North Dakota Culture

As most residents of North Dakota are descendants of Scandinavian and German immigrants, North Dakotans are sometimes stereotyped similarly as Minnesotans.

Stereotypical traits include Lutheranism (35 percent of the state's population is Lutheran) "Minnesota nice," very close family ties (and a strong sense of duty to their families, healthy and dysfunctional alike), a strong sense of community and shared culture with many other North Dakotans instead of just with one's town or city, North Dakota often shares Minnesota's form of Upper Midwest American English, and a distinctive type of upper Midwestern accent.

Uniquely North Dakota cuisine includes Knoephla soup: a thick, stew-like chicken soup with dumplings, lutefisk: lye-treated fish, Kuchen: a kind of pie, Lefsa: a flat bread made from mashed potatoes that is eaten with butter and sugar, Fleischkuechle, a deep fried entree of ground beef covered in dough, deep fried, and served with chips and a pickle in most restaurants; strudel: a dough-and-filling item that can either be made as a pastry, or a savory dish with onions or meat; and other traditional German and Norwegian dishes. North Dakota also shares concepts such as hot dishes with the rest of the Midwest.

Along with having the most churches per capita of any state, North Dakota has the highest percentage of church-going population of any state.

Native American traditions are still practiced by the Native American population of North Dakota, especially on Indian reservation land. Pow-wows and traditional Native American dancing are still found across the state.

Outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing are hobbies for many North Dakotans. Ice fishing and snowmobiling are also popular during the winter months. Residents of North Dakota may own or visit a cabin along a lake. Weekend trips to lake cabins are common during the summer months. Popular sport fish are walleye, perch, and northern pike. The mosquito is an annoyance in North Dakota as well as neighboring states during the summer months.