The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2000, Qupperneq 17

Vol. 56 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
15
been given by the doctor's wife in Milwaukee.
It was, in fact very good food."
Lord Dufferin
"You must have greeted Lord Dufferin
when he visited Gimli in 1877?"
"No, unfortunately I could not; my first
child, daughter Aurora, was a newborn. But I
could see the reception from the window of
our house. The podium was just a short dis-
tance away on the same street as the park in
Gimli is now. Mr. Taylor's house was very
close to ours."
The Fridriksson's home was the first
house that was built in New Iceland; it was
both a residence and a store. At this historic
occasion Lord Dufferin delivered his famous
speech, which is still cited in Western
Icelandic documentaries. Fridjon Fridriksson
translated the speech in Icelandic simultane-
ously as it was being delivered. Lord Dufferin
said, among other things:
"Though you will become British sub-
jects, you need not forget your own time-hon-
oured customs or the picturesque annals of
your forefathers. On the contrary, I trust you
will continue to cherish for all time the heart
stirring literature of your nation, and that from
generation to generation your little ones will
continue to learn in your ancient sagas that
industry, energy, fortitude, perseverance and
stubborn endurance have ever been the char-
acteristics of the noble Icelandic race."
The Indians
"Were there not many Indians around
Gimli when you first arrived there?" I asked
Fru Gudny.
"Yes, there were many." She replied.
"And they were not exactly overjoyed
over our arrival because they felt they owned
this land. We women were often afraid of
them when our husbands were away. I
remember I was frightened first when I saw
these dark skinned men. I was alone in the
store when a few Indians entered. My appear-
ance was likely just as strange to them as
theirs was to me. They showed great interest
in my hair which was then blond. 1 became a
little apprehensive when one came closer to
me and poked at my glasses. He had most
likely never seen glasses worn before. They
never did me any harm, nor any of the women
in the settlement. We quickly grew accus-
tomed to these people and visited them occa-
sionally in their tents. I remember I once went
to visit an Indian lady who was pregnant.
When I arrived, she had already given
birth. I remember how I felt sorry for her. She
lay there alone in the comer of the tent with-
out any necessities. She had already wrapped
the baby according to their custom. She had
put soft moss on a board on which the swad-
dled baby was placed and bound by laces
made from animal skins. The mother and
child seemed in good health, and she was
unusually quick to get up, I thought. Many
Indians made a good impression on us. I
remember one especially whose name was
Ramsay. We became acquainted with him
when we moved to the Icelandic River. He
and my husband became friends. It was there
The Laws of Early Iceland, Grdgds Volume 2
The first English translation of the legal code of mediaeval Iceland.
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