Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.04.1977, Page 2

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 7. APRIL 1977
I ujgberg-Jletmökríngla <M lb it in i Enn liat ? 1
GUÐMUNDUR JÓNSSON, THE FIRST ICELANDIC CHILD BORN
ON HECLA ISLAND
In short...
Icelandic Content Summary
1
They Shouldn’t Call Iceland Iceland is the name of a
new film about Iceland wfiidh will be released in New
York on April 13th. The 28 minute colour film, produc-
ed by a Dutchman now residing in the U.S., was made
for the Icelandic Department of Tourism, and the Ice-
landic Airlines. Lögberg-Heimskringla has forwarded
a proposal that the film be made available for showing
in Canada; more about that will appear in next week’s
paper.
No embassy in Canada is the word despite rumours in
Iceland to the effect that Icelandic minister of foreign
affers, Einar Ágústsson, is considering relinquishing
his position in order to come to Canada as ambassador.
Denying t'he reports, Einar Ágústsson further disquali-
fied statements that Iceland will^ be opening an em-
bassy in Canada. The Icelandic Embassy in Wash. D.C.
has and will continue to handle matters relating to
Canada.
A scholarship for studies ín Iceland ís being offered by
the Icelandic Dept. of Education. The scholarship is
open to students of Icelandic origin in both Canada and
the U.S.A. Further information can be obtained from
the Icelandic National League in care of Mrs. H. F.
Danielson, 869 Garfield St., Winnipeg, Man. R3G 2M6.
Deadline for applications is June lst.
Foreign corporation have been pulling the wool over
people’s eyes. The Icelandic minister of Trade has ap-
pointed the export board to look into reports that
certain corporations have been selling Norwegian wool
on world markets as Icelandic wool.
Katla is peaceful at last report, with nO recent tremors
in the area. Around Krafla in Northeast Iceland, how-
ever, tremors continue to rattle the new geathermal-
steam power development under construction, with as
many as 140 tremors recorded over a 24 hour period.
Charter flight to Iceland. So much interest has been
shown in Viking Travel’s dharter flights to Iceland this
summer that it has been decided to hire a larger air-
craft for the June flight in order to accomodate extra
passengers. A DC-8 aircraft, seating 227 passengers, has
now been chartered for the June flight from Winnipeg.
As a result there are now additional seats available.
Those wishing to reserve seats should contact Viking
Travel at one of the addresses given on page one.

Icelandic Canadian Youth Organization
Hecla Island, or Mikley as
the first Icelandic settlers
named it, has been in the
news a great deal lately
with the island’s becoming a
provincial park and a major
tourist attraction. With this
attention, there has been a
revival of interest in the is-
land’s history, particularly
in connection with the Ice-
landic settlement there.
Mikley, or Big Island as
the English speaking popu-
lation called the island, was
designated as one of the four
administrative districts of
New Iceland when the area
was first set aside as an Ice-
landic reserve in 1875. It
was not settled, however,
until the arrival of the so-
called “stóri hópurinn” (the
large group) late in the sum-
mer of 1876. With the arrival
of these 1200 new immi-
grants in New Iceland and
the corresponding increased
demand for lands, settlement
spread north along the lake
shore and out onto the is-
land.
Among the first settlers to
arrive on Mikley were Jón
Bjamason a n d his wife,
Hall d ó r a Guðmundsdóttir
from Vað in Skriðdalur in
Eastem Iceland. With them
was Jón’s father, Bjarni
Guðmundsson, then a
widower well on in years.
They had come to Canada in
1875, going first to Kin-
mount, Ontario. Hearing re-
ports of New Iceland’s estab-
lishment, they had joined the
other Icelandic immigrants
on their way west to Mani-
toba, arriving at Gimli in
October 1875.
In the fall of 1876 Jón and
Halldóra moved their few
possesions by boat out onto
Mikley. According to family
tradition, it was two hours
after their arrival on the is-
land t h a t Halldóra gave
birth to a son, Guðmundur
Jónsson. Though born in
Canada, Guðmundur went
by the name Jónsson accord-
ing to Icelandic custom. He
was born at Reynistaður in
MylnuVÍk (Mill Cove) on
Mikley’s east shore, on Sep-
tember 2nd, 1876. This is the
first Icelandic birth record-
ed on Hecla Island.
As there was no minister
available, the b a b y was
given a provisional christen-
ing by Jón Bergvinsson, who
settled at Borðeyri on the
southern tip of the island.
According to church records
kept by séra Jón Bjarnason,
Guðmundur was officially
christened at Borðeri on
January 5th, 1878, with Sig-
urður Jónsson at Borðeyri
and Jóhann Sveinsson as
godfathers. These two men
were from the same district
in Iceland as the baby’s
parents.
Some time later Jón and
Halldóra moved to the south
end of the island. In 1878
they lived at Nýibær (just
west of Borðeyri) along with
Jón’s father, Bjarni Guð-
mundsson, who is listed as
the head of the household in
a survey taken that year.
After six years on Mikley
Jón decided to move across
to the mainland opposite the
island, to the boundless hay
meadows to be found in that
area which later became
known as Isafoldarbyggð. In
order to move his family and
possessions from the island,
Jón constructed a large raft.
According to the story, the
islanders stood on the shore
watching as the flimsy raft
pulled away from shore, sure
that this would be the last
of the family. Jón and his
family survived the crossing
and settled on the mainland
where they lived until a few
years later when the level
of the lake rose and flooded
their home.
From Isafoldarbyggð Jón
and Halldóra moved to the
Icelandic River settlement,
settling father up the river
than anyone else. The land
there was called Fögruvellir,
later part of the Geysir Set-
tlement. There Jón and Hall-
dóra lived the rest of their
lives. They are both buried
at Fögruvellir beside two of
their children and Jón’s fa-
ther.
Jón and Halldóra has six
children of which Guðmun-
dur, Guðrún and Anna were
born on Mikley. Their son,
Bergur was born in Isafold-
arbyggð a n d Kristján in
Geysir.
Guðmundur Jónsson grew
up with his parents at Fög-
ruvellir, later homesteading
in the Framnes area. He
married Herdís Jónasdóttir
on December 15, 1900. They
had six children: 1) Jónas
Hermundur, 2) Lilja Jóhan-
na, 3) Jónína Guðrún, 4)
Sigurjón Marino, 5) Una
Friðný and 6) Snæbjörn.
Send us clippings
about friends and
relatives if they get
into the papers.
Several members of the
ICYO met for a supper meet-
ing at the Transylvania Inn
on Pembina Highway last
Thursday evening. G u e s t
speaker was Helgi Jones, a
well known fisherman from
Hecla Island, who spoke to
the group on the hístory of
the island and other more
recent developments there.
Helgi was one of the Hecla
islanders directly involved
in the original FRED plan-
mng for are redevelop-
ment in Hecla and traced
the history of the present
Hecla Provincial Park from
its beginnings as a locally
contro’Ied FRED project, to
its takeover by the provin-
cial government. As a life-
long fisherman on L a k e
Winnipeg he also raised the
question of whether or not
the original Icelandic set-
tlers’ exclusive rights to the
resources of the area had
ever been officially revoked.
Mrs. Jones attended the sup-
per with her husband.
The ICYO also held a suc-
cessful social at the Valour
Road Legion on March 25th,
realizing a small profit. One
of the group’s projects is to
raise funds for the Icelandic
children’s camp at Gimli
next summer. N
r