Lögberg-Heimskringla - 12.09.1980, Blaðsíða 2

Page 2
TOAST TO CANADA
BY LEOLA ARNASON JOSEFSON
Virðfulega Fjallkona, Distinguished
Guests, Committee Members, and
Friends: Thank you for this special
opportunity to Toast Canada. As I
stand here, I am almost overwhelmed
by feelings of gratitude and humility
for I recognize the honor you have
bestowed upon me.
We share a common bojid, although
we are separated by an international
border. I am of Icelandic descent. My
father's parents, Maria Oddsdottir and
Ingjaldur Arnason, immigrated to
Sclkirk in 1890 where my father was
born. At the turn of the century, the
Arnasons moved to the Icelandic
community in Minneota, Minnesota.
My mother’s parents, Adalbjorg
Jonsdoltir and Gudjon Isfeld, came as
immigrants to Lincoln County,
Minnesota in 1879. These grand-
parents and my own parents, Margaret
and Christian Arnason, instjlled in me
love for, and pride in, my Icelandic
heritage.
This is a special day as it clirnaxes an
exciting festival that honors the past,
ceiebrates the present, and raises the
challenge to all of us to perpetuate our
heritage into the fulure.
After reviewing the history of the
Icelandic immigration to North
America, I feel that we must indeed
pause to hono' those pioneer settlers.
Because of economic and political
turmoil, they left a much-beloved
homeland to seek a better life for
themselves and their children. They
endured unbelievable physical hard-
ships as they built a strong foundation
for future generations. They were
brave, strong, tenacious. They met the
challenge of forming a community out
of the wilderness and adapting to their
new land’s customs. They broke virgin
prairie, learned new fishing methods,
built churches, schools, took care of
their aged and needy, and learned the
ways of their new home. Dedicated to
good governmenl, they created an
oulstanding consittution which was
the basis for governing New Iceland as
a republic for twelve years.
These pioneer Icelanders desired to
become — and became — part of the
Ncw World. But, they never forgot
their love for lceland and instilled in us
— their descendants — profound
respect for this heritage. The desire to
preserve this heritage was given
concrete form by the creation of the
Icelandic Chair at the University of
Manitoba. In another sense the
creation of this Icelandic Chair at a
Canadian University evidences the
mingling of the Canadian and lcelandic
cultures which has been so suc-
cessfully achieved by the Icelandic-
Canadians. As Dr. P.H.T. Thorlakson
so beautifully summarized in an article
printed in The Winter, 1946, Icelcmdic
Canadian:
"... the establishment of a chair
of Iceiandic in our University is
. . . not a sentimental whim of the
descendants of a pioneer people
who wish to preserve their
identity in a new land. No group
has adopted the customs and
language of this land more
rapidly by marriage and by
social, business, and professional
association into our Canadian
way of life."
Leola Josefson
You of Canada today are to be
commended for your continued
support of the Icelandic traditions as
you simultaneously develop your
Canadian identity. The publications,
Logberg-Heimskringla and The Icelandic
Canadian, have been a constant source
of current, literary and historial in-
formation about Iceland and Western
Icelanders in both the Icelandic and
English languages. The Icelandic
National League has been for years one
of the unifying forces for Icelandic-
Canadians. Your development of an
excellent basic Icelandic curriculum
for the public schools and language
camps for the teaching of the Icelandic
language are gifts from you to the
young people of today. The Canada-
Iceland Centennial Conference in 1975
with its theme of "The Icelandic
Tradition in a Multi-Cultural Society"
— a conference which I attended with
my family — was an excellent survey
of, and tribute to, the many con-
tributions made by Icelanders to
Canada. Your outstanding schools,
your lovely churches, your com-
mitment to good government, your
successful business and professional
leaders, and BETEL, the gracious
home for the aged — all express your
deep involvement with your Canadian
communities and identity.
You citizens of present day Gimli
exemplify the strengths forged out of
the mixtures of the two cultural
heritages — strengths typical of
Icelandic-Canadians. Your response to
the closing of the local air base showed
the same fortitude, tenacity, and
adaptability of your pioneer ancestors.
It also showed your awareness of
modern Canada and its needs. The
Industrial Park developed at the old air
base site túrríed what might have been
a tragic economic decline into growth
and economic strength for the com-
munity with its new jobs and increased
tax base. The Gimli Museum preserves
the ethnic past and makes it accessible
to Canadians present and future. The
Evergreen Regional Library is a
resource for learning now and for the
future — a resource which recalls the
strong Icelandic concern with
education and learning.
