Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.04.1992, Page 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 17. apríl 1992 • 7
A Hundred
Years Ago
Young Reader’s
Where
Corner:
the lcelanders?
by Frank Slgurdson
Manitoba attracts most lcelanders
Lögberg
miðvikudaginn
13. apríl 1892
Úr Bænum og Grendinni
íslenzki hljóðfæraleikenda flokkur-
inn hjer í bænum ætlar að halda „con-
cert“ á sumardaginn fyrsta.
★ ★ ★
Mr. Brandur Johnson, landi vor, var
kosinníbæjarstjóminaí Pembina, N.D.,
á mánudaginn var.
★ ★ ★
Mr. Jóhann Briem fór á þriðjudaginn
var með fjölskyldu sína vestur í Aigyle-
nýlendu.
★ ★ ★
Númer 3. og 4. af öðrum árg.
Kirkjublaðsins er komið og biður W. H.
Paulson kaupendur þess hjer í bænum
að vitja þess að 162 Kate St.
★ ★ ★
Capt. JónasBeigmann, sem hefur haft
umsjón yfir breikkun á Nýja íslands-
veginum, kom til bæjarins nú í vikunni,
hafði neyðzt til að fresta vinnunni, vegna
þess hve mikið vatn er á veginum.
As mentioned before, the Icelanders
had discovered that there were many
places for them to settle. However,
Manitoba, and especially Winnipeg,
attracted most of the immigrants from
Iceland. Actually, Winnipeg became the
centre for Icelanders in America.
Likemostimmigrantgroups, the Ice-
landers, at first, stayed together in a
community. They built their houses, or
more correctly, their shanties in the
area at the eastern end of Broadway
Avenue in Winnipeg, now used by the
Canadian National Railway. Their place
was called Shanty Town. Later many of
them moved to the Point Douglas area.
They moved again, this time to the city’s
West End. Sargent Avenue became their
home. As before, the Icelanders moved,
and today they live in every section of
Winnipeg. The First Lutheran Church
on Victor Street, close to Sargent Av-
enue, remains a focal pointfor Iceland-
ers.
In this story we are asking, “where
are the Icelanders?” One way to get an
answer is to look at statistics about
immigrants. Icelandic immigrants were
arriving each year in fairly good num-
bers. This continued until the begin-
ning of the World War in 1914. After
the War, the yearly average number of
Icelandic immigrants has been about
twenty.
It was reported that by 1901, there
were approximately 10,000 Icelanders
in Manitoba. Four thousand of these
lived in Winnipeg, two thousand five
hundred in the New Iceland area, and
the remainder in other Icelandic com-
munities.
In 1961, the census showed that there
were 30,623 Icelanders in Canada. The
census shows only national origins on
the father’s side. The question on the
census was “To what ethnic or cultural
group did you or your ancestor (on the
male side) belong on coming to this
continent?”
We will see that the Icelanders were
moving to all parts of Canada. Mani-
toba was the place that most chose.
ICELANDERS IN CANADA 1961
Newfoundland...................40
Prince Edward Island...........24
Nova Scotia...................113
New Brunswick.................135
Quebec......................2,516
Ontario .................. 2,313
Manitoba...................14,547
Saskatchewan................3,405
Alberta.....................2,325
British Columbia............5,136
Yukon..........................32
North West Territories.........37
TOTAL......................30,623
We have to guess at the number of
Icelandic descendents in Canada to-
day. Thatestimate would probably range
between 50,000 and 60,000.
Llnda Johanns
Lest We Forget
From the city
and the surrounding areas
The group of Icelandic musicians
here in town are going to give a concert
on the first day of summer.
★ ★ ★
Mr. Brandur Johnson, our country-
man, was elected to the town council of
Pembina, N.D., last Monday.
★ ★ ★
Mr. Jóhann Briem left last Tuesday,
along with his family, for the Argyle
settlement.
★ ★ ★
Numbers 3 and 4 of the second vol-
ume of the Church paper have come
out. W.H. Paulson asks its buyers here
in town to come get it at 162 Kate St.
★ ★ ★
Capt. Jónas Bergmann, who has been
in charge of the widening of the New
Iceland road, came to town this past
week. He had been forced to delay the
work due to how much water there is
on the road.
Sunday, April 5, 10 a.m. (day-light
saving) central time. Our Canadian flag
— the red maple leaf — flies promi-
nently on the CBC-TV screen. Digni-
taries lay wreaths as fourteen Vimy
Ridge veterans watch. Seventy-five years
ago (1917), they were in a different
world. I watch the gentle motion of the
flag and question... How do these men
feel? They did not fight under this flag;
they fought under the red, white, and
blue Union Jack. That was Canada’s
flag then. Could the govemment not
display both?
During the ceremony, Rabbi Bulka
says, “the past is very much with us ...
Our soldiers succeeded in a task no one
else could... A country without a past
has no future. A country that celebrates
its past, has a future. We must be thank-
ful for our past, celebrate the present,
and look forward to our future.”
Last Friday, my friend told me, “I’m
Canadian. I don’tgoforstufflikethat,”
when I held before her the beautiful
book Westem Icelandic Short Storíes. I
tried to explain that the authors were
Canadian-immigrants who chose
Canada as their future. Their works are
locked in Icelandic and “the future”
could notappreciate what they penned.
Now, through the efforts of the transla-
tors and editors, Dr. Kirsten Wolf and
Ámý Hjaltadóttir, we can view the past,
celebrate the present, and look forward
to our future. Without it, we are not
whole.
gins a period of one unit composed of
several countries. Can Canada not rec-
ognize her past as multi-units who unite
when it matters? We are all Canadians.
Vimy Ridge was such an undertak-
ing. The Late Greg Clarke, writer for
the WeekendMagazine, viewed Canada
differently when he retumed fr om Vimy
Ridge, and the historian Arthur Lower
said that in a matter of hours at Vimy
Ridge, Canada went from colony to
nation. “Canadians” worked together
when it mattered. They were from
Canada, not Alberta, not Ontario, not
British Columbia, not Manitoba, not
Saskatchewan.
My friend is wrong when she thinks
being Canadian does not include our
diverse pasts. The stories included in
this new book are fforn 1895 to 1920,
written by people who colonized the
wilderness. They are from the world of
Vimy Ridge, from the past when Canada
went from colony to nation.
The govemment was wrong in not
flying both flags. It is our duality.
What are your views?
EPTergesen & Sons \
^ “a great browsing store”
Box 1818, Clmli, MB. ROC ÍBO ▼ Tdephone: 642-59«
i Aæw /iww/i/i/s.
Icelandic-jZanodion
©ral Carrafives
My quandary continues. Europe be-
Theatres and Concerts
Lögberg
Wednesday,
April 13,1892
Magoús EI««ruon
Icelandic-Canadian
Oral Narratives
1985/86
1987/88
1989/90
5
775
167 431
420
60 OOO
5
524
128 959
450
65 OOO
6
603
166 898
370
53 000
Theatres
- number
- performances
- attendance
Concerts
- attendance