Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2007, Page 2

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2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 January 2007
Bringing more Icelanders west
Jónas Þór plans cultural trips to North America
David Jón Fuller
The year 2007 may prove an auspicious one for Iceland-North Ameri-
ca travel, if Jónas Þór has his
way.
Jónas, who has taught
courses on Icelandic immigra-
tion, settlement and history for
many years, and is the author
of Icelanders in North Ameri-
ca: The Early Settlers, among
other books, formed a new
travel company, Vesturheimur
hf. (Thorstravels in English)
last year, with the express pur-
pose of bringing more Iceland-
ers to the Icelandic settlements
in Canada and the US.
Jónas had already been or-
ganizing similar trips for INL-
Iceland for years, but says there
were always difficulties work-
ing through existing Icelan-
dic travel agencies, “which in
many cases lacked neccessary
understanding and knowledge
of the North American Ice-
landic community. This often
complicated the planning.”
From now on, all INL-Ice-
land tours will be planned by
Vesturheimur.
Jónas hopes that many
Icelanders will show interest
in these specialized packages
— more involved than a simple
trip to New York or Florida.
“The tours have been quite
popular, which is borne out by
the fact that quite a few people
have gone on more than one
tour, a few as many as four,” he
says. “Our reputation is good,
and more and more individu-
als and large groups have ap-
proached us to ask the agency
to plan their tours. More people
will visit Icelandic communi-
ties in 2007 than ever before.”
Attitudes in Iceland to-
wards Icelandic emigrants to
North America and their de-
scendants have changed a great
deal since the 19th century,
when the majority of people
who emigrated from Iceland to
the United States and Canada
made the journey.
At that time, Iceland was
still fighting for independence
from Denmark, as it had been
since the middle of the century
when the earliest emigrants left
to settle in Utah.
“During the Emigration Pe-
riod, from 1870 to 1914, when
people left Iceland for the New
World every year, few stood
on the docks, wishing them
well just before they sailed,”
says Jónas. “Their decision to
emigrate, to leave Iceland, their
homeland, in the hope of find-
ing a brighter future in Amer-
ica, was met with hostility by
so many in the country. Some
went as far as calling them trai-
tors.
“I suppose this common
attitude here made many emi-
grants all the more determined
to maintain as strong bonds
with Iceland as possible, to re-
main as Icelandic in the New
World as they could.”
Jónas says the negative
opinion of the emigrants among
Icelanders lasted well into the
20th century, with many fami-
lies forbidding any mention of
relatives in North America.
“In the last 10 or so years,
this opinion has completely
changed,” says Jónas. “Today,
more and more people in Ice-
land eagerly search for their
relatives in North America.”
This change in perception
is due to a number of things.
One factor are two novels by
Böðvar Guðmundsson, which
told the story of Icelandic set-
tlers in North America and
which were very popular in
Iceland.
Another is support from the
Icelandic government, says Jó-
nas. “The present government
of Iceland, which has been in
power for 12 years, has strong-
ly supported all efforts made
by organizations or individuals
here in Iceland to strengthen
the bonds between Iceland and
these commmunities.
“We always had the sup-
port of the Government of Ice-
land and in the beginning Atli
Ásmundsson, the present Con-
sul General for Iceland in Win-
nipeg, was in the Ministry for
Foreign Affairs and has always
been most supportive.”
He also mentions the work
of Markús Örn Antonsson dur-
ing his tenure as President of
INL-Iceland, when Jónas pro-
posed teaching the courses on
Icelanders in North America.
Antonsson is currently Ice-
land’s Ambassador to Canada.
“He remains just as enthusias-
tic and supportive today,” says
Jónas.
“His successor, Almar
Grímsson, took this one step
further and has spent consider-
able time and energy in visiting
each community, establishing
strong links with Icelandic as-
sociations, and thus paving the
way for our visits. His work is
invaluable.”
Other developments, such
as the Vesturfarasetrið, or
Western Emigration Centre, in
Hofós, have enriched Iceland-
ers’ awareness of the bonds
between their country and
Canada and the US. “Many a
participant [on the tours] spent
some time there before travel-
ling with us,” says Jónas.
He adds that Icelandic orga-
nization in North America have
been just as important in mak-
ing connections for the visitors
from Iceland.
Jónas is no stranger to the
Icelandic community in North
America. He studied history
at the University of Manitoba
in Winnipeg in 1977, gradu-
ating with an M.A in 1980,
and was Editor of Lögberg-
Heimskringla from 1981 to
1987. He says in every commu-
nity to which trips are planned,
the intent is to coordinate with
members of the community.
“I am in touch with Icelan-
dic organizations in the comu-
nities we intend to visit, seeking
their advice and help in prepa-
ration for each tour. We always
try to have local people join us
on the bus as we tour their com-
munity. It makes little sense
driving through these commu-
nities without hearing what the
locals have to say about them.
How did the descendants of the
pioneers carry on?”
He adds that he is “deeply
indebted” to many people in
Canada and the US for their
time and effort assisting with
the tours.
Icelanders going on the
tours are becoming more pro-
active as well, he says; many
“do their homework” before
the trip and make efforts to con-
nect with relatives in the com-
munities they visit. Some even
make return visits on their own.
“We had a family of eight from
Akureyri last summer visiting
relatives in Wynyard, a most
successful family reunion,”
he says. (See Lögberg-Heims-
kringla No. 18, 15 September
2006, for the whole story.)
Continued on page 4
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SHARED WISDOM • SHARED COMMITMENT • SHARED VALUES
Writer and teacher Jónas Þór founded Vesturheimur hf.
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