The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1945, Qupperneq 7

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
5
Z)he Ziwelve-yeat Republic
By S. J. SOMMERVILLE
The deeds of courage, ingenuity and
resourcefulness of the pioneers from
many lands who built the earliest homes
on this continent have been told, and
re-told, in song and story, and deserved-
ly so. They have been made the subject
of stirring tales on stage and screen and
have become part of a proud tradition
shared in by the millions who fol-
lowed them.
Nevertheless one such story—and
that a story without parallel in the
annals of the pioneers has not been so
told, but has remained buried beneath
the dust of nearly seventy years—
hidden between the yellowed pages of
an old newspaper printed in a foreign
tongue.
It is the story of how a group of Ice-
landic immigrants, the first to settle in
the Canadian West met a certain situa-
tion—of how, without check or inter-
ference, they turned their community
into a sovereign state with a written
constitution so broad in coverage that
it provided for almost every phase of
democratic government.
These people had established a colony
on the shores of Lake Winnipeg in the
fall of 1875 on a strip of land granted
them by the Dominion Government
for their own exclusive use, together
with the right to retain their own lang-
uage and customs for as long as they
wished. This settlement they named
“New Iceland,’’and their first town
“Gimli”.
Their territory lay to the north of the
young Province of Manitoba and they
found themselves beyond the reach of
any form of constituted authority. These
pioneers were quite prepared to do with-
out most of the comforts of life while
making a start in their new environ-
ment, but one thing they would not
be denied and that was an ordered
and properly constituted government
under which to administer their com-
munity.
The colonists were not conscious of
violating or undermining in any way
the sovereignty of the country, but only
of their own need to organize them-
selves so that they might the better
act together for the common weal
Fresh from the struggle raging in
Iceland for the restoration of political
freedom, they knew exactly what they
wanted.
T]hus, before the clay with which they
caulked the first log cabins was dry,
they had acted by choosing an interim
committee of five to deal with com-
munity problems. This committee was to
function until they could take time
from their building, digging and seeding
and other pressing duties, to do things
constitutionally.
The next step planned was the pub-
lication of a newspaper so that all
might know and share in what was
being done—this was the Icelandic con-
ception of democratic practice. In that
way only, could discussion be free and
support of that which was eventually
adopted, be wholehearted.
Shares at ten dollars apiece financed
the newspaper. However, its appearance
was delayed until September 10, 1877 by
a disastrous epidemic of small pox. The
paper was called “Framfari” (Progress)
and was the official organ for all
municipal business for the three years
it was published. It may be seen at the
Manitoba Government Provincial library
where it is on file.
With their newspaper established the
colonists turned their minds to the
framing of a constitution. To carry
any authority it should have the sanc-
tion of all concerned.
Two public meetings were held on
the same day, one at Riverton, the
other at Gimli, the two centres of the