. Good Idea beverages come in three flavors: Orange/mango, lemon /lime, and dragonfruit. They are delivered in packs of 12 aluminum cans, are available in the US on Amazon, and also directly online from Good Idea Inc. The price of a pack is just under $29. Speaking of Amazon, 76 percent of the Good Idea reviews are five stars, while 15 percent are one star. The main focus among the reviewers is the flavor, confirming the old adage “Each to his own taste.” www.goodideadrinks.com
H E RI TAG E
‘February 6 is the Sámi National Day...’ Sámi Populations Succeed Despite Obstacles By Stephen Anderson
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lthough its borders are not outlined neatly on any map, you’ll know by the temperature when you arrive that you are in the land of the Sámi people. Well above the Arctic Circle, this area might seem uninviting to the casual tourist. Encompassing the most frigid segments of four countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia – this geographical anomaly is home to nomadic cultures that seem to thrive despite obvious hardships.
The Sámi people have their own folk costume, the kolt. Photo: Lola Akinmade Åkerström/ imagebank.sweden.se
First mentioned historically in the first century A.D. by the Roman senator Publius Tacitus, and noted over time in Norse sagas, the indigenous Sámi have survived for some 8,000 years by hunting, fishing, trapping and herding reindeer. It was not until February 6, 1917, that Sámi delegates from the four disparate populations met in Trondheim, Norway, to identify ways and means of prospering in concert rather than disparately. Hence, February 6 is observed annually as the Sámi National Day
across this frozen pinnacle of Europe. Wearing colorful garments, the celebrants enjoy and share concerts, culture, food and camaraderie. Typical of such celebrations is the four-day festival held annually in Jokkmokk, Sweden, for more than 400 years. Northern Europe’s largest winter market, it attracts people from several countries. In addition to taking helicopter and snowmobile tours, visitors can purchase elk and reindeer meat, smoked trout, Sámi bread, berries and jams. A reindeer race on frozen Lake Talvatis is a tourist highlight. By mere coincidence, February 6 also had been the date in the late 19th century when Sámi delegates from Russia’s Kola Peninsula met with Muscovite bureaucrats to iron out any issues of mutual concern. The Sámi of Norway and adjacent lands consisted of three segments: Mountain, River and Sea.
Jokkmokk Market is one of the most important social events for the Sámi people in Sápmi. Photo: Asaf Kliger/imagebank.sweden.se
The widespread Mountain population specialized in reindeer breeding; the River segment concentrated on hunting and agriculture; and Sea Sámi, the largest group, lived by fishing and farming. Not unlike settlers in other lands, the Sámi worshipped the sun and moon as the gods who provided the plants and animals that sustained them. Religious beliefs similar to Shamanism emphasized the importance of natural forces. So who were these Sámi people and where did they come from? Unfortunately, the recorded history of northern Scandinavia doesn’t begin until early in the 9th Century – rather late compared with that
A reindeer race during the Jokkmokk Market in the north of Sweden. Jokkmokk Market has been around for more than 400 years. Photo: Asaf Kliger/imagebank.sweden.se
of the Greeks, Romans and other European populations. Some historians believe that the Sámi were original inhabitants of the northern lands. Most of them were short and had Mongoloid features. Perhaps they emigrated from Siberia. Time has yet to tell. Stephen Anderson is a former Board Member of the Swedish American Museum in Chicago, where a Sámi exhibit took place in 2013. He still serves at the front desk regularly and writes media releases for Museum events almost weekly.
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H ERITAG E
“My son’s birth made no difference!” From the Heart, Made by Hand: Treasures from the Women of Sweden By Trevor Brandt
“It was very rare for Nordic Women to walk the rosecolored path to greatness …” – quotation from Kvinnan i Nordens forntid (“Women of the Ancient North”) by Dr Hanna Rydh, 1926.
