Lögberg-Heimskringla - 20.07.1984, Side 4

4-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 20. JÚLÍ 1984
Ritstj ór nargr ein
Unfir vestur
Islendingar
Fyrir hálfum mánuði gaf að líta
grein á þessari síðu um ónóga
þátttöku ungra Vestur-íslendinga í
starfsemi vesturíslenskra félaga svo
og nokkuð áhugaleysi á Lögberg-
Heimskringlu. Var látið í það skýna
að ein helsta ástæða fyrir þessu
'dæmalausa áhugaleysi væri
félögunum og blaðinu að kenna en
ekki ungmennunum sjálfum. Því var
meira að segja haldið fram að ef ná
ætti til þessara áhugalitlu kynslóða þá
yrði að koma til móts við þær á einn
eða annan hátt og kanna hvaða
úrræði duga. Gott og vel. En hvernig
á að byrja?
Vegna stöðu sinnar hefur sá er
þessar línur ritar kynnst fjölmörgum
á léttasta skeiði, sem halda uppruna
sínum íslenskum stoltir á lofti en láta
svo þar við sitja. Þegar þeir eru inntir
eftir þátttöku í félögum íslenskum er
fátt um svör og flestir sverja af sér
Lögberg-Heimskringlu vegna þess að
ætlað er að það blað sé ritað eingöngu
á íslensku.
Lögberg-Heimskringla gegnir
veigamiklu hlutverki og er reyndar
eini íslenski fréttamiðill í Norður
Ameríku. I sama mund reynir það að
að efla áhuga á íslenskri arleifð í
Vesturheimi svo og á gamla landinu.
Ótal greinar um sögu íslendinga í
Vesturheimi hafa birst á síðum þess
svo og fjölmargt er lýsir lífi og starfi
landa á Islandi í dag og á öldum áður.
En samt er, að því að virðist, innihald
blaðsins ungu fólki lítt áhugavert ef
marka má t.d. þátttöku í
skoðanakönnum þess fyrir rúmu ári.
Þá var meðalaldur svarenda rúm
sextíu ár!
Lögmálið er að ein kynslóð tekur
við af annarri. Svo á einnig að vera
með áskrifendur af Lögbergi-
Heimskringlu en svo virðist ekki
vera. Þeir, er sinntu skoðanakönn-
uninni lýstu flestir blessun sinni yfir
efni blaðsins og því hefur það lítið
breyst. En þeir dagar koma þegar
þetta ágæta fólk kveður þennan heim
og þá reynir virkilega á þær kynslóðir
er erfa munu landið. En því þarf að
bíða?
Árið 1986 verða liðin hundrað ár
síðan Heimskringla sá dagsins ljós í
Winnipeg og á því ári ætti fjöldi
áskrifenda að vera meiri en nokkru
sinni áður. Hvers vegna leggjast ekki
allir á eitt um að gera þetta eina
vestur-íslenska fréttablað að virkum
fréttamiðli, margfalt öflugra en áður.
Maður líttu þér nær, spyrðu
nágranna þinn íslenskan, dóttur þína
eða son hvort þau vilji ekki gerast
áskrifendur strax í dag. Sýndu þeim
blaðið og kannaðu skoðanir þeirra að
lestri loknum. Að öðrum kosti er hætt
við að blaðið renni skeið sitt á enda,
löngu fyrir aldur fram.
J.Þ.
Icelandic settlers in Victoria and on the North Coast
by Emily A. Courtright
Simon Fraser University
March 24, 1981
Background
The first Icelander set foot on
Canadian soil in 1872.
“During the previous 40 years the
people of Iceland had suffered great
privations and hardships due to a
combination of factors. Polar black
ice had remained in the fjords of the
north for much of the summer
months, preventing the fishermen
from going out to sea. Grass and hay
were scarce so that their sheep died
in great numbers and their wool was
of poor quality. During this period
there were repeated volcanic erup-
tions in the north which covered
great areas with molten lava. The
trade of the country was controlled
by Danish monopolies which further
served to restrict and depress the
economy of the nation. For these
reasons the stories of free land and
great opportunity in the New World
fell on receptive ears. Many families
decided to migrate."
