The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1954, Qupperneq 14

12
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Spring 1954
This extended and fully warranted
use of the word “son” in relation to
the country from which a Canadian
has sprung, even though it be two or
three generations back, is not without
precedent. There are the Sons of Nor-
way in the United States and here in
Canada many a Canadian likes to be
called a Son of Scotland or Son of
England even though the Canadian
birth goes back a generation or two.
The primary loyalty to Canada of
these “sons” of the lands of their orig-
in no one doubts. Nor does anyone
criticise them for retaining a measure
of attachment to the lands of their
fathers. It helps to focus attention on
the fact, inexorable but yet fortunate,
that here in Canada a great nation is
being moulded with qualities and
characteristics rapidly becoming clear
and distinct.
The national groups themselves,
“strands of national cultures, each con-
tributing strength and richness to our
own” are the benefactors when top lev-
el men, who may appear to have been
completely merged in the Canadian
mould, are at times referred to as the
“sons” of the lands whence their fore-
bears came. These men do much in
building the prestige of their groups
and because of the very fact that they,
through inherent worth, have become
national figures the groups of which
they are a part become the more widely
known and rise in general appraise-
ment.
The Icelandic people of Winnipeg,
and indeed elsewhere, are indebted to
Byron Johnson for the visit. He would
readily agree that it is not an exag-
geration to say that both have benefit-
ed.
There are many other “Sons of Ice-
land” in Canada and the United States,
who by their actions and achievements
though not by the tongue they speak,
are helping to draw attention to the
Icelandic people and their language.
They contribute their full share to
the lustre of the Icelandic strand in
the Canadian and the American na-
tional fabrics. W. J. L.