The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1963, Side 43

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
41
graduated as B.Sc., Mechanical Engi-
neering, from the U. of M., in 1958.
He has worked in Hamilton, Galt,
Montreal and Vancouver on air-con-
ditioning and refrigeration. While
working with Swedish Fan Products
in Vancouver he and his wife attend-
ed evening classes to learn to speak
Swedish. This summer John, with his
wife Cathy and son John, went to
Sweden for three months to receive
further training in ventilation techn-
iques.
Robert Johann graduated as B.Sc.
in Mech. Engineering from the U. of
M. in 1962. Since graduation he has
been employed by General Motors,
first in Winnipeg and since February
has been in Oshawa, Ont., taking
further training in his field.
A sister, Anna Louise, graduated
as a Registered nurse from Winnipeg
General Hospital in 1950. She is mar-
ried to Jim Groom and has four
children. At present she is on the
staff at Winnipeg Gen. Hospital
specializing in intra-veinous tech-
niques. There are two other sisters:
Sarah Blanche, former school teacher,
married to Art McLeod, residing at
MacDonald, Man.; and Rena Guff-
laug, former bank clerk, married to
Gordon Arkey, and residing just
south of Langruth.
Sigga Catherine is a daughter of
Arni Johannson and his first wife GuS-
laug (Ingimundson). She is married
to Robert Moore and they have re-
cently moved to Toronto from Falcon-
brdige, Ont. Their son David Grant
graduated as B.Sc. in Electrical Engi-
neering from the U. of M. in 1963. A
daughter, Margaret Jo-Ann, won a stu-
dent scholarship of $150.00 granted by
the Nickel District (Sudbury) Collegi-
ate student Council. This was one of
four scholarships granted by the coun-
cil this year. Jo-Ann is now a student
at MacMaster University in Hamilton.
Holmfridur Danielson
The Norsemen in America by t. j. oieson
This 20 page Historical Booklet of
The Canadian Historical Association,
was written by the late Dr. T. J. Oieson
Professor in the History Department
of the University of Manitoba. It sets
out in a brief but convincing sum-
mation what most people would want
to believe namely that the Icelandic
colonies in Greenland were not destroy-
ed by enemies and that they did not
gradually disappear in the struggle
against the forces of nature. Dr. Ole-
son’s conclusion after examining the
evidence is: “The farming settlements
(in Greenland) proved too small to
maintain their identity. Abandoning
husbandry for hunting and inter-
mingling with the Skradings, the set-
tlers lost their spiritual and cultural
heritage, although traces of it remain-
ed in the new Eskimo world. The
Norsemen who had discovered Am-
erica, were absorbed by it.’’
That is the story of the Norsemen
wherever they went, and it is comfort-
ing to feel that those hardy Icelanders
in the two Greenland colonies did not
completely disappear.
This informative booklet should be
part of everyone’s Canadiana. . W.J.L.