When I look at my family's Dala Horse that sits on our shelf, I think of how my family got here in this country, and my grandmother telling me bits about her family. I’ve always wondered where my family came from, and I knew that the Dala Horse had some significant part in our family history. As a piece of heritage from generations before me, I wanted to know more about this interesting work of art. My grandmother Carol told me how her father and grandparents had immigrated to the U.S in 1917 and brought a Dala Horse with them. She said,” As a child, I remember getting the Dala Horse out around Christmas.” Her family used it as a way to represent their memories of Sweden and where they came from. The Dala Horse is a wood, handcrafted and colorfully painted horse sculpture that originated in the Dalarna region in Sweden. Horses like this have been passed down from generation to generation in my family. I see this sculpture around Christmas and the holidays and think about my ancestry. The most important thing it makes me think about is what the journey for my family was like to get here and that if they had not made the decision to come here I would not be here either.

– Aidan

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more