Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.05.1987, Blaðsíða 4

4-ALDARAFMÆLISÁR, FÖSTUDAGUR 15. MAÍ 1987
Ritstj órnargrein
Listafólk af Islandi
Á forsíðu Lögbergs-Heimskringlu í
dag er getið um heimsókn tveggja
listamanna til Winnipeg frá íslandi.
Munu þeir halda tónleika í listasafni
brogarinnar þann 19. þessa mánaðar.
Þetta er ekki í fyrsta sinn á
undanförnum árum að íslenskir
listamenn hafa komi á slóðir Vestur
íslendinga og skemmt þeim með söng
eða hljóðfæraslætti og er ánægjulegt
till þess að vita að íslendingar
kappkosti að ferðast vestur.
Aðstandendur þessara tónleika svo
og þeirra er áður hafa verið haldnir
hér í Winnipeg eru að vonum
áhyggjufullir yfir aðsókn en dæmi
eru til um dræma þátttöku á síðustu
árum. Það er fátt eins sorglegt og
hálftómt hús ekki aðeins fyrir
tónlistamennina sjálfa heldur þá er að
baki slíkum heimsóknum standa. Sú
var tíðin að gestur kom ekki hingað
til Winnipeg af íslandi án þess að
landar héldu honum samsæti og
gerðu dvöl hans hér vestra eins
ánægjulega og kostur var. Þá var
iðulega þröngt á þingi.
Heimsóknir íslenskra listamanna
til Vesturheims er einn mikilvægur
liður í tengslum Vestur íslendinga við
gamla landið, en margt og mikið
hefur verið reynt og gert til að efla
þau á undanförnum árum.
Samskiptanefndin svokallaða á
Islandi greiðir veg listamannanna á
ýmsa lund og gerir eðlilega ráð fyrir
að vesturíslensk félög vinni gott starf
við móttökur hér vestra og er það
yfirleitt til sóma.
En þá er aftur komið að okkur,
almenningi, sem verða sjá sóma sinn
í að mæta á tónleika sem boðið er upp
á. Því verður ekki neitað að með
nýjum kynslóðum breitast viðhorf.
Ungir Vestur íslendingar í dag hafa
eðlilega ekki eins náin tengsl við
ísland og forfeður þeirra fyrir
nokkrum áratugum, en það táknar
ekki að áhuga skorti á landi og þjóð.
Með heimsóknum íslendinga eins og
þeim er að framan var lýst, gefst
þessu unga fólki tækifæri til að
komast í nánari snertingu við
íslenska menningu. Galdurinn er
hins vegar sá hvernig náð verður til
þessara yngri kynslóða og þeim
greint frá slíkum viðburðum. Þetta er
vandamál sem stöðugt blasir við og
lausn vandfundin.
Við hin, sem vitum af þessum
tónleikum, höfum enga afsökun og
eigum að mæta. Eins ber okkur að
geta þeirra við vini og vandamenn og
gildir einu hvort þeir eru íslenskir eða
ekki. Þú lesandi góður átt að ieggja
19.maí á minnið og grípa símann
strax í dag og slá á þráðinn til eins
margra og þú getur. Sjáumst á
tónleikum þann 19.maí.
J.Þ.
Thingvalla Pioneer's Story
Continued from last week
The mode of living was very much-
different from what we enjoy in this
day and age. The daily fare much
simpler, although adequate for the in-
dividual needs. We never saw wheat
flour or sugar during our stay in Nova
Scotia. Instead there was Buckwheat
flour which made good bread, dark
in colour but tasted good and was
nutritious. For sweetening there was
a kind of syrup called treacle.
Delicacies there were none, but
there was no scarcity of good plain
wholesome food and there was some
fruit, such as apples and wild berries.
The house where we lived stood on
a hill, and if at any time we had a lit-
tle snow, which occurred very, very
rarely, the school children had a
glorious time sliding on small sleighs
down our hill. The schoolhouse was
situated nearby, and my older sister
Gudny went to school there.
The main road through the district
ran along the foot of the hill towards
the Laurie estate, and thence to the
town of Shubenagedy by the sea.
Most of the country-side made this
town their marketing place, and we
had many overnight visitors from the
Icelandic settlement on their journey
to market to get provisions.