These same strengths have been
shown on a larger scale by both the
federal and provincial governments
through, for example, the response to
the declining population of the in-
terlake and rural Manitoba areas. After
an in-depth demographic study had
been completed, special legislation
was passed to create the Fund for
Rural Economic Development known
as "FRED", a program designed to
promote local development. One of the
projects made possible by this program
is Hecla Provincial Park, an area
where Icelanders settled in 1876.
Judge Walter Lindal, famous jurist
and long-time editor of The Icelandic
Canadian, wrote an article in 1943
about the need for basic understanding
among peoples. In reading that article,
I was struck by the timelessness of his
fundamental theme. The blending of
the Icelandic and Canadian cultures
during your past has shown how
successful such cooperation may be.
Today, it may be applied to the
relationship between Canadians and
Americans. Our geographical location
and geological formations are very
similar as well as contiguous. We are
tied one to the other by ethnic bonds
since both countries are multi-cultural.
We share a love for freedom and the
rights of individual citizens. We are
drawn together by our shared belief in
democratic principles of government.
And our men and women have fought
together through several generations in
the cause of democracy and against
comon enemies. A recent, dramatic
example of this united effort was the
protection and rescue of the Americans
threatened by Iranian militants which
was carried out by Ambassador Taylor
and members of the Canadian Em-
bassy staff in Teheran. They risked
their lives to free the Americans. We of
America shall always be profoundly
grateful to these brave men and
women of your diplomatic corps. On
behalf of my country, I say to you of
Canada a heart-felt''thank you".
As another expression of our
American-Canadian friendship, I bring
you greetings from Minnesota. First
and foremost, The honorable Albert H.
Quie, Governor of the State of Min-
nesota writes:
Dear Friends,
It is indeed a pleasure to extend
greetings from the State of Minnesota
to all gathered in Gimli, Manitoba for
the annual Islendingadagurinn. This is
truly a most unique event, and I am
pleased to participate via this note.
Minnesota is a blend of a great many
cultures and heritages — among which
the Iceiandic community holds an
important place. I think it tremendous
when people with common
backgrounds meet together to ensure
the continuation of their cultural
traditions and characteristics. It is
important that we preserve our in-
dividuality, and at the same time work
to unite different cultures into
cooperative communities in the states
and nations of our world.
It is my hope that this year's festival
will be a meaningful and enjoyable
time for all participants. My best
wishes are witli you tliat this fine
tradition will continue in the years to
come.
Sincerely,
Albert H. Quie
Governor
State of Minnesota
(The original of this letter was framed
and presented to Terry Tergesen.)
The Hekla Club of the Twin Cities is
a group of women bound together by a
shared Icelandic heritage and interest
in Iceland. The Club is also another
form of "cooperation among peoples"
since the membership is composed of
Americans, Canadians, and Icelandic
nationals. We have often been
privileged to have some of our
programs enriched by Canadian
speakers. On behlaf of the Hekla Club,
I greet and honor you Icelandic-
Canadians on this festive day.
The past we have remembered. The
present is with us. The future can be
great only if we of today continue in
the same pattern as that established by
those who went before us: always
striving to reach for a better way of life
for ourselves and for others in the
world about us.
I pay tribute to you, men, women,
and children of Canada — and on this
day, particularly to those of you who
are of Icelandic descent — for your
outstanding citizenship as members of
local, provincial, and federal govern-
ments. I commend you for your
participation in, and contribution to, a
multi-cultural society. I honor you for
your devotion to, and preservation of,
your Icelandic heritagé so that
tomorrow's generations may know
their history. Finally, I challenge you
to continue to give of your best to build
for tomorrow a better future for all
Canadians.
WANTED
3 copies of THE ICELANDIC PEOPLE IN MANITOBA, Wallingford Press
1965, by Dr. W. Kristjansson.
Contact: Mrs. Margaret Estey
404 E. Fairview
Arlington Heights, 1.
60005, U.S.A.
NOTICE
Donations are requested for upkeep and improvements to the ARDAL
CEMETERY. Kindly send donations to ARDAL CEMETERY
c/o I.D. Danielson
Arborg, Man. R0C 1A0
Yours truly,
I.D. Danielson