The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2002, Side 38

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 57 #1
reminisces, “What I liked much better were
the times when mamma brought out the
spinning-wheel, and I sat at her feet, card-
ing tufts of wool, listening to the fascinat-
ing histories of Snow White and Rose Red
and the Seven Dwarfs, Kitty, the King’s
Daughter, and the pretty tale of Laufey and
Linuk.” There was a great demand for
woolen socks and mitts among fishermen
and freighters on the lakes and logging
camps around New Iceland. However, the
prices paid to the producers were, as
Nelson Gerrard puts it, “a modest 5-10
cents per pair of mitts and 25 cents for a
pair of heavy, knee-high socks.” As Frank
Hall recalls, “my mother would spin and
knit mitts, socks and scarves for other peo-
ple, and was paid ten cents for carding and
spinning one pound of wool.” Although
paid poor wages for their material, many
women greatly added to the family income,
knitting in every spare moment be it while
walking, sitting, or talking. Evelyn
Jonasson had spun, knit, and sewed for all
her family’s groceries.
As she recalls, everything needed to
barter for goods was provided by the farm;
sheep provided wool for the clothes
(women sheared, washed, dyed, and spun
it; even wool underwear which she noted
were especially comfortable), and taxes
were paid for from selling cream and eggs.
The main source of income for the
Eliason’s came from beef, lamb, eggs, and
cream that they produced on their mixed
farm. This proved not only valuable for
consumption, and could almost be consid-
ered currency. These products proved
almost as good as money in obtaining cer-
tain material goods. The poverty of the
rural immigrant was not caused simply by
the geographic location. Icelandic families
in Winnipeg also faced hardships. One dif-
ficulty faced by Icelandic immigrants from
1880-1914 was that Winnipeg was expand-
ing and had a surplus of skilled carpenters
and tradesman producing a highly compet-
itive market. As a result, many woman had
to work to ensure the survival of their fam-
ily.
In a letter home to Iceland dated 26th
January 1879, immigrant Arngrimur
Jonsson of Winnipeg stated, “There is little
news to report about Icelanders here in
town; there is little work to be had here in
winter except sawing wood, which is the
main occupation of those Icelanders who
have no fixed abode.
“Many immigrants were unprepared
for the lack of jobs awaiting them in their
new homeland. As Goodman Salverson
notes, “It would have been astonishing for
my father to think that upon coming to
Canada his skill would not be reliable as to
provide a decent living for his wife and
children. It would have been surprising had
he even dreamed that a good craftsman
(carpenter and leather-worker), with a very
decent education, could so effectively be
reduced to the status and the misery of a
slave in the glorious country that bally-
hooed it magnificent opportunities by way
of press and prophet.”
Since arriving in Canada Salverson’s
father had suffered from the effects of
ship’s fever, which proved additionally
detrimental to the family’s survival since
the only work freely available to the immi-
grants was hard manual labour. Once he
did find employment as a saddle-maker, it
was Salverson’s mother’s duty to sustain
the family on the wages earned (which
proved a most difficult task). In
Salverson’s case, her father made $5-6 a
week, or around $24.00 a month. From
that, $5 went for house rent, $4 for wood
and kerosene (twice as much in winter
months), thus leaving $15.00 for the entire
month for food, clothes, and medical sup-
plies for an entire family. She remembers
that, “we usually ate pickled sheep’s head,
because it cost 5 cents a piece, liver, or
shank bone.”
That the Icelandic culture sustained
immigration and thrived in longevity in its
new country, demonstrates the enduring
strength with which the Icelanders have
preserved their heritage. The importance of
cultural transmission was apparent from
the moment the Icelanders arrived at New
Iceland, and was mainly initiated by the
women. This is not to suggest that the men
did not play a role in the development of
New Iceland, but to illustrate the com-
manding role that women played. The
essential impact of Icelandic women on the