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his article is an introduction to a politician, international women’s rights activist, Sweden’s first female archaeologist, and a great friend of the American Swedish Historical Museum (ASHM). Dr. Hanna Rydh organized one of the museum’s most extensive collections – a gift of 75 textiles and other handcrafted materials made by women in every Swedish province. Through this gift, Dr. Rydh won a place of
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international honor for Nordic craftswomen. ASHM’s current special exhibition presents the life and legacy of Dr. Hanna Rydh through the gift presented in 1938. Of course, the objects are marvels in their own right – all celebrating the identities of Swedish provinces. But even more than highlighting regional craft, these goods are activist objects emphasizing the role of craftswomen through history and their burgeoning
equality with men in Sweden and America. Hanna Rydh (1891 – 1964), born to a wealthy Stockholm family and educated at Uppsala University, entered archaeology and politics just as modern women’s rights were established in Sweden. Only three years after Rydh earned her doctorate in 1919, Swedish women gained the right to vote, husbands’ guardianship over wives ended, and women won access to all professions. Rydh had already proven herself by directing prehistoric and Vikingage excavations across Sweden, but breaking into a male-dominated profession would have been impossible without such changes. Although doors to thousands of new careers opened just as Rydh finished her doctorate in archaeology, Swedish women still faced many challenges. For example, an English scholarship hesitated to fund Rydh’s projects after learning that she had given birth to a son. Rydh’s response gained global attention: “My son’s birth makes no difference!” Despite leading excavations in Sweden and India throughout her life, Rydh did not seek employment as an archaeologist. Rather, she directed her energies between the 1930s and 1950s into politics and international organizations. These efforts resulted in Rydh’s tenure as the chairperson of the Fredrika Bremer Association between 1937 and 1949, a member of parliament in 1943 and 1944, and – perhaps most famously – as president of the International Women’s Alliance from 1946 to 1952. Dr. Rydh’s international efforts only became more pronounced
H E RI TAG E
during the Second World War. In addition to directing humanitarian projects such as re-housing Finnish refugee children in Sweden, Rydh also acted as a diplomat by maintaining ties with women’s organizations of the Axis powers – Germany, Italy and Japan. Although Sweden remained neutral, Rydh’s activities were firmly anti-Nazi. Rydh frequented the secret “Tuesday Meetings” that readied armed resistance to German occupation. Her activities did not go unnoticed. A Stockholm-based publisher sympathetic to the Third Reich – Svea Rike – included Rydh’s name in a black-book called Who is Who on the Popular Front: The Leading Anglo-Russian Propagandists in Sweden. Rydh’s anti-authoritarian activism warranted her branding as “an Anglo-Bolshevik and Feminist”. Clear from Hanna Rydh’s life are her passions for both archaeology and politics. It would be easy to think that these were fascinating but ultimately unrelated pursuits. And, in many ways, they were. The 1930s were the golden age of archaeology – think of Sir Arthur Evans’ digs in Greece, Agatha Christie’s work in Iraq and, yes, Indiana Jones’ fictional hunt for biblical treasures. Such celebrityscholars had little need for politics. But Hanna Rydh blended her careers in a unique way that soon led to friendship with ASHM. This underlying theme was the meaning of handicrafts for ancient and modern Nordic women. Rydh’s scholarship – particularly her excavations of prehistoric and Viking-age graves – focused on traditionally female artifacts such as jewelry, clothing, cookware, and other domestic goods. Rydh argued that,
as women had always demonstrated superiority in these crafts, they had taken on active roles in their livelihood and thus had never been inferior. Today we might disagree with Rydh’s beliefs – after all, her success in archaeology showed that there are no uniquely gendered livelihoods or crafts. But Rydh knew that knowledge was the key to helping Nordic women realize their potential. Her work thus highlighted the capability of Nordic craftswomen as new civic and career paths opened to them. To give visibility to these beliefs, Rydh used her political contacts to organize international gifts. As early as the 1920s, Rydh assembled these gifts “from the women of Sweden” for bazaars in London. While less extensive than the later gift to ASHM, Rydh’s work in England laid the foundations for her craft and feminist diplomacy. The 1938 Swedish-American Tercentenary provided the perfect venue to further highlight Swedish craftswomen. The timing was ideal – Scandinavian modern designs were
wildly popular around the world. Both Swedish and American newspapers record that Philadelphians were ecstatic to buy Swedish goods in department stores such as Strawbridge’s. But the real show was at the American Swedish Historical Museum, where the Women’s Auxiliary coordinated with Rydh to exhibit these crafts from the women of Sweden. Such treasures included a coverlet from Ångermanland modeled on a royal gift; a Flemishweave tapestry from Malmö parading birds, flowers, and deer; and a massive rug from Uppland modeled on a 1700s tapestry. And from Dr. Rydh’s own province of Jämtland, beautiful dolls dressed in the local folk costume that Rydh herself had designed. Explore Dr. Hanna Rydh’s life and material legacy through a selection of gifts to the American Swedish Historical Museum in the exhibit: “From the Heart, Made by Hand” on view between September 16th, 2018 and March 10th, 2019! See also www.americanswedish.org. Photos: America Swedish Historical Museum
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