Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.08.1980, Qupperneq 4

4
LÖGBEBG-HEIMSKKINGLA, IIÁTÍÐAKBLAÐ 1980
Len and K aren Vopnfjórd and the Hekla Singers in Que-
bec City.
THE HEKLA SINGERS IN QUEBEC
A group of Icelandic
singers were honoured by
the provincial government
recently when they were
chosen to represent
Manitoba at an annual
cultural festival in Quebec.
The Department of Cultural
Affairs selected Len and
Karen Vopnfjord and the
Hekla singers to be
Manitoba’s ambassadors at
La Societe Des Arts
Traditionnels du St.
Laurents Folk Arts Festival
of Quebec, held June 26th -
29th at St. Octave De 1
Avenir. This spot was, oddly
enough, a ghost town, but is
now the permanent home of
this ethnic celebration.
Transportation was kindly
provided by the government
and the festival itself
supplied food and ac-
commodations, which they
report were excellent.
The singers looked smart
in traditional Icelandic
costumes while performing
in the company of other
groups representing the
Chinese, Hungarian, Polish,
French and Spanish
cultures among others. The
group sang Stod eg ut i
tunglsljosi, Ridum Ridum and
other Icelandic songs as
well as one French tune, Un
Canadienne Errante, which
the largely francophone
audience appreciated and
responded to warmly. The
Hekla Singers were the only
vocal group to take part in
the festival, the other
groups being dancers.
They stayed at St. Anne
Du Monts while the festival
was on, but later they were
able to make a short trip on
their own to Quebec City
where they all enjoyed
seeing some of the country’s
most prominent historical
sites. Len and Karen
Vopnfjord were in charge of
the group which included,
besides themselves, Kristin
and Erica Stewart-Hay, Kris
and Lindy Vopnfjord and
Tristin Tergesen. Len and
Karen have been busy since
returning too, being very
active on organisational
committees for the Winnipeg
Folk Festival as well as
organising our own Islen-
dingadagurinn folk festival.
Also since returning, the
entire group performed for
the Prime Minister and a
large crowd at the Winnipeg
Convention Centre where
they met Mr. Trudeau and
even taught him a few words
in Icelandic.
Congratulations to them all.
Congratulations . . .
to the lcelandic people on the occasion
of the 91. anniversary of their
Annual Celebration Day
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Jon Olafsson and the Icelandic Festivals
in North America
Jon Olafsson emigrated
from Iceland to North
America in 1873. He had, in
his paper, Gongu-Hrolfur,
attacked Danish authorities
in Iceland in such a manner
that he faced prosecution
and possibly imprisonment.
He managed to leave the
country for America. He
had not been long in
Wisconsin when he realized
that Icelandic immigrants
had little hope of forming an
exclusive Icelandic set-
tlement in that state. He also
quickly noticed that many
an Icelander seemed to have
lost faith in such an un-
dertaking. Optimistic, as he
always was, he tried to
restore self-confidence
among his fellow-
countrymen. He knew that
most of Wisconsin had been
settled, so he felt that the
Icelanders had to look
elsewhere. Before any plans
were made, he knew that he
needed the support of
people like the Rev. Jon
Bjarnason, Olafur Olafsson
and Pall Thorlaksson. These
men had become leaders
among the Icelandic im-
migrants in Wisconsin. As a
result, their advice was
important. He corresponded
regularly with Jon Bjar-
nason and in a letter of
January 12, 1874, he said he
was on his way to
Milwaukee to organize an
Icelandic association for the
purpose of planning a
search for a permanent
settlement site, promote
Icelandic sentiment in North
America and prepare an
Icelandic celebration in
Milwaukee on August 2,
1874. A milennial
celebration of settlement
was to be staged in Iceland
on that same day. Olafsson
therefore thought that, at
this time, a festival in
Milwaukee would be an
appropriate and excellent
opportunity to unite the
Icelandic immigrants in
Wisconsin in their efforts to
find a colony site. His plan
worked and on August 2,
almost seventy persons
gathered in a Norwegian
church in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Festival
The Rev. Jon Bjarnason
had been asked to deliver
the first Icelandic sermon in
North America. He pointed
out how important it was for
the Icelanders in America to
preserve their language and
heritage and stressed the
need for an exclusive
Icelandic settlement. Fol-
lowing his sermon those
in attendance marched to a
park nearby where the
celebration took place. Jon
Jón Ólafsson
Olafsson, Olafur Olafsson,
Pall Thorlaksson and Jon
Bjarnason delivered
thoughtful and impressive
speeches. Everyone who left
the park that evening was
confident that most
problems facing the
Icelandic settlers would
soon be solved. Jon Olafsson
was elected the president of
the Icelandic Association
and he used the opportunity
to introduce his plan to
examine certain areas in
Alaska for a future
Icelandic settlement. It was
his dream to have all
Icelandic immigrants settle
there and he also felt that
Iceland should be
depopulated and a new
Icelandic state founded in
Alaska. Olafsson travelled
to Alaska in the fall of 1874
and returned more con-
vinced than before that he
had discovered New
Iceland. In 1875, however,
Sigtryggur Jonasson and a
few others had secured an
area on the west bank of
Lake Winnipeg so the
Alaska project never
materialized.
Jon Olafsson in Denmark
Once it was obvious that
no-one would move to
Alaska, Olafsson returned
to Iceland, all charges
against him having been
dropped. He soon became
active in Iceland’s struggle
for independance and
decided, in 1880, to study
law at the University of
Copenhagen. That
university had for centuries
been the academic home of
Icelandic students and there
Olafsson met people like
Hannes Hafstein and Gestur
Palsson. Mr. Hafstein
became one of Iceland’s
leading politicians and
Gestur Palsson came to
Winnipeg to take over the
editorship of Heimskringla.
The spirit among the
Icelandic students in
Copenhagen permeated
Icelandic culture and
literature at the time, and
their writings were often
highly critical of the in-
tellectual and spiritual life
of their compatriots. All of
them supported Iceland’s
struggle for independence
and even though they were
living abroad, they strove to
rouse their fellow-
countrymen in Iceland to
action. Jon Olafsson was
certainly one of these un-
tiring fighters. When he
returned to Iceland from
North America in 1881, he
continued to support his
friends in Copenhagen in
every respect.
Back in North America
Jon Olafsson returned to
North America in 1890 to
become the editor of
Logberg in Winnipeg. He
soon became disappointed
in the Icelandic immigrants
in the city. He did not find
the same enthusiasm among
them as he had discovered
in Copenhagen. In an article
of June 4, 1890 he reminded
them of their Icelandic
background and suggested
an annual event in Winnipeg
for the purpose of serving as
a means to promote a truly
Icelandic spirit. He asked
Heimskringla for support in
this matter and encouraged
Icelanders in North America
to organize annual festivals
in the same manner.
Heimskringla reacted
favourably to his suggestion,
and people in Winnipeg
supported the idea. The first
Winnipeg festival was
highly successful and, as
described elsewhere in this
issue, numerous Icelandic
festivals were organized
both in Canada and the
United States during the
1890’s. Jon Olafsson became
one of the father’s of the
“Islendingadagurinn” as is
obvious from what has been
said above. Although he was
never on the festival
committee, he formulated
important plans which later
found fulfilment in our North
American-Icelandic
festivals. J. Th.
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