Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.09.2002, Blaðsíða 2

2 « Lögberg-Heimskringla « Friday 13 September 2002
Editorials
Lillian Vilborg
Managing Editor
WlNNIPEG, MB
After two years I thought
I’d better go to see the
Winnipeg dentist we were
referred to by our dentist of
thirty years in Edmonton. We
got a kick out of the fact that
the referrals we got from our
dentist and doctor in
Edmonton were to colleagues
with Icelandic sumames.
I didn’t really think much
of it at the time. I had lived in
a sea of “others” since my mid-
teens. Lome and I were like the
couple in My Big Fat Greek
Wedding, an apples and
oranges match, and it was the
MacPhersons who were the big
noisy clan, outnumbering the
rather quiet Bjamason bunch.
Anyway, since I came
back to Manitoba, it’s been
seeping into my consciousness
that my reality is different here.
There are Icelandic faces
everywhere I go, at least that’s
how it seems to me. I don’t
make a practice of asking
though, so it could be my
imagination.
My visit to my new den-
tist, Dr. Gene Solmundson, has
completely confirmed my
sense of Winnipeg as an intrin-
sically Icelandic city - people
whose ammas and afis came
from Iceland, people who
know when they came, what
their names were.
Lana, the woman cleaning
my teeth, said “I love your ear-
rings,” and I proceeded to tell
her “They’re made of horse
hair. I bought them in Iceland.
Some rural women there are
bringing back the old arts.
They used to use horse hair for
a lot things. Like rope. I got
my dad a hobble there.”
That was undoubtedly way
more than she wanted to know
about my earrings. However, it
was her response that surprised
me. “I’m Icelandic,” she said.
She then proceeded to tell me
about her mom and her aunt,
and her grandparents.
Dr. Solmundson’s assis-
tant, Sharon also is Icelandic.
She told me that her ninety-
year-old amma, who reads the
L-H, has relocated to Calgary
from Toronto to live with her
parents.
The first time I went to the
office, the person who made
my appointment told me that
her mother used to get the L-H.
“Maybe you’d like to get it
now,” I offered. “Oh no,” she
laughed.
And therein an interesting
quandary in Winnipeg. There’s
an Icelander behind every bush
and tree, but they are not keep-
ing up conscious contact with
each other, nor are they keep-
ing the history of a vibrant lit-
erary and artistic community
alive. They’re just doing it now
- they are actors, writers, film
makers, clay sculptors, glass
artists, painters - and teachers,
lawyers, real estate agents,
doctors, dental assistants, shop
owners, investment advisors,
judges, dentists, accountants,
politicians, bus drivers, postal
workers, bureaucrats, recep-
tionists, archaeologists, univer-
sity professors, librarians -
you name it.
I’ve often heard it said that
people wait until they are forty
before they take an interest in
their personal history. But what
I observe of the Icelanders in
Winnipeg is that the forty and
fifty somethings are largely
alienated from their cultural
roots, at least in the sense that
they declare their interest
through membership in clubs,
attendance at events, or sub-
scribing to the organs of com-
munication. They have aban-
doned the parts of the city
where their roots lie, and have
left no trace of themselves
behind - no signs that say: this
is where we did an interesting
thing, this is where we went to
school, this is where we gath-
ered for social events, this is
where our famous writer was
bom, this is where our newspa-
per was printed, this is where
our first retail outlet opened,
this is where we went to drink
coffee, this is where we landed,
this where we first lived.
Except for the Jón Sigurðsson
statue on the legislative
grounds, and headstones in
cemeteries, and a mural on a
building in the west end, we
are invisible, both to ourselves
and others.
Letters to the Editor 4ÍP
Dear Editor,
A very enjoyable and edu-
cational read!
I’d like to see more photo-
graphs of Iceland and travel
information (although several
websites listed in the paper
would also have this available
I’m sure!) ___________
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Michael Kurtz
10:30 a.m. The Service
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
Local family storiés of
family reunions/photos etc. in
Gimli. A listing of foods
served at each holiday (recipes
perhaps).
Thank you very much!
Keep up the great work.
Diane Baldwin
Yellowknife, NT
Correction:
Re: letter to Editor
in Issue 28
Dear Editor,
A feW weeks ago I wrote
you a letter. If you wish to
include it in Lögberg-
Heimskringla, would you
please correct an error -
Minnist
BETEL
I ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
“Skaftfellssýsla” should be
“Skaftafellssýsla.” Also could
you omit “legendary.”
Although Jón
Steingrímsson became a leg-
end in his time, he was a very
real person and wrote a
remarkable autobiography
which has been translated into
English and will soon be pub-
lished in that language.
Thank you.
George Hanson
Port Townsend, WA
Dear Editor,
G’day, just discovered
your website! I’m an Icelander
lost in Australia since 1969.
It’s great to discover other lost
Icelanders!
Hákarl Forever!!!!!!!
Thor Vikingur
Rockingham, Western
Australia
L-H’s Líterar/ Issue Coming Up
All writers are invited to submit their words to the
L-H Literary Issue. Please send your poetry and/or short
fiction (250 - 800 words) to the L-H Editorial Office by
e-mail: logberg@mts.net or post: PO Box 1859, Stn. Main,
Winnpeg, MB R3C 3R1
Deadline for submissions is
OCTOBER 2, 2002
Lögberg-
Heimskringla
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