Our Story

Established in early 2013, the French-American Heritage Foundation’s (FAHF) mission is to foster a greater understanding of the rich history and heritage of French-speaking people who helped form what is now Minnesota. We fulfill our mission by sponsoring educational events, seminars and classes about French heritage in Minnesota and by providing information to our members and the public about other events that involve French-language cultures or heritage. Our vision is to preserve, advance, and celebrate French-American heritage and culture.

For almost two hundred years before Minnesota became a state, French was the primary European language spoken here. After Minnesota became a state, and during the early years of European settlement, many French Canadians migrated here and approximately 79 French-speaking towns and communities were formed in Minnesota. Many of our place and street names remind us of the early French influence. French-speaking ancestors in Minnesota and surrounding states numbered in the hundreds of thousands and were important in all sectors of the society which built our state and region into what it is today.

However, much of this history is lost, or suppressed in our history books, and consequently, little is taught in school history courses about the French in Minnesota. French Canadians were a major settlement group in Minnesota, but have been given minimal coverage in historical narratives, or labeled simply by description as voyageurs.

Many people with names that do not sound French do not even realize their ancestors were French. The desire to become American and to leave their French heritage behind resulted in many changing their surname so they could blend in with the English-speaking society; for example, Boisvert became Greenwood, LeBlanc became White, Butolier became Butler, and Fallu became Foley. There are many more examples.

FAHF was founded to bring more attention to the diverse heritage and culture of historically French-language groups; including Haitian, Cajun, Belgium, North and West African, French, French Huguenots, Vietnamese, and any of the other French-speaking countries in the world, particularly the French Canadians who were a major settlement group in Minnesota. This is the niche we seek to help fill, and in the process to complement rather than compete with others with related interests but different focus.