The economic conditions in
Iceland began to improve after 1884
but it took several years for this to
have an effect on emigration. The
tide, begun in the 1870's, continued
at a high rate through the 1880's and
1890's. The emigrants were represen-
tative of Icelandic society at that
time. There were farmers and
fishermen, ministers and business-
men, writers and journalists — and
of all ages. Most left Iceland with
their families, travelling in family
groups. There were a few single per-
sons, some travelling alone or as part
of a group.
"Most of those who left the rocky
shores of Iceland had but the clothes
they wore on their backs, a few
possessions and a library of books."
TABLE 1
Icelandic Immigration to Canada,
1872-1902
1872 - 1
1873 - 183
1874 - 375
1876 - 1300
1878 - 200
1887 - 2000
1888 -
1893 - 5000
1900 - 1003
1902 - 230
The first group went to Ontario
where they attempted to establish
two settlements. They were not suc-
cessful. The land allocated to them
was poor and the construction work
on the railway they had been promis-
ed did not materialize. The settlers
soon disbanded, a small number go-
ing to Nova Scotia (only to come west
again later) and the majority moving
to Winnipeg. Of this group of some
250 persons, half remained in Win-
nipeg and the rest moved north to
found the colony of New Iceland on
the south west shore of Lake Win-
nipeg. Gimli, meaning "paradise"
was the small community establish-
ed in 1875 and it became the first per-
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manent Icelandic settlement in
Canada.
Gimli was not the paradise they
had hoped for. The new settlers ex-
perienced a series of disasters in
those first years — epidemic, floods,
droughts and food shortages. (They
had to learn how to get proper use
out of the land and how to fish
through a hole in the ice.) "Within
ten years of the founding of the Gimli
settlement the great majority of the
original settlers had left and only con-
tinued immigration from Iceland
kept the settlement going." New
Iceland and Winnipeg became cen-
tres to which many new immigrants
came before they decided where to
g°-
Their pattern of settlement across
Canada bears witness to the
Icelander's restless pioneering urge
and his individualism. As soon as a
district came to be fully settled, he
moved on, sometimes alone, in
search of another homestead in a
more sparsely settled and less ac-
cessible region. "As early as 1886 a
party of three travelled to the Qu'Ap-
pelle Valley in Saskatchewan. They
found the land good but reported that
this vast area was becoming too
crowded."
Of those that left Gimli, some went
to southwest Manitoba and found-
ed the Argyle Colony, others went to
North Dakota. By the mid 1880's
these same groups helped to settle
districts in Saskatchewan — the
Holar District and the Foam Lake Set-
tlement. A few years later they had
established themselves at Marker-
ville in Alberta. In 1883 the first
Icelander arrived on the Pacific
Coast.
In less than twenty years a few
thousand Icelanders, whose
homeland was the size of New-
foundland, had spread themselves
across a continent.
Victoria
The first Icelanders came to British
Columbia in the 1880's and settled in
Victoria. "They came as individuals,
with no idea of group activity.
Some were remigrating from es-
tablished settlements in Manitoba or
North Dakota while others came
directly from Iceland with a brief
stop at Winnipeg. Their reasons for
coming were those of today — a mild
climate and prospects for a better
future.
"My father (Olafur Johnson) came
to Canada in 1881, lived in Winnipeg
two years and then went west
through the northern states to
Portland and up the coast to Victoria
where he settled in 1883.” Olafur
Johnson, as far as is known, was the
first Icelander to reach the coast and
to settle in Victoria. He was in the
teaming and general supply business.
He married Gudrun Arnfinnsdottir
who had come with her family to
Victoria in 1887. (Among their four
children was Bjorn (Byron) Ingimar
who was to become Premier of the
Province.) He left Victoria in 1915
and moved to Grand Prairie. He died
during a blizzard in 1941 at the age
of 71.
"Christian Sivertz left Iceland in
1883 — to Leith, Scotland, train to
Glasgow and steamer to Quebec. The
Continued on page 5
TABLE II
Canadians of Icelandic origin, showing
partial distribution by specific provinces.
1881-19119
Year Canada Man. B.C. Ont. Other
1881 1,003 773 — 57 173
1901 6,057 — 177 — —
1911 7,109 5,135 247 145 1,582