Lögberg-Heimskringla - 20.10.1995, Síða 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 20. október 1995
EINAR’S ANECDOTES

By Einar
Arnason
lcelandic
Settlement Story
The first article on this subject
appeared in Olafur Thor-
geirsson’s Almanak during
the year 1899. It was the story of
land acquisition by Icelanders in
the Gimli area written by Guðlau-
gur Magnusson. Since then the
Almanak had published the settle-
ment story of individual districts for
a period of 40 years. It seems
appropriate at this point in time to
review briefly the stoiy of the indi-
vidual who made this a lifetime
project.
Olafur Thorgeirsson was a his-
torical writer. It was as if fate had
so divined, regardless it became a
lifetime occupation.
He was born in the story rich
area of northem Icleland originally
settled by Helgi the Lean, a viking
of renown. Olafur emigrated to
Winnipeg and became a leading
light among Icelanders in western
Canada.
He was among the first
Icelanders to recognize the story
rich event of settlement by
Icelanders here in the western
world. With that he commenced to
record the story in his publications
titled “Almanak".
He made it his foremost policy to
record the story in an accurate and
presentable manner, and chose
writers capable of performing this
task. They were individuals who
were capable of writing about set-
tlers and events within their district
Two hundred and six members of
the Sigvaldason family, descen-
dants of Margrét Benediktsdóttir
and Sigvaldi Simonarson of Geysir,
Manitoba, gathered at the farm Framnes
in Geysir on the August 4 - 7 weekend.
Family members of all ages, infants to
seniors, came from B.C., Alberta, Nova
Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba and Texas.
Events at the farm included a presen-
tation of a centuiy plaque on the Friday
night recognizing the family’s (now the
third and fourth generation) more than
one hundred years of farming at the
Framnes site; picture-taking; visiting the
historical gallery set up for the occasion;
the Saturday evening dinner, a program
of music and speeches followed by danc-
ing; church service and dinner on
Sunday and, finally, participation in the
parade and program at the Icelandic cel-
ebration in Gimli on Monday, the 7th.
As well, there were wonderful visits
with our immediate family, brothers and
sisters and their offspring at Breidavík in
Hnausa on the Lake Winnipeg shore,
where we had parked our R.V.
These gatherings always included
lots of coffee (filter, not poki), vínarter-
ta and a variety of “goodies” such as
harðfiskur, catfish stappa, smoked sun-
fish (no goldeye was available),
rúllupylsa, blóðmör, lifrapylsa, mysuos-
tur, skyr, pönnukökur and kleinur. The
skyr and the sweets were a hit with the
children but the hardfish (dried fish)
George and Marg Jackson, Arden Jackson-Snow and her boys Stefan 6-1/2,Hart 4-1/2, David
(1 on Aug. 18) leaving Caledon for the long trek to Manitoba - little did they know how long,
5 days instead of 3 because of RV breakdown.
and other delicacies were rejected in
favour of hot dogs!
I’d like to share with you the closing
paragraph of my Memories of Framnes
which I wrote for the reunion. It states
what I believe these homeward pilgrim-
ages are about and why they are so
important.
“Now we look around at this won-
derful gathering of the clan and mar-
vel at the miracle of coming together
to celebrate Family. This is a family
that, like so many others, had its
beginnings in adversity in a remote
island country in the north Atlantic,
or in Europe and other parts of the
world. Perhaps it was adversity that
provided the impetus to move to this
country but it is the response to it that
reveals the character of a people. Our
grandparents, and many others like
them, responded with determination
and strength founded in love, faith
and hope. Without these, adversity
defeats us all. This heritage of faith,
hope and love is what we celebrate at
Framnes this weekend. It is ours to
treasure and to share and, through
our children, to go on sharing with all
the generations to come.”
Reprinted from Fálkinn, Newsletter of
ICCT
Marg (Sigvaldason) & George Jackson marching with their reunion group in
íslendingadagurinn Parade at Gimli, August 7/95
Sigvaldason Family
Reunion
Sigvaldason Float in íslendingadagurinn Parade at Gimli, August 7/95
by Margret Jackson
and had been pioneer settlers in the
area themselves.
It apparently had been Olafur’s
policy to continue this project until
the story was complete in itself by
covering every Icelandic district in
the western hemisphere. It deals
with the historical aspect of each
area and avoids passing judgement
on events which took place. This
seems to have been a wise decision.
It was a task of the writers to
gather this information and record
the events as they presented them-
selves. This became clearer later as
time put a distance to these events.
When Icelanders as individuals
begin to trace their origin back to
the original settlers in the New
World, then their story will become
well known. This will place them
on par with the Pilgrim Fathers
who first settled in the New
England States and the Loyalists of
Eastern Canada, which are highly
regarded. Then Olafur Thorgeirs-
son’s Almanak will be searched to
obtain reliable information about
the original Icelandic settlers. Not
before will it be fully appreciated
how valuable the work of this great
man really is.
Translated from Icelandic written
by Grímur Eyford and published int
he 1940 issue of Olafur Thorgeirsson’s
Almanak.
UPDATE RE
Johann
Axelson’s
Medical Study
This study, conducted a
few years ago, involved
many members of the
Icelandic community in
Winnipeg. A number of
sealed envelopes contain-
ing results have not been
picked up as yet. Please
contact L-H at 284-5686,
Monday to Friday 10 a.m. -
2 p.m., regarding pick-up:
Fell, Thora
Gregovski, Lisa
Johanson, Curtis
Johanson, Jonas
Kristjansson, Carol
Marteinsson, Darren
Olson, Robyn
Palson, Kenneth
Vadeboncoeur, Donna-Lee