The Lavvu Coffee House, is North America's only Sami-inspired/themed coffee shop located due west of the Dinkytown area of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the corner of 35W off-ramp and Forth Street southeast. The Lavvu Coffee House specializes in northern Scandinavian foods, gifts and preserves and is a sit-down coffee shop with comfortable chairs and visually pleasing Sami-themed artwork.

The decor of the coffee house is a Sami-inspired, northern Scandinavian atmosphere, catering to the ex-patriot Sami and other Scandinavian ethnic communities in the Twin Cites area of Minnesota. It also has a standing lavvu within the shop, so the Coffee House also fungtions as a 'show room' - so that you could see a lavvu up close and personal...

You can vist their website at: Lavvu Coffee House here. Bethel, Alaska
This lavvu (photo left) was set up inside the Yupiit Piciryarait Museum in Bethel, Alaska at the entry to the main exhibit area.

Photo courtesy of Baiki

Kodiak, Alaska
The indoor lavvu at the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository, Kodiak, Alaska.

This photo shows a fully furnished lavvu interior with reindeer hides on floor authenticly shows how a fire would be used in the lavvu. The diameter of the floor is 10 to 12 feet.

Photo courtesy of Baiki
Anchorage, Alaska
This lavvu, set up among the Village Sites at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, was a good setting for storytelling.

Photo courtesy of Baiki
Ironworld Discovery Center, Chisholm, Minnesota
You can see one of our lavvus on permanent display at the IronWorld Discovery Center at Chisholm, Minnesota. This lavvu was built during the summer of 1997 and it's the largest one (known) in North America, at just over twenty feet in diameter. The two-tone color is a recreation of pre-1900 Lavvus that were in common use at the time. This will give you some idea of what is possible with a Lavvu this size.

Other Sites and Exhibits