The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2009, Side 41

Vol. 62 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
183
Undan SnjobreiSunni
What Lies Beneath the Snow - Part Three
Revealing the contributions of Icelandic pioneer women
to adult education in Manitoba, 1875 - 1914
by Jo-Anne Weir
Part three
Canada’s postal service: A link to the
outside world
This historical narrative develops a
theme that emerged from the area of influ-
ence shown on the conceptual framework:
Communications and Technology. Certain
types of communication or new technolo-
gy influenced the learning activities of
Icelandic pioneer women in Manitoba,
especially the Canadian Postal Service. This
was a well-used means of informal or self-
directed learning in the Icelandic commu-
nities, used by women (and men) to access
the information they needed.
When Manitoba joined Confederation
in 1870, it also became part of the Canadian
Postal Service. Post offices were established
in the province with weekly or semi-week-
ly mail service (Peterson, 1990. p.13). The
outlying rural areas had post offices estab-
lished later than the larger centres, and mail
service was inconsistent until the railway
reached the community. The Icelandic
communities of Argyle, Selkirk and
Winnipeg had rail service much earlier than
did New Iceland and Posen, in some cases
twenty-five years earlier. One of the effects
of that delay was that New Iceland and
Posen received less regular and less consis-
tent mail delivery. Normal letter rates in
the late 1880s were one or two cents, mak-
ing this means of communication afford-
able for most pioneer families. (Glenboro
& Area Historical Society, 1979, p. 36).
Use of the Canadian Postal Service was
a means of informal learning for Icelandic
pioneers even before they left Iceland.
People living in Iceland often heard of the
conditions in Canada for new immigrants
via letters from those who had already left
(Kristjanson, 1965, p. 15). This would have
been seen as a more reliable way to learn
about Canada than the statements and
promises of immigrant agents. The news
related in the letters would have influenced
the decision to immigrate.
Once settled in Manitoba, the Icelandic
pioneers continued to correspond with
family and friends in Iceland and in other
Manitoba and North American Icelandic
settlements. In fact, Icelandic communities
were exceptional in their use of the
Canadian Postal Service. In the Argyle
community, the Glenboro’s postmaster
report showed sales of $1200.00 worth of
stamps (Glenboro & Area Historical
Society, 1979, p. 36). This was at a time
when the letter rate was one or two cents.
The Honorable David Mills, Minister of
the Interior in 1878, commented that the
New Iceland settlers “send through the
mail four or five times as many letters in
proportion to their number, as did
Manitoba settlers” (Kristjanson, 1965, p.
88).
Letters were not the only source of
information received in the mail by the
Icelandic pioneers. Wilhelm Kristjanson,
son of Posen postmistress Margret
Kristjanson, describes the “treasures” of
the mail delivery:
“The heavy canvas mail bag, with its
massive disc padlock, contained real
treasures for the intellectually alert
and news-hungry settlers; the
Winnipeg Icelandic weeklies,
Heimskringla (1886) and Logberg
(1888); The Icelandic Lutheran Synod