The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1994, Page 36

146
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SPRING, 1994
events, both before and after Islend-
ingadagurinn that I would attend as
Fjallkona.
My first appearance as Fjallkona
was at the June 17, 1993 celebration
of Iceland’s National Day in Winnipeg,
a program jointly sponsored annually
by the Jon Sigurdsson Chapter IODE
and the Icelandic Canadian Fron,
(Winnipeg’s Chapter of the Icelandic
National League). It is with a wreath
laying ceremony at the Jon Sigurbs-
son statue on the Manitoba Legis-
lative Building grounds that the
National Day celebrations tradi-
tionally begin.
As in the past, the event opened
with a procession which began at the
foot of the steps of the Legislative
Building, with those gathered for the
occasion proceeding to the monument
on the north-east corner of the
grounds. Included in the assembly
were representatives from the various
Icelandic organizations in Manitoba,
the Icelandic Consul General, officers
of the IODE and dignitaries from the
Government of the Province of
Manitoba, several of whom addressed
the gathering. It was a privilege for
me, as Fjallkona, to speak at the close
of the ceremony and to lay the wreath
that day.
A gala reception at the Scand-
inavian Cultural Centre in Winnipeg
followed the wreath-laying ceremony.
June 24 to 26, 1993 found me
attending the annual Scandinavian
Hjemkomst Festival in Fargo, North
Dakota. A number of women of
Icelandic background from Manitoba
had been invited to participate in the
annual ‘Costume/Style Show’ at the
Festival. Some forty costumes rep-
resentative of the five Scandinavian
countries were displayed with the
Style Show commentator describing
the details of each ethnic costume.
The majority of those in attendance
had not seen the Fjallkona costume
before. They were particularly
impressed with the unusual white
gown, the green mantle and the
crowned head-dress, as well as the
significance of the apparel.
The gracious hospitality extended
to the Manitoba participants by the
members of the Icelandic Club in
Fargo was much appreciated by our
group. My husband, Russell, and I
stayed at the home of two members of
the planning committee of the
Festival, Ima and Denny Dinusson.
Ima was bom in Iceland and her love
of entertaining was certainly evident
at a garden party she hosted for some
twenty Icelanders, the majority of
whom had travelled from Manitoba to
participate in the Festival.
The next celebration I attended was
the Festival of Nations, an annual
South Central (Manitoba) Heritage
Festival which took place in Swan
Lake, Manitoba. The Icelandic Festival
committee had received an invitation
from the Icelandic pavilion group in
that region requesting the presence of
the Fjallkona. Once again, a number
of women from Winnipeg who own
Icelandic costumes were also invited
to participate in the program at the
Icelandic pavilion. There were seven
countries represented at this Festival
but the Icelanders were the only
Scandinavians to host a pavilion.
One thing was certain, whenever I
appeared as Fjallkona, people were
impressed by the elegance of the
costume. The children, especially,
would ask if I were a “queen.” One
small child at the Icelandic Festival
wanted to know if I was an “angel.” I
was most happy to be approached by
people and proudly explained the
symbolic aspects of the Fjallkona
image.
With all these events taking place
before Islendingadagurinn, I felt
fortunate in that I was somewhat
more prepared for the big Celebration.