These travellers were always
welcome and their visits were en-
joyed by both visitors and hosts, as
they were a pleasant interlude in an
otherwise monotonous life in a new
country.
Everyone was in good spirits and
optimistic about the future, despite
hardships and poverty.
In the latter part of the winter of
1881-82 news came about the pro-
gress and settling of the west coun-
try, particularly, Manitoba, and the
"Boom" in Winnipeg, also the good
wages to be had there.
My parents having become doubt-
ful as to the future, after four years’
patient endurance of the conditions
prevailing in Nova Scotia, and no ap-
parent signs of a change for the bet-
ter, decided to go west.
Só irí the spring of 1882 we board-
ed the fr'ain in Halifax and journeyed
west to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
There seemed to be an acute hous-
ing shörtage in Winnipeg, so we had
to live for some months in a tent,
making one more in a tent district
strung out along a street west from
Main St. (Ross Avenue, if my mem-
ory is correct). Father obtained work
immediately at $3.50 per day, at the
building of City Hall and he heard
from fellow workers that $5.00 had
been paid for common labor the
previous summer. But the "Boom”
apparently was on the wane, hence
the lower wages. Life in a tent dur-
ing the hot summer months, on open
prairie, no shade of any kind, was
very trying to say the least. To make
things a little worse, we all came
down with measles, helplessly weak,
with no one to minister to our needs.
Mother, with supreme effort man-
aged to attend to absolute necessities,
though barely able to move herself.
But on the dark cloud of helplessness
there appeared a silver lining, and en-
couragement, in the form of an elder-
ly Irish woman, who lived in a tent
herself, nearby.
She proved a good Samaritan,
brought us milk, and many other
things, besides helping in in-
numerable ways. We have always
remembered her with sincere, heart-
felt, gratitude.
In the fall of that year we moved
into a small building on the banks of
the Red River and lived there for a
time. Later we moved into a two-
storey house on Jemina Ave. (now
Elgin Ave.) and it was from there, I
first attended school in the spring of
1884. It was the Central School
located on William Avenue.
I was the only Icelander in our
room, and as it seemed that I was a
specimen of humanity unknown to
them, speaking very little of their
language, I was subjected to various
kinds of abuse, ridicule, and shunned
by my schoolmates.
Being of a somewhat sociable nature
and longing to take part in the games
and doings, I became very down-
hearted, and often shed tears in my
solitude, brooding over this treat-
ment, and man's inhumanity to man
generally.
In 1885 there arrived from Iceland
a family consisting of Markus
Jónsson, his wife and two or three
children, together with their
relatives, an elderly couple (the
man's name was Jóhannes) and a
14-year-old boy named Árni Jónsson.
These families moved into the
house next to ours, and Árni com-
menced his schooling at the Central,
so after that I had a staunch protec-
tor, also a friend and companion, and
the best of pals, whom I have never
forgotten.
The year 1885 was the year of the
North-West Rebellion. There is not
much in connection with, that event
clearly defined in my memory except
that I was conscious of a certain ten-
sion and anxiety, and eagerness for
news from the scenes of conflict.
One thing I clearly remember, and
that is the return of the soldiers from
the west after the surrender of the
enemy.
Mother took me down to Main
Street to let me see the soldiers march
by on their way from the C.P.R. sta-
flon to the barracks.
Two arches had been erected
across Main Street not from City Hall
and on top of each arch a plank walk
had been constructed, all the way
across the street, and on each plank-
walk a piper marched back and forth,
playing the bagpipes while the steady
stream of soldiers passed under the
arches.
Thousands lined both sides of the
street and the cheering was deafen-
ing. The soldiers looked haggard and
weary, and their uniforms bore
evidence of rough, hard wear.
As the Winnipeg boom slowed
down the times changed and there
was little employment to be had.
Those of the common labor class
found it hard to get work, and the
future seemed very uncertain. As a
solution to the problem a large
number of people made the decision
to leave the city and secure
homesteads in some of the districts
in the North-West where land was
available for homestead entry.
During the preceding summer my
father got leave of about two weeks
from his work at the mill which he
spent in building a shelter on our
Continued on Page 5
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