Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.07.1964, Blaðsíða 21

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 23. JÚLÍ 1964
21
Lord Dufferin
Lord Dufferin visited
Gimli on September 14, 1877.
In his address to the people
of the settlement, he said:
“No' race has a better right
to come amongst us than
yourselves, for it is probably
to the hardihood of the Ice-
landic navigators that the
world is entitled to the dis-
covery of this continent. Had
not Columbus visited your
island (Iceland) and discover-
ed in your records a practical
and absolute confirmation of
his own brilliant speculations
in regard to the existence of
a western land, it is possible
he might never have had the
enterprise to tempt the un-
known Atlantic . . . and in
coming amongst us, you will
find yourselves associated
with a race both kindly-
hearted and cognate to your
own; nor in becoming
Englishmen and subjects of
Queen Victoria need you for-
get your own time honoured
customs or the picturesque
annals of your forefathers. On
the contrary, I trust that you
will continue to cherish for
all time the heart-stirring
literature of your nation, and
that from generation to
generation your little ones
will continue to learn in your
ancient Sagas that industry,
energy, fortitude, perserver-
ance, and stubborn endurance
have ever been the charac-
teristics of the noble Ice-
landic race.”
Earlier in his address Lord
Dufferin made this significant
observation:
“I have not entered a single
hut or cottage in the settle-
ment which did not contain,
no matter how bare its walls,
or scanty its furniture, a
library of twenty or thirty
volumes; and I am informed
that there is scarcely a child
amongst you who cannot read
or write.”
New Frontiers
The extension northward of
the Great Northern Railway
from St. Paul to Winnipeg in
1878 and the beginning of
traffic to the west on the
Canadian Pacific Railway in
1881 (completed as a trans-
continental railway in 1885),
brought many changes to
western Canada. The great
influx of settlers from eastern
Canada, the United States
and Europe was about to be-
gin.
The new settlements were
largely composed of separate
national groups. Their first
objective was to survive. They
also hoped to transplant a
semblance of their former
homelands to the new col-
onies, scattered and isolated
upon these vast western
plains.
As a result of this type of
colonization of western Can-
ada there soon developed
settlements which were in
effect new Scotlands, French
speaking areas, new Englands,
new Ontarios, Mennonite
colonies, new Icelands, new
Ukrainias, new Germanies,
n e w Scandinavias, n e w
Hollands, and many others.
In the process of learning
English, the second and third
generations of the people from
Europe often lost the ability
to read or speak the language
of their forefathers. Many of
these young people seemed
to think that a foreign langu-
age had no value or interest
for them. The great Canadian
experiment in the blending
of many nationalities and
diverse cultures was about to
begin.
Many people from Iceland
continued to migrate and
settle in the Red River Valley
and elsewhere in North Am-
erica. Many settled in North
Dakota, in and around
Mountain. Others went to
Lundar, Langruth, Baldur,
Glenboro, Cypress River, Sel-
kirk, and Winnipeg. From
these areas, as well as direct
from Iceland, we trace
subsequent migrations to
Morden, Brandon and Piney
in Manitoba; to Kandahar,
Wynyard, Mozart, Elfros,
Leslie, Foam Lake, Tantallon
and Logberg-Thingvalla in
Saskatchewan; to Marker-
ville in Alberta; to Victoria
and Vancouver in British
Columbia; and south of the
border along the Pacific
Coast.
Isolation in separate com-
munities, to a degree, was
common to all the national
groups of pioneers in the
early days. Psychologically,
however, the Icelandic people
were never entirely isolated.
Their story is one of reach-
ing out and participating fully
in the work of planning and
building a larger community.
After the Icelandic pioneers
had built a shelter for their
families, they began to think
of building houses of worship
and schools. Literary and de-
bating societies were organ-
ized; Icelandic papers and
periodicals were published.
Assembly Halls were erected
where Icelandic concerts and
plays were presented. In
course of time, Saturday
morning classes in Icelandic
language and grammar were
held in many communities.
Throughout this entire period,
a love of good literature in
both the Icelandic and the
English language was a
characteristic feature of many
of our people.
Since 1874 some 7,000 people
have immigrated to Canada
from Iceland. There were
only 80,000 people in Iceland
at the time and many went
to the United States. There
are now about 26,000 Cana-
dians of Icelandic ancestry
either in whole or in part,
and approximately one-half
live in the Province of Mani-
toba. In the intervening 87
years, there have been many
changes in our business and
professional relationships and
associations. Each year more
and more of the descendants
of the original Icelandic
pioneers are marrying indi-
viduals of other national
groups. This natural and
inevitable trend towards the
blending of nationalities is
bound to continue to the point
when many Canadians of
partial Icelandic origin will
have names of one of any 15
or 20 other national groups.
Most Canadians with Ice-
landic names will enventually
be one-quarter, one-eighth,
one-sixteeth, or even less,
Icelandic in their hereditary
background.
Preservation of Icelandic
language and cullure
From the beginning of our
Canadian story there were
men and women seriously
concerned about the establish-
ment of a permanent school
for the perpetuation of
knowledge of Icelandic
history, language and litera-
ture. The first significant
step in this direction was the
creation, in 1901, of a De-
partment of Icelandic in
Wesley College, now United
College, The Jon Bjarnason
Academy, which was founded
in Winnipeg in 1914, con-
tinued to teach on the senior
high school level until 1941.
In the winter of 1875—76 a
handwritten newspaper was
distributed in the Gimli area.
In 1877 it was followed by a
printed paper called “Fram-
fari” (Progress). The first
Winnipeg paper was Leifur
(Leif Erickson) which began
publishing in 1883. It was
succeeded by Heimskringla
(The Globe), September 1886
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Phone 642-5418 GIMLI, Man.
COMPLIMENTS OF
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YOUR GENERAL MOTORS DEALER
Centre St. at Fifth Ave.
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TEXACO PRODUCTS, REPAIRS
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Phone 642-8560
Hveitibændur!
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ÁRNAÐARÓSKIR
á íslendingadeginum á Gimli,
3 ágúst 1964
N. M. PATERSON & SONS
LIMITED
609 Grain Exchange Building
WINNIPEG CANADA