Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.05.2016, Qupperneq 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. maí 2016 • 5
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Ambassador Hjálmar W. Hannesson, Anna Birgis Hannesson,
Icelandic Festival president
Robbie Rousseau, Fjallkona
Linda Sigurdson Collette, past
Fjallkonur, assembled guests:
First, thank you for this
wonderful honour of being
chosen the Fjallkona for the
2016 Icelandic Festival. I am
both humbled and honoured.
Humbled as I look around the
room and see a very impressive
array of role models who have
set very high standards; and
honoured to be selected as
Fjallkona in 2016, as in 2016
we celebrate:
The 100th anniversary
of the women’s suffragette
movement in Manitoba, whose
leadership included Margrét J.
Benedictsson, an inspiration to
Icelandic Canadian women in
the late 1880s and early 1890s;
The 100th anniversary of
the Jon Sigurdsson Chapter of
IODE, whose current and past
membership has included many
Fjallkonur;
The 10th anniversary
of núna/now, a cultural
convergence of young artists
from Iceland and Canada ... the
New Iceland;
The 70th birthdays of
Hjálmar and Anna, who have
both enhanced our connection
to Iceland, and its culture
and heritage, but who now
are retiring from the foreign
ministry and returning to
private life;
The 100th anniversary
of the birth of both my
parents, who would have been
extremely proud that I had been
selected as Fjallkona as they
both were deeply connected to
their Icelandic heritage;
It was in 1924 that the
Icelandic Festival incorporated
the role of the Fjallkona into
the ceremonies as a most
important symbol of Iceland’s
culture and heritage, a tradition
that continues. The people and
groups we are celebrating this
year have been exemplary in
keeping the Icelandic culture
and heritage alive in Manitoba.
My afi, Thorstein Borgford,
was president of the Icelandic
Festival in 1921 and my afi,
Jon Asgeirson, a member
of the festival committee in
1932, was a strong proponent
of Íslendingadagurinn being
moved from Winnipeg to Gimli.
In 1990, when Dwight and
I visited Iceland, we had an
opportunity to see the collection
of the old manuscripts that had
been repatriated from Denmark.
In the preface of the book
Iceland and Its Manuscripts,
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, wrote:
"In the nineteenth century,
widespread poverty and
hardship forced large numbers
of Icelanders to leave and begin
a new life in the new world. Yet
they did not turn their backs
on the country of their origins;
they planted their roots anew,
tended the national memories
they had taken with them, and
even today their descendants
still cultivate their family ties
and traditions from afar."
This was very true of the
Jon Sigurdsson Chapter of
IODE. One hundred years ago,
under the leadership of Johanna
Gudrun Skaptason, along with
my amma, Gudrun Borgford, a
group of Icelandic immigrants
joined the national Canadian
organization of IODE to help
in the war effort. I am sure
they were influenced to action
by Margrét Benedictsson,
who was the first president of
the ladies’ aid society of the
Icelandic Unitarian church in
Winnipeg. As president, she had
an amendment written into the
constitution to the effect that the
members pledged themselves to
work for the rights of women to
share equally in the vote. Both
Gudruns were members of the
church and ladies' aid society –
eventually taking their turns as
president.
The Jon Sigurdsson Chapter
has managed to maintain its
cultural identity throughout:
initially holding meetings
in Icelandic; supporting the
Icelandic Canadian soldiers
and their families; creating
two books with the biographies
and photographs of over 3,500
Icelandic Canadian soldiers
who served in the two great
wars and Korea; supporting the
establishment of the Icelandic
Chair at the University of
Manitoba, providing scholar-
ships to young people
and reinstituting Iceland
independence day on June 17.
And, at the same time, the
women researched and spoke
about life in Canada through
their empire studies, in order to
better understand the country in
which they had chosen to live,
as well as supported all the
national IODE goals and aims.
Today, the Jon Sigurdsson
Chapter of IODE is the sole
surviving chapter in Winnipeg,
and I believe it is because of
that strong cultural connection
and sense of community that
it has kept them going – one
generation supporting the next.
Johanna Wilson, who is here
today, has been a mainstay of
the IODE for over 72 years; she
is a mentor to many.
Vigdís also wrote, which is
interesting, "when the twentieth
century dawned and the long
process towards independence
ended with the establishment
of the Republic of Iceland in
1944, the creative spark that
always seems to have lain
dormant within the Icelanders
was released, and flared into
brilliant flame. Iceland today
has become a cauldron for all
branches of art, whereas before
– because of great poverty – the
only form of artistic expression
was through words. Indeed,
it is real artistic creation and
nourishment of the soul and
mind which give a nation its
strength, no less than economic
achievements; we in Iceland
today can justly speak of a
wealth of art in all forms."
The Icelandic Consulate
General has definitely
supported the arts both in
Iceland and Canada – núna/
now is a perfect example
of how the culture of arts
strengthens that bond. Today
I was reading in Lögberg-
Heimskringla that members of
the Daughters of Reyjkavík,
an all-female feminist rap
collective, will be performing
in June, thus connecting the
younger generations. As we
acknowledge our legacy, we
also celebrate our future and
the new Iceland.
Thank you to the staff at
Lakeview for the wonderful
luncheon you prepared.
And of course, thank you
to the Icelandic Festival for
organizing this brunch. I am
very happy to have my husband
Dwight here with me, an
Icelander by marriage and a
great supporter, my daughter
Ingrid and her husband Rick,
and my two grandsons, Charlie
and Joe, who are going to be
travelling to Iceland with us
this summer. Our daughter
Carla was unable to attend.
In closing, I am very
pleased to accept this honour
as the Íslendingadagurinn
Fjallkona for the year 2016 and
know I will be supported and
mentored by the many women
who came before me.
Takk fyrir and enjoy the rest
your day.
Acknowledging our legacy while celebrating our future
An address at the Fjallkona Announcement Luncheon on April 17, 2016
Karen Botting
Winnipeg, MB
Kvennahlaup
Icelandic Women’s Walk
TO REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT
Pat 204-837-2117• pat_odegard@hotmail.com
Join us
!
Saturday, June 4, 2016
ASSINIBOINE PARK
WINNIPEG 10 AM
GIMLI PARK
GIMLI 10 AM
TO REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT
Margaret 204-642-9945 • mkernested@gmail.com
Kvennahlaup will be held in three locations in Manitoba
SUNDIAL ON RIVER ROAD
ARBORG 10 AM
TO REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT
Debbie 204-376-3352 • debleo@mymts.net
Saturday, June 11, 2016
REGISTRATION$30
Proceeds to Charity (Includes free T-shirt from Iceland)
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Visit our website for more information or contact our INL office.Tel: 204-642-5897
Email: inl@mts.net If you don’t have a club in your area but are interested
in forming one, please call the INL office.
Wouldn’t your amma and afi be proud? www.inlofna.org
Are you proud of your Icelandic Heritage?
Do you want to see it preserved for your children and grandchildren?
Are you a member of your local Icelandic Club?
Don’t know where they are or who to contact?
o
o
o
The IcelandIc naTIonal league of norTh amerIca
ouldn’t your a a and afi be proud?
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE JON SIGURDSSON CHAPTER IODE
Fjallkona Karen Botting with Anna Birgis and Ambassador Hjálmar W. Hannesson.