Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.11.1994, Blaðsíða 1

[ Lögberg ]
neimsKringia
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 4. .nóvember 1994
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 4 November 1994
Inside this week:
Ideas from lceland.........................2
Conference in lceland...................3, 4
INL President's Message....................4
Grímkell's Story..........................14
Children's Corner.........................15
' Poetry by Franklin Johnson...............19
Númer 38
Number 38
INL and IIL delegates to the lceland '94 Conference gather in front of Reykjavík's new city hall after a reception held by Mayor Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir.
Reackín^ out a^aín
or the last sever-
al years Lög-
berg-Heims-
kringla and the
Icelandic Nat-
ional League have co-oper-
ated in bringing you this
special Outreach issue of
this newspaper.
The purpose of it is two-
fold — actually it is three-
fold, but we will get to the
third fold later.
It is the hope of L-H and
the INL that by doing this
issue together we can
together reach out to more
Westem Icelanders than we
otherwise reach. There are
members of the INL who do
not subscribe to Lögberg-
Heimskringla; there are sub-
scribers to Lögberg-
Heimskringla who do not
belong to the Icelandic
National League.
This is not as it should
be. Both organisations are
dedicated to the preserva-
tion of the Icelandic culture
and heritage in North
America. It is an almost
sacred obligation that our
grandfathers or great-grand-
fathers or grandmothers or
great-grandmothers commit-
ted themselves to when they
left Iceland in the 19th cen-
tury. It is a commitment
that most Icelanders who
have left Iceland for North
America in the years since
then have made privately to
themselves. It is a commit-
ment that must be kept
because it is only by keeping
that commitment that we
can hold on to our identities
even though we are officially
and legally Canadians and
Americans.
This issue of this newspa-
per, produced with the con-
tribution of all the INL:
chapters that cared to
respond, is evidence in
print of how vital the
Icelandic community in
North America remains.
There are rcports from
groups across the United
States and Canada and
reports from Iceland, where
they still think of us as
Western Icelanders, lost
lambs, if you like, who when
they return to Iceland are
welcomed as if they are
coming home.
Lögberg-Heimskringla is
the natural outlet for news
from the Icelandic National
League, the Icelandic
International League, based
in Reykjavik, and for any
organization or individual
with an Icelandic connec-
tion in North Americá. Use
it, subscribe to it. Join the
Icelandic National League
or start a chapter in your
city or your town. You don’t
need to have a lot of mem-
bers; you only need to
remember the call of your
blood and your cultural her-
itage. Both Lögberg-Heims-
kringla and the Icelandic
National League represent
both.
We are particularly grate-
ful for the efforts of Evelyn
Thorvaldson, a past presi-
-dent of the INL, for the
work she did in ensuring the
contributions froni the vari-
ous INL.chapters. As you
can see from this issue it is
the best participation that
we have ever had in this
joint effort.
This issue of this newspa-
per is largely devoted to
news from the INL. It
should be of interest to all of
our subscribers and of inter-
est to all INL members. As
well as INL news, it
includes a sampling of regu-
lar L-H features and poetry
from Franklin Johnson —
the existing poet laureate of
the Western Icelanders —
in Icelandic. This copy of
this newspaper includes as
well contributions from the
Icelandic department of the
University of Manitoba. It is
living evidence of a vibrant
community that can survive
if it can co-operate.
Our next few iSsues will
feature rnore news from the
INL including two articles
by Nelson Gerrard, official
historian of the INL, and an
account of a visit to the farm
Oddi in south Iceland. We
will also bring you informa-
tion from the INL affiliates,
more contributions from
Kirsten Wolf at the Uni-
versity of Manitoba, and
more rubbish from me. You
don’t have to like anything
that any of these three orga-
nizations are doing right
now. What you do have to
do is to understand that
people come and go, but
these institutions need your
support because they must
continue or we have lost our
heritage.
We appreciate the sup-
port of the advertisers who
have contributed to this
issue. L-H reaches more
members of the North
American Icelandic commu-
nity than any other publica-
tion, something that poten-
tial advertizers might want
to think about. It makes
good business sense to
advertize in Lögberg-
Heimskringla and it helps,
as well to keep this paper
publishing in its second cen-
tury.
Watch for our Christmas
children’s drawing contest
and our children’s poetry
contest and watch for an
upcoming issue which will
feature books of particular
interest to Western Ice-
landers. This is all good stuff
but if you don’t subscribe
you will miss out.