The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2009, Page 43

Vol. 62 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
185
lessons learned by the Icelanders as they
struggled to cope with the geography and
climate of Manitoba. The intention here is
to highlight some of the interesting or
unique educational activities that Icelandic
pioneer women engaged in during their set-
tlement in Manitoba.
The trees and bushes presented new
learning for the Icelanders. Iceland is not a
forested country, so the Icelandic pioneers
had little experience in constructing build-
ings with wood, as their homes in Iceland
had been made of turf and stone,
(Arngrimsson, 1997, p. 46). They also had
no experience in clearing their farmland
before planting. The whole family, includ-
ing the women, learned informally to clear
land for the crops (Gimli Women’s
Institute, 1975, p. 606). A source of income
in New Iceland was to cut the felled trees
into cordwood and transport it to market
(Arnes History Book Committee, 1990, p.
48). This family enterprise included the
women and presented another informal
learning opportunity for them. The clay
soils, combined with the flooding of the
lakes and rivers of New Iceland and Posen,
resulted in a chronic problem with drainage
in the two communities. The women
worked alongside their husbands, toiling to
direct water away from their farm proper-
ties (Lundar and District Historical
Society, 1980). Related to poor drainage
was the issue of pest mosquitoes, a problem
mentioned in several of the local histories
as a terrible nuisance and one which they
had no experience with in Iceland. They
learned to wear netting to avoid bites and
use smoke to keep bugs away from the live-
stock (Hnausa Book Committee, 2004).
The wide open geography of Manitoba
meant that many early Icelandic immi-
grants were distanced from medical care.
When a woman needed assistance in child-
birth, often a trained midwife did not live
in the area or could not reach the woman in
time. Many Icelandic pioneer women were
self taught midwives who learned infor-
mally by observing others. When someone
was sick in the home, often a trained doc-
tor was not available, and so many women
provided medical care as best they could.
They learned informally by observation,
reading or simply common sense (Arborg
Historical Society, 1987, p. 17; Geysir
Historical Society, 1983, p. 123; Glenboro
& Area Historical Society, 1979, p. 478).
Sigridur Hordal acted as a veterinarian
when her husband, who was a trained vet-
erinarian, was unavailable. She would read
his journal and follow his example (Lundar
and District Historical Society, 1980, p.
458).
In Manitoba, people lived further apart
than they were accustomed to in Iceland.
The approximate geographic size of
Iceland is 40,000 square miles, whereas
Manitoba is over six times larger, at 250,000
square miles. As mentioned earlier, the
social isolation was difficult for the women
and they sought out ways to be connected
to other women. They did this using vari-
ous non-formal educational activities. A
popular response was for the Icelandic pio-
neer women to become involved in drama
productions (Geysir Historical Society,
1983, p. 32; Rural Municipality of Argyle,
1981, p. 150; Arborg Historical Society,
1987, p. 97). Others participated in painting
classes (Rural Municipality of Argyle,
1981, p. 455) and handicraft classes.
Gudrun Hannesson operated a handicraft
school out of her home in Gimli (Gimli
Women’s Institute, 1975, p. 61).
The climate of Manitoba was especial-
ly harsh for the first couple of years of set-
tlement in New Iceland. The extreme cold
of the winters and the flood of 1880 led to
economic hardship for the Icelandic
Pioneers. The most tragic event during this
early period of settlement was the smallpox
epidemic that led to a quarantine of New
Iceland. One of the reasons the disease
spread throughout the settlement was the
overcrowding and poverty that arose from
the difficult climate of this time period.
Women learned informally, under
extremely difficult conditions, to contain
the spread of the disease and prevent a
future outbreak (Kristjanson, 1965;
Hnausa History Book Committee, 2004).
The poverty of this time period, which
included failed crops, led to the women
learning about alternative food sources.
They learned informally from Aboriginals
to collect berries and grow wild rice (Gimli