Lögberg-Heimskringla - 04.11.2005, Page 10

10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 4 November 2005
T\l? Q'T'TAT A 'T'T/^AT •
DHíb 1IJNA1KJJN: MIRIfR
Hands-on
heritage
Maria and Laura Bear
make exploring their roots
an ongoing activity
David Jón Fuller
Exploring one’s heritage
is a common activity for
many North Americans.
It puts people in touch with
their families, communities and
ancestors. Given generations
of intermarriage, many people
have mixed backgrounds. Ma-
ria Bear and her daughter Lau-
ra are good examples.
Maria, who was bom and
raised in Gimli, MB and now
lives in Selkirk, is of Icelandic
descent on both sides. Her par-
ents are Stefan and Olla (Olafia
Svanhvit) Stefanson. She mar-
ried Gerald Bear, son of Sam
and Elsie Bear, in 1967 and
they had two children, Laura
and Morgan.
Gerald, who passed away
of compiications from diabetes
in 2000, was Metis, of Cree and
Scottish descent. His heritage
and Maria’s have had a strong
effect on the family.
Laura, who is a self-em-
ployed hairstylist at Charm Spa,
grew up exploring both sides
of her heritage. She studied
Cree and Ojibwe
language classes
through the Sel-
kirk Friendship
Centre and also
learned Native
dance and art.
“They spon-
sored my elemen-
tary school with a lot of stuff
with cross-country skiing,
snowshoeing and in the winter-
time we had a winter outdoors
day, and some of it was Native
sports,” she says.
Laura’s school was Ruth
Hooker School. “When I got
older and was speaking to oth-
er kids who had gone to other
schools, nobody had done
these things. They didn’t get to
do the fun things that we did.”
When she turned 30, Laura
became increasingly interested
in her Icelandic heritage. “Mom
and I got into leaming the Ice-
landic langauge,” she says, as a
winter project, which they did
at the Selkirk Brúin club’s con-
versation classes. “And I guess
with more family going over to
Iceland it intrigued me more.”
The prime examples of that
were her grandparents; Stefan
and Olla had visited Iceland
more than 30 times. As we!!,
her cousin Tristin Tergesen had
studied there. Her grandparents
spoke Icelandic in the home.
“And you always thought they
were talking about your Christ-
mas presents,” she says with a
laugh.
After three years of lan-
guage classes, Maria and Laura
travelled to Iceland together,
meeting relatives, seeing the
country, and trying out their
Icelandic.
Of her dual heritage, Laura
says “First and foremost I con-
sider myself a Canadian. But
I’m proud of both heritages
equally. What is funny is that
no-one really guesses ‘Native’
if they don’t know me, and
they ask if I’m either Spanish
or Italian.”
Her mother
Maria was work-
ing at the Selkirk
Mental Health
Centre when she
met her husband.
Maria now works
for the local
school division as
an educational assistant, which
she has done for 25 years.
Gerald’s Metis heritage
played a large part in Maria’s
life as well. “A little after we
were married, I went to the
Friendship Centre and took les-
sons on how to do bead work
and it became a very intricate
part of our life, and I’ve been
sewing and that for about 25
years. There was definitely a
Native thread in our lifestyle,
you know, with the foods and
all the rest of it, but also a very
Icelandic thread. I always said
our kids had the best of both
“First and
foremost I
consider myself a
Canadian. But l’m
proud of both
heritages equally.”
Maria Bear has been doing traditional leather and bead work for many years.
Laura Bear has workworks on the hair of one of her co-work-
ers at Charm Spa. She has done hairstyling for 15 years.
worlds.”
Among her leather and
bead work, she has made moc-
casins, mitts, a vest for Laura,
and made wrap-around muk-
luks for Gerald when he was
ill.
The Bears’ household was a
study in cross-cultural gastron-
omy. Maria leamed to prepare
bannock, beans, goose, duck,
moose, elk, deer and macami-
nas (“Sunday bannock” with
sugar and cinnamon). Gerald
was introduced to and leamed
to love hangikjöt and rúllu-
pylsa, as well as vínarterta and
pönnukökur.
Maria adds, “I really was
always amazed at how much
Icelandic Gerald had leamed.”
Her parents often hosted visi-
tors from Iceland, and on many
social occasions he soaked up
the vocabulary. “He had a lot
of respect for the Icelandic
people,” she says.
Maria and Laura became
actively involved in the Brúin
club at the same time, in 2000.
Maria is currently President
of the club, and Laura served
as Treasurer for three years.
Both were heavily involved in
organizing the 2004 Icelandic
National League Convention in
Hecla, MB which was hosted
by Brúin as well as the Arborg,
Gimli and Lundar INL chap-
ters.
The Bears’ exploration of
their heritage has been very
active and hands-on. In addi-
tion to spearheading the cre-
ation of Icelandic costumes for
club members in time for the
2004 INL Convention, Maria
adds that one of her favourite
pieces was an Icelandic filigree
necklace she got to make at the
Convention in Minneapolis.
“There was a fellow by the
name of Jón Jóhannsson, from
Eyastaði, there, and I went to
ask him a question and I was
looking down at the filigree he
was doing, and he said, ‘Would
you Iike to try it?’ and I said,
‘Yes 1 would!”’
She tried her hand at work-
ing the silver in different loops
and styles, and when she was
finished he invited her to keep
it. “It was so interesting, learn-
ing how to make it. And really
unique, because I was trying all
these different styles — there’s
not going to be another one like
that.”
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