Reykjavík Grapevine - 27.07.2007, Blaðsíða 9

16_RVK_GV_11_007_ARTICLE/GENEALOGY
At the Icelandic Emigration Centre in Hofsós, Nelson Ger-
rard shows me a thick, heavy book that he wrote about
the lives and descendants of the Icelanders who settled
on the shores of Lake Winnipeg in Canada. Gerrard,
a retired high school history and English teacher from
Manitoba who is Icelandic on his mother’s side, is one
of the two staff genealogists at the centre. He is a tall,
strong man who speaks carefully and methodically and
gives off a sense of credibility. He carries in his mind an
encyclopaedic knowledge of the names and life stories
of Icelandic emigrants to America. Today he is busy at
the computer answering one query from an Icelandic
woman, who is going to Canada in a few weeks and
wants to meet cousins her family has lost track of, and
another from a Canadian woman, who is planning a
visit to Hofsós this summer. An elderly Icelandic man
whose parents went to Canada and then came back to
Iceland stops by. He is pleased when Gerrard finds his
family’s records in the centre’s database.
The Emigration Centre, or Vesturfarasetrið, has done
for Hofsós what whale watching did for Húsavík, or
saltfish for Grindavík, or what the Settlement Centre
hopes to do for the old centre of Borgarnes. In Hofsós,
a town of only about two hundred inhabitants, four old
buildings on either side of the swift stream that flows
into the sea by the harbour have been renovated, the
oldest dating from 1777. They’ve been turned into a
museum and research centre for people interested in
the experience of the twenty-thousand odd Icelanders
who emigrated to North America in the later years of the
nineteenth century. The whole thing was the brainchild
of Valgeir Þorvaldsson, who is also the man behind the
Icelandic flag factory in Hofsós. The idea at Hofsós is
not unique. Many other Northern European countries
have similar emigration centres, such as the Swedish
Emigrant Institute in Växjö.
The reason why roots tourists should visit Hofsós
is to spend a day among people who are devoted to
Icelandic genealogy and the Icelandic emigrant experi-
ence. It’s sensible to do as much family history research
at home as possible before visiting, but the centre also
has a growing library of Icelandic genealogy books and
a computer database. Let them know you’re coming, as
the staff welcome e-mail and will answer simple queries
for free (hofsos@hofsos.is). You’ll need to pay them to
do any more extensive research.
The centre has three museum-style exhibitions, very
professionally put together and fully labelled in English
and Icelandic. One focuses on the emigrant experience,
another on life in North America, and the third, called
“Silent Flashes,” presents the best images from Nelson
Gerrard’s collection of over ten thousand photographs
of Icelandic emigrants to North America. (The man on
the right in the photo above is Jóhannes Stefansson, the
older brother of Icelandic-Canadian explorer Vilhjálmur
Stefansson. His friend on the left is unidentified.) Ger-
rard is always looking to add to his collection. Contact
him through his website, www.sagapublications.com,
if you have photos to give away or share.
Entry to the exhibitions costs 400 ISK each, or 900 ISK
for all three. The centre is open daily from 11:00–18:00
from June through August, and by arrangement the rest
of the year (tel. 453-7935, further information at www.
hofsos.is).
Hofsós has several guesthouses (which can be booked
through www.hofsos.is), a harbour-side restaurant called
Sólvík with 1.500 ISK fish dinners, a cafe and bar called
Sigtún which serves burgers, a post office, grocery store,
and gas station. There’s a super view of Þórðarhöfði,
Drangey island and the mountains on the other side of
Skagafjörður. You can also eat or stay a twenty minute
drive away at the agricultural university in Hólar (www.
holar.is). As it’s well off Highway 1 and tends to attract
more American than European visitors, Hofsós is qui-
eter in summer than the average Icelandic destination.
Driving time from Reykjavík is four hours, not counting
stops. The new road over Þverárfjall from Blönduós to
Sauðárkrókur is not completely paved yet, but is already
passable, and shortens the trip.
Besides the Emigration Centre, Icelandic-American
essayist and poet Bill Holm spends summers in Hofsós
and runs one-week writing seminars every May or June
(US$3300 per person double occupancy, airfare from the
US included, 20 participants max, see www.billholm.
com). He has finished a new book called ‘Windows of
Brimnes: An American in Iceland’, which will come out
in October. About five kilometres north of Hofsós, a
summer colony for visual artists and architects has just
been opened at a farm called Bær, and is accepting
applications. Successful candidates come five at a time
for a month during the summer and receive free room,
board, and working space, but must get themselves to
Hofsós on their own (more info at www.baer.is).
Roots Tourism in Hofsós
Text by Ian Watson Photo courtesy of Nelson Gerrard
For booking and
further information:
Tel.: +354 565-1213
www.vikingvillage.is
vikings@vikingvillage.is
Viking feasts every night
- live entertainment
“You haven't been in Iceland
if you haven't been to us“
Strandgata 55 Hafnarfjordur
Don’t miss it!
• Hotel
• Restaurants
• Souveniers
The Emigration Centre has
done for Hofsós what whale
watching did for Húsavík, or
saltfish for Grindavík.WWW.GRAPEVINE.IS
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