Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.07.1989, Side 5

FÖSTUDAGUR 7. JÚLÍ 1989-5
Hecla village
Continued from Page 4
(sweet pancakes) and meit-in-the
mouth vínarterta (þrune cake).
On Hecla Island, 93 kilometres to
the north, the Icelandic culture has
all but died out although there are
traces of those early pioneers. The
island, which today is joined to the
mainland by a causeway, was part of
the early settlers' land grant, but, ac-
cording to local legend, was only set-
tled because of a wayward cow.
The cow was apparently fed up
with bobbing up and down on Lake
Winnipeg (a shallow lake which be-
comes choppy) and when the boat on
which it was riding approached Hec-
la Island, it leaped over the side. Its
owner, alarmed that he might lose
the animal, followed in hot pursuit.
Both made it to the island, liked what
they saw and decided to stay.
The land here was similar to the
land they had left behind. Hecla Is-
land is a wild and lovely place, but
it is bleak and isolated in the winter.
Nonetheless, the hardy Icelanders
hung in. More immigrants arrived
from Iceland and by 1920, the popu-
lation had risen to 500.
The settlers lived by fishing and
farming, but by the 1950s those tradi-
tional activities were dying out.
Moreover, timber supplies along the
shores of Lake Winnipeg were dwin-
dling. The fishing industry was in the
doldrums and the farmland was no
longer productive enough to support
the local families. Many people
moved away — to Gimli and beyond.
The final blow came in 1966 when
the local school was closed.
Three years later, the island
received a new lease on life, but not
as a living community. It was desig-
nated as a provincial park. Tourists
now come to enjoy its wild, wind-
swept beauty and to learn about its
link with Iceland.
For Winnipeggers it's a welcome
escape from the city. Hecla was set-
tled for less than a century and a lot
of the island has reverted to wilder-
ness. It is rich in flora and fauna.
Moose are frequently spotted at
dawn or dusk and the marshes which
surround it provide a summer home
for more than 50,000 birds. Hecla is
on the central flyway for migrating
waterfowl, and bird watchers come
here to spot terns, blue herons and
western grebes.
But the Icelandic influence is never
far away. Gull Harbour, a 186-room
resort at the northern end of the is-
land, is surrounded by birch, spruce
and pine. Built in the Scandinavian
style, with a steep roof and walls of
rough-hewn cedar, it has an indoor
swimming pool, tennis courts, hiking
trails and, as you might expect, a sau-
na. Guests eat in the Borðstofan Val-
höll — the Dining Room of the Gods.
Around the island there are haunt-
ing traces of the past. Going for a
hike one morning, we came across
several derelict houses, weatherbeat-
en and grey. We stumbled across the
rusted body of a car, overgrown with
weeds. A boat, cracked and dry, lay
rotting in the sun. But the most poig-
nant memory was a graveyard filled
with granite tombstones. Their in-
scriptions, which were written in
Icelandic, bore the names of dozens
of people, who lived and died here,
several decades ago.
It takes an hour to drive from Win-
nipeg to Gimli and another hour from
Gimli to Hecla Island. The fastest
route is via Highway 8, but Highway
9, which runs along Lake Winnipeg’s
western shore, is more scenic.
The Gimli Museum, on Centre
Street East, documents the early life
of the Icelandic settlers. It is open
only in the summer months. Housed
in a former fish package plant, it
overlooks the harbor.
Cod and herring govern Iceland
This interesting article appeared
in the Tíminn of Reykjavík some time
ago.
It arouses great interest, and the
following is a synopsis of the writer's
thoughts.
It is not unusual to regard govern-
mental economic decrees to be of lit-
tle value. They do not bring about
any actual improvements. These
comments have been around for the
past 70 years.
Often, governments have promised
action which in turn has attracted
votes. Thus it was with the recuper-
ation policy some 30 years ago. It
ended with devaluation of the cur-
rency, inflation, unemployment and
people leaving for other countries.
Personal savings were reduced to
ashes. Others tried to convert their
cash into concrete, in other words,
houses which were concrete and cast
in place. This created economic ex-
pansion at a time when the herring
catch was at a peak.
The facts are that all these govern-
mental decisions during the past 70
years have met with failure. It seems
that these types of decisions are not
applicable to Iceland where the econ-
omy swings from one extreme to the
other. No amount of legislation can
control it. Elected representatives
must make their decisions based on
the behaviour of the cod and herring
runs.
The story of Iceland's economy can
be traced as parallel to cod and her-
ring catches. This has created over-
expansion and legislation which falls
JOIN
ICELANDIC
CANADIAN FRÓN
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by the wayside. Icelanders have not
been able to save enough during good
years to even out the bad years.
What Iceland needs is a stable cur-
rency and economic policies which
even out the cyclical cod and herring
runs, and economic benefits not
wasted without consideration for the
future.
Translation in part from the
Tíminn. e.A.
NEWS FLASH
íslendingadagurinn an-
nounces that íslendin-
gadagskiukkan was cast June
27th, 1989 at 3:30 p.m. at the
Bay Bronze Industries Limit-
ed with artist Richard Osen
in attendance. Results were
satisfactory. Further details
to follow.
— Linda Fay Jóhannsdóttir
Þjóðræknisfélag íslendinga í Vesturheimi
FORSETI: NEIL BARDAL
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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