Culture

​Nerdy Rummage Sale 2026

June 8th, 2026

Saturday, June 13, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Paradox Comics-N-Cards, 814 Main Ave., Fargo

Calling all nerds: it’s time to get down and nerdy with vendors aplenty, who are selling comics, toys, video games, board games, various collectibles and treasures at Paradox Comics-N-Cards. Admission is free — and note that this event will be held outdoors in the south parking lot. In case of inclement weather, it will be rescheduled for August 28th.

Read more...


​German Russian resilience: they came to Russia for the land and left to avoid becoming Russians

April 24th, 2026

By Michael M. Miller

Francie M. Berg, native of Hettinger, N.D., edited an impressive book, “Ethnic Heritage in North Dakota,” published in 1983. She grew up on a ranch near Miles City, Montana. Her son, Richard Berg, is Interim President at NDSU.

In her article, “Most North Dakota Germans came from Russia,” Berg wrote:

They went to Russia largely to obtain free land. They left Russia largely to avoid becoming Russians. But once they came to the United States, they encountered…

Read more...


​‘An understanding of the Russia Germans’

February 23rd, 2026

By Michael M. Miller

Rev. Salomon Joachim, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, North Dakota., delivered an address to the Western Conference of the Dakota District of the American Lutheran Church in 1939. His presentation was called: “Toward an Understanding of the Russia Germans.”

Rev. Joachim pointed to the results of the United States Census of 1930. At that time, 103,532 Russian Germans lived in the country.

“The Russia German element is with us to stay,” he said.…

Read more...


​Living history weekend 2026: ND National Guard in WWII

February 16th, 2026

February 28, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

March 1, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

1883 Stutsman County Courthouse State Historic Site

504 3rd Ave. S.E., Jamestown, ND

The 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse and the 164th Infantry Remembrance Association are joining forces to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the regiment’s participation in WWII. Re-enactors and historians will provide interactive experiences, adding to the ambience of the historic courthouse. Programming will center on military life, the sacrifices made…

Read more...


​Minnesota in winter

February 13th, 2026

By Winona LaDuke

Napoleon LaDuke was my great uncle. I’ve always had a liking for that name. My great uncle was a brown man from the Northwoods who was in World War I and came back “shell shocked.” He wasn’t even a citizen of the U.S. at the time but nevertheless — like many Native people — went across the big water to combat fascism and more. Today, he is buried in a pauper’s grave at the former Fergus Falls mental hospital.

History teaches us if we pay attention. Napoleon…

Read more...


​Angels of the prairie: the role of women in North Dakota folklore

January 15th, 2026

By Kooper Shagena


Just off of I-94 and Highway 83 on State Street in Bismarck, an abandoned Kmart sits behind an empty parking lot, watching the cars roll on and off the interstate exchange. It has been standing there quietly since it closed down in 2020, after providing the Bismarck area with 50 years of Christmas shopping and grocery runs. Then one day in 2023, it began to snow inside the old department store.

Canticle Productions, founded by Daniel Bielinski, the Chair of Dramatic…

Read more...


​Glückstal Colonies Research Association celebrates 40 years

January 15th, 2026

By Michael M. Miller


This month we join our colleagues in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Glückstal Colonies Research Association (GCRA). It was founded in January 1986 by Margaret Freeman and Carolyn Wheeler, aided in consultation with Arthur Flegel and Gwen Pritzkau.

The purpose of the GCRA is two-fold. The first goal is to coordinate the efforts of individuals researching descendants of the Glückstal district colonies. The second goal is to locate, gather, organize and…

Read more...


Christmas memories from the Germans from Russia

December 18th, 2025

By Michael Miller

As the holiday season approaches, I extend Yuletide Best Wishes and a special “Weihnachten” greeting to you and your family. I would like to share with you Christmas memories from our Germans from Russia community. Please email me your Christmas memories at michael.miller@ndsu.edu

Fargo resident Sister Collette Werlinger, born in 1931 on a farm near Napoleon, North Dakota, writes, “I fondly remember Santa coming, but never before dark, the cows were milked, and…

Read more...


​German Russian scholars of note

October 20th, 2025

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions of other names, please contact me.

Monsignor George Aberle (1891-1981), Hague, North Dakota, was born in the Catholic Kutschurgan District villages (today near Odesa, Ukraine). He authored “Pioneers and Their Sons: One Hundred Sixty-Five Family Stories and…

Read more...


‘Phantom of the Opera’ hits the big screen and orchestra pit

October 15th, 2025

By Kooper Shagena

koopershagena@gmail.com

One night, Jane Linde Capistran, associate conductor of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, sat and drank wine with her friends: “Jennifer Tackling, the associate concertmaster, and Elise Buffett Nelson, who’s the principal cellist,” she recalls. “We thought, ‘It would be fun if the symphony could do a Halloween program to engage with the community.’”

They had done a Halloween show in the previous year with just the quartet,…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL Tracker Pixel for Entry Hjemkomst Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire

Recently in:

By Bryce Vincent Haugen By all accounts, Democratic-Farmer-Labor U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar — first elected in 2006 — is the most popular active politician in Minnesota, whether she’s judged by polling or by her four electoral…

Saturday, June 13, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.Paradox Comics-N-Cards, 814 Main Ave., FargoCalling all nerds: it’s time to get down and nerdy with vendors aplenty, who are selling comics, toys, video games, board games, various collectibles…

June 6-7StatewideYou grab a line and I’ll grab a pole — and if you’re a North Dakota resident, you can head on down to your favorite fishing hole, no license needed (for this weekend, anyway). All other rules still apply…

By John Strand It took us over 30 years for us to reach out and ask for your help. The High Plains Reader has always been subscription free and paywall free. Our content has — and always will be — free to access for all of our…

By Ed RaymondWere women created to do the work of God?One of the first requests made by new Pope Leo XIV was to invite an expert on the alt-right conservative Catholic organization known as Opus Dei to brief him about its…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick GionThe scarfing of canned fish and seafood products by online food influencer types is hard to miss on social media these days. Some of the consumed morsels range from exquisite to downright nasty. However, there are many…

By Bryce Vincent Haugen The curtain has come down on Jade Presents. Fargo-Moorhead’s largest event promoter has brought thousands of shows — more than 150 per year — and hundreds of artists to the area over the past 36 years. On…

By Greg Carlson Steven Spielberg, who will turn 80 this December, returns to the subject of aliens among us in “Disclosure Day,” his first feature since “The Fabelmans” in 2022. Now closer to the end than the beginning of…

By Jacinta Zens I recently sat down for a chat with ceramicist Louie Albertson, Clay and Studio Program Manager at the Plains Art Museum. Before the interview, I had the pleasure of getting to know him a bit as a colleague when I…

Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Eli Liverani Cholesterol is probably one of the first molecules I have ever heard of in my childhood. Most of the relatives on my mother's side had high cholesterol in their blood, and apparently, levels above a certain range…

January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…

Chris M. Stoner I was recently dismissed from my role as drag show director and emcee for Dakota OutRight, a role I had been fulfilling for more than two decades. The reason given? My political commentary during shows, while…