The Icelandic Canadian - 01.05.2008, Qupperneq 40

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #2
Acorus Calamus
The Indian Root
by Ross Mitchell
Reprinted from the Icelandic Canadian, Volume 35, #2 (Winter 1976)
Indian Root—this was the subject of
an interview with an 87 year old Icelandic
poet. It arose from a letter written by him,
from his home near Riverton, Manitoba, in
beautiful flowing Icelandic script.
The translation is by Haraldur
Bessason, Professor of Icelandic Language
and Literature, University of Manitoba.
The specimen of the plant which accompa-
nied the letter was sent to the University
Department of botany where Dr. Jennifer
Walker reported: “This creeping stem (rhi-
zome) appears to be that of the Sweet Flag.
Acorus Calamus L. It grows in swamps
and shallow water in the southern three
quarters of the province. The rhizome is
aromatic and leaves and the aerial parts give
a pleasant aroma when bruised.”
The Icelandic poet, Guttormur J.
Guttormsson, who died some six months
after our interview, was a tall spare man of
gentle manner and bearing. His voice was
husky, his English faultless. Only once
during our talk was his voice raised: that
was when he exclaimed: “It was a terrible
mistake to let the Indians have alcohol.”
Apart from his mother’s instructions,
he had little formal schooling. Missionaries
visiting the farm on the Icelandic River, left
books to add to the home library which the
boy read avidly. He had three months
tuition in the Central School, Winnipeg,
where he did the work of Grade VII. Yet,
his poetry is of such excellence that he
twice visited Iceland to read his poems.
Once, assistance for expenses of the jour-
ney came from the Government of Iceland,
on the other occasion, jointly by the
Government and a group of Canadian
Icelandic friends.
He was born in 1878 on his father’s
farm on the Icelandic River near Riverton.
His parents had emigrated from Iceland
first to the Muskoka district in Ontario,
then in 1875 with a group of 285 compatri-
ots to the “Republic of New Iceland” on
the west shore of Lake Winnipeg about
sixty miles north of Winnipeg.
Here is his letter received in summer
1965, by Doctor Thorlakson, who has
kindly given permission for this publica-
tion:
In this letter I shall attempt to sum up
the information which I gave you yester-
day about the “Indian root.” Moreover, I
am enclosing a specimen of it for you.
I was hardly more than four years old
when I first learned about the “root.” This
was some eighty years ago. At that time
one could truthfully speak of an Indian cul-
ture in the northern parts of New Iceland
situated on the west shores of Lake
Winnipeg in the District of Keewatin and
north of Boundary Creek (Winnipeg
Beach) which was then the northern
boundary of the Province of Manitoba.
These regions were in fact an earthy par-
adise for Indians. There was abundance of
game in the woods and the lakes and rivers
were teeming with fish. From time
immemorial the Indians had been accumu-
lating knowledge about the land in which
they were living. Therefore, they were bet-
ter equipped to cope with many of the dif-
ficulties which occurred from day to day
than the Icelandic pioneers who, in this
respect, were sadly lacking in experience.
The Icelandic pioneers learnt many a lesson
from the Indians, whereas, the Indians did
not learn anything from the Icelanders.
The Indians in New Iceland belonged
to the Cree tribe. They were big, healthy,