Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.05.2016, Side 12

12 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • May 15 2016
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Henry, the eldest, took
teacher training and taught
school before joining the
army. He was killed in the war.
Gus, the second son, became
an optometrist and then a
reporter with the Vancouver
Sun. Chris earned a PhD and
became a professor of chem
at the University of Western
Ontario. Vic earned a PhD
and became a professor of
chemistry at the University
of Washington. Sam was a
bank officer in Shanghai until
World War II; he then joined
the armed forces and after the
war became an office manager.
Ben, the youngest son, became
a navy officer. Then he joined
the Department of External
Affairs, setting up consulates.
He became the Commissioner
of the Northwest Territories.
There were many others
who came west. Some stopped
in Brandon, Manitoba, in
Regina and Foam Lake,
Saskatchewan, in Calgary
and Edmonton, Alberta.
Some stopped in the interior
of British Columbia, where
they improbably became
ranchers and orchardists.
Others came to the coast and
created Icelandic communities
in Vancouver, Port Roberts,
Blaine, Bellingham, and
Seattle.
There was Gisli
Gudmundsson from the
Westfjords and his wife
Sigurbjorg. They lived in
Winnipeg for several years,
then went to Victoria and from
there to Point Roberts. Jonas
Saemundsson from Grafarkot
came to America in 1889. He
lived in Winnipeg, then went
to Victoria and finally to Point
Roberts in 1904. Arni Myrdal
emigrated with his parents and
lived with them through the
misery in New Iceland, the
notorious smallpox, scarlet
fever, and many illnesses that
followed. His two sisters died
there that winter. He went to
Pembina and from there to
Victoria. He, too, went to Point
Roberts.
There was another
Icelandic settlement that most
people don’t know about
at Osland on Smith Island
in the mouth of the Skeena
River. This is seven hundred
kilometres north and the site
of a large salmon fishery.
It was a small settlement
but it included Haldorsons,
Johnsons, Philipsons,
Freemans, Oddsons, Grimsons,
Kristmansons, Snidals and
many others. It was settled by
a mix of bachelors and families
between the early 1900s and
1940s.
These people had made
the great trek west. They had
created an Icelandic colony
on an island. They fished,
raised animals, worked in the
cannery in Prince Rupert. Elin
Einarsson’s memories are in
the Osland history. This is what
she says: “At times during the
winter months we would be
locked in by the ice that came
down the river. Before winter
set in my father would go to
Prince Rupert for supplies –
sacks of flour and sugar, butter
in 14 pound boxes and a quarter
of beef. The men would hunt
deer for extra meat during the
winter. My dad made a good
root cellar with a cement floor
below our house. We stored
vegetables from my mother’s
garden there. Potatoes in large
bins and carrots and beets in
barrels of sand. During the
summer my mother was kept
busy tending the gardens and
the animals while the men were
fishing. She would salt fish
and preserve salmon and fruit
in jars for the winter. Every
weekend she baked a layer
cake spread with jam filling
for the family. Vínartarta was
special and only baked at
Christmas and Easter.”
G. Olafson says, “Lots of
wild berries, – blueberries,
huckleberries, salmonberries
and salal and crabapples. Mom
grew gooseberries and currant
and once in a while we’d have
a few plums and apples off
the trees.” This is a Canadian
talking. This is an Icelandic
Canadian talking. This is
someone talking who has
come west, who has adapted
to a new land and made it his
own.
These people came west,
as far west as it was possible
to go, and made Canadian
lives for themselves. They
made a living the West Coast
way: boat building, running
a shingle mill, logging, pile
driving, sheep raising, goat
raising, working in fish
canneries.
Their children and
grandchildren got educated
and became doctors and
lawyers and nurses, university
professors, and started their
own businesses. They found
good jobs and had their own
families. The original settlers
made a heroic journey from
Iceland, to Scotland, to
Quebec City, to New Iceland,
always west, across the
prairies where headstones in
lonely graveyards testify to
their journey but they reached
the West Coast and they
found, I believe, what they
were seeking: a good life for
themselves and their families.
How, after all these miles,
all these journeys, all this
time, has this pilgrimage west
worked out? At the beginning
of the Icelandic emigration,
there were great fears that our
heritage would be lost, we
would forget the golden age
of the sagas, that we would
lose our pride in our Viking
ancestors, that we would no
longer be connected to this
land of fire and ice that our
distant ancestors had settled in
the late 800s. Icelanders were
not the only ones who had
these fears. On maps, you can
find places like New Denmark,
New Sweden, New Germany,
New England – places where
everyone would stay the same
and have no contact with
all those other foreigners.
However, the land would not
allow it. The opportunities
would not allow it.
We are very fortunate.
We came to a place where
we could adapt and adopt,
could integrate, but keep
our identity, be proud of
our history. I recently heard
an aboriginal survivor of
the residential schools say
they took away our identity.
We have seen and continue
to see the tragedy that has
created. Fortunately, we have
managed to keep our identity
and the benefits that go with
that identity. Like Christian
Sivertz, we can be proud of
our Icelandic heritage and be
proud of being Canadians.
How has trek west worked
out? Each of you will have
to ask yourself that question,
but, for myself, coming west
has provided everything
those early settlers hoped
for. Has our community, over
one hundred and forty-one
years, continued to carry both
Icelandic values and history
with us? Have we been true
to the dreams of those early
Western Far-Travelers? I can
best answer that question by
pointing to my granddaughter,
Rebecca, who graduates from
UBC in a few weeks and,
two days after that, leaves
for Iceland on the Snorri
Program. Her connection to
the Icelandic past and the
Icelandic present is shared by
many in the West. This INL
conference and all of you who
have come to it proves that.
“Coming West” is the
luncheon address presented
by W.D. (Bill) Valgardson on
Saturday, April 20, 2016, at
the annual convention of the
Icelandic National League of
North America.
Coming west
... from page 11
PHOTOS COURTESY OF W.D.VALGARDSON / WDVALGARDSONKAFFIHUS