Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.11.2005, Side 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 4. nóvember 2005 • 7
DESTINATION: Selkírk
Fish-eating goolies
Are people still growing up
What does being lcelandic mean to people in
their 20s and 30s? Tricla Signy McKay talks to
her contemporaries in Selkirk, MB
Initially when you move to
a new place, you want to fit
in. In public, you try to as-
similate. Being different causes
hardship, and, not wanting your
children to experience the same
horrible feelings, you hide a bit
of what you came from.
For the first generation it
wouldn’t be so bad — your
parents are weird anyways and
why would you want their ac-
cent?
When descendants realize
that they cannot communicate
in what they feel is their right-
ful language, they feel hurt and
cheated. Not wanting their chil-
dren to feel the same hurt, they
try very hard to get that culture
back.
The original Selkirk Town,
located 30 km northeast of
Winnipeg, was named after the
fifth Earl of Selkirk, Thomas
Douglas, who established the
Red River Settlement in 1812.
In 1891, approximately one-
fifth of the residents of Selkirk
Town were immigrants from
Iceland, but most of the popu-
lation was born in Manitoba.
Selkirk, also known as
“The Catfish Capital of the
World,” now a city of 10,000,
is currently going through the
biggest business boom in its
history, with an unemployment
rate of 0% and many businesses
expanding.
At the turn of the century,
Selkirk’s Icelandic commu-
nity was easily identifiable. A
group of 700 Icelandic-bom
immigrants chose this predomi-
nantly Scottish/Native commu-
nity as their home. They arrived
with their books and their de-
termination lo make a life here.
Though the spellings of many
surnames changed to easier-to-
pronounce anglicized versions,
most people held on to both
their language and traditions.
An Icelandic Lutheran
church was formed, and later
“Brúin,” Selkirk’s chapter of
the Icelandic National League.
The church continued on with
lcelandic services well into
the 1960s and the INL chapter
meetings and minutes remained
Icelandic until about the sarne
time. These groups allowed
Icelandic people to get togeth-
er and discuss, in their native
tongue, both the hardships and
joys of living in Canada.
As a child, my mother’s
neighbourhood was filled with
sumames like Skagfjörð, Pe-
tersson, Olsson, Gislasson,
Walterson, Stefanson, Jonsson,
and Halldorson. (I had to tell
her to stop after she named ev-
eryone on the two blocks clos-
est my house. I think this list
does go on forever.)
She grew up with people
whose firsl names were Oli,
Lauga, Laufi, Jafeta and Ingib-
jörg. There was always time for
coffee if visitors popped over
and there were always Icelan-
dic foods at Christmas and on
special occasions. There was no
question that she was of Icelan-
dic descent. Her first language
was Icelandic, her mother
spoke Icelandic and everyoné
around her carried on the same
sorts of traditions.
I recently spoke to quite a
few people in my age bracket
to find out what it was like to
grow up as a kid of Icelandic
descent in my own town (obvi-
ously I couldn’t remember).
When I grew up here, I was
“Canadian.” The focus was on
everyone being the same.
As a little kid I suppose
hearing grandmothers referred
to as “baba” or “amma” wasn’t
unlike hearing “nana” or “gran-
ny.” It didn’t sound ethnic, just
a term of endearment for a fam-
ily member.
It wasn’t until that first
school project about “where
your family came from,” with
the maps and flags and tradi-
tional foods, that I really be-
came aware of my Icelandic
background. Of the people I
spoke to, most had had the same
sort of realization somewhere
between grades six and 11. We
could not, however, pinpoint
any major differences between
being ethnically Icelandic and
being “regular Canadian.”
In the 1991 census, 420
Selkirk-area residents claimed
their ethnic b.ackground was in
whole or in part Icelandic. With
little to no migration and the
population remaining relative-
ly the same, the 1996 census
shows 2070 residents claiming
‘lcelandic ’ ?
the same.
As the last óf the first gen-
eration of Icelandic-speaking
immigrants passed away and
our direct link to our ancestry
disappeared, it seems to have
become more important for us
to investigate and claim our
background.
Many of my friends who
are of Icelandic descent have
never been to an Icelandic
event and felt jealous that they
were left out of what seems like
a really cool community. Some,
like my friend Mona, have just
started to study their genealogy
online. My friend Courtenay
had been to the Icelandic Festi-
val in Gimli many times grow-
ing up, but felt like an outsider
or imposter. She didn’t feel like
she was Icelandic enough.
After going on the Snorri
Program and learning about her
family’s heritage and the his-
tory of Icelandic emigration to
Canada she says it was more
like hanging out with friends
than watching something you
weren’t a part of.
Since being part of the
Snorri Program Courtenay has
been a member of an INL club,
she’s assisted building the re-
cent festival parade float for the
Lögberg-Heimskringla, and has
attended an INL convention.
Having been introduced
into the community, and now
knowing so many people with
similar backgrounds and inter-
ests, it’s hard to go to the Ice-
landic Festival without bump-
ing into more than a few people
she already knows.
It’s more difficult to identi-
fy the Icelanders here now. We
don’t speak Icelandic and our
surnames are a mix of Scottish,
Cree, French, Ukranian among
others.
We all love to read and
write, tell stories and sing. We
eat pönnukökur, rúllupylsa,
vínarterta and hardfish. We can
now jokingly identify with the
racial slurs that hurt us in the
past.
I asked my friend Kevin
about growing up Icelandic.
“I didn’t,” he says, “I grew up
here,” (Canadian just like me)
but he proudly proclaims him-
self a “fish-eating goolie.” As a
group, we don’t really do any-
thing that is particularly “eth-
nic,” but we are becoming more
interested in finding out what it
is that makes us who we are.
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Charlie the channel catfish, mascot for the City of Selkirk.
Well known
familyowned
lcelandic producer
of high quality
knitted goods
www.giofi.is
Vísít us for Chrístmas ín Markervílle, Nov. 4,S& 6th
or it the New lceland Herítige Museum, Nov. *25,26 & 27th *
Check out our ímported products online
www.icelandic-goods.com
One ofour main suppliers is
GLSFI
1-866-314-4423
or 780-481-3502
e-mail: snorri@icelandic-goods.com
_ ^.
JjzeJana
www.icelandnaturally.com
Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca