Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.02.2019, Side 6

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6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • February 1 2019
Manitoba Museum
Taking its title from
a phrase uttered by
Manitoba’s illustrious
Premier, Sir Rodmond P.
Roblin, during a heated
exchange with Nellie McClung,
Nice Women Don’t Want the
Vote is an exhibition that was
developed by the Manitoba
Museum to commemorate the
100th anniversary of Manitoba
women winning the right to
vote on January 28, 1916.
The exhibition opened at the
Manitoba Museum in 2015 and
has since travelled to locations
throughout Manitoba as well
as Saskatchewan, Ontario,
and Quebec, including the
Canadian Museum of History
in Gatineau, and it has been
enjoyed by more than 70,000
visitors.
The Manitoba Legislature
will host the exhibition as
its final venue, offering
Manitobans a final opportunity
to celebrate this important
landmark in Canadian history.
Nice Women Don’t Want the
Vote will be on exhibit until
March 31, 2019. It is free
to the public and accessible
whenever the Legislative
Building is open.
This exhibit was on
display earlier at the New
Icelandic Heritage Museum in
2016, alongside a companion
exhibit, Then and Now, which
commemorated the centennial
of the Jon Sigurdsson Chapter
IODE, which was founded just
weeks after Manitoba women
won the right to vote. If you
didn’t see Nice Women Don’t
Want the Vote then, this will
be your last chance.
While the final
achievement of women’s
suffrage is credited to Nellie
McClung and her companions
in the Political Equality
League, when the exhibit
opened at Gimli in 2016, Linda
McDowell reminded those
attending, “Nellie was not
alone” – she was supported in
her work by a broad coalition
of women and men, including
those in the Icelandic Canadian
community. When it came to
women’s suffrage, McDowell
observed, “Icelandic women
were the first to organize not
only in Manitoba, but in all
of Western Canada” and she
noted that, “from 1905 to 1912,
it was the Icelandic women
who kept the movement
alive.” While celebrating the
broad coalition that made this
historic achievement possible,
McDowell applauded the work
of Margrét J. Benedictsson and
the other Icelandic suffrage
workers for their efforts to
continue organizing to win the
vote while others let the matter
slide.
“The exhibit outlines the
causes, the contradictions,
and the people involved in
the Suffragist movement,
emphasizing the fact that
suffragists wanted real power
in order to change society.
Nice Women Don’t Want
the Vote includes fascinating
artifacts that prove that this
was a real fight that had been
brewing for 25 years, while
also revealing the tensions
within the movement,” says
Dr. Roland Sawatzky, Curator
of History at the Manitoba
Museum. Through artifacts and
photographs, the exhibit also
explains why some Canadians,
like Indigenous people and
immigrants, were often left out
of the discussion.
“This touring exhibition has
inspired women and men and
children across Manitoba and
Canada to keep thinking about
– and working for – justice and
freedom,” says the Honourable
Janice Filmon, Lieutenant
Governor of Manitoba and
honorary patron of the exhibit.
“It is absolutely wonderful,
and I think it very appropriate,
to have this meaningful and
inspiring exhibition have
its final showing here at the
Manitoba Legislature where
this story had its beginning
over 100 years ago.”
The exhibit is sponsored
by the Government of Canada,
Wawanesa Insurance, Marion
Kaffka, the Province of
Manitoba, Winnipeg Free
Press, and the Nellie McClung
Foundation.
The Manitoba Museum,
which developed this exhibit, is
the province’s award-winning
heritage and science centre. It
is unique in its combination
of human and natural history
themes and renowned for its
vivid portrayal of Manitoba’s
rich and colourful history,
planetarium shows, and
science gallery exhibits. The
museum features immersive
dioramas, multi-dimensional
interpretation, science and
astronomy education, and
quality school and community
programs. The museum has
collected and protects over 2.8
million artifacts and specimens,
including the Hudson’s Bay
Company Museum Collection.
It took a lot of reflection to pick a
final topic for this article after I
was approached to write it. After
six crazy weeks in Iceland, I felt I had
adjusted pretty well to Icelandic life, so
naturally I was a little culture shocked
coming home. The hardest was the
looks people would give me when
I accidentally opened with “Goðan
daginn” upon entering a store. It was
weird to be able to read all of the street
signs – and not be able to buy hotdogs
on a street corner at four in the morning.
I don’t often get time off from work,
but last summer I had the privilege of
participating in the Snorri Program:
an opportunity for Vestur-Íslendingar
(North Americans of Icelandic descent)
to explore their heritage in Iceland over
the summer. We studied the Icelandic
language and culture in Reykjavik for
two weeks, took a week-long bus tour
through the Westfjords up to the north,
and spent as much time as possible in
the pools of Reykjavík.
The most impactful part of the
trip were the three weeks I spent in
Borgafjörður near Reykholt with my
fourth cousin Magnús and his family.
They run a dairy and sheep farm, and
during my stay there I did everything
from cleaning the fjós to herding
the sheep and leading them into the
highlands. I visited the home of Snorri
Sturluson – the classical Icelandic
author – in Reykholt, and even got to
take an ATV down the trails a couple
of times. I visited the homestead
of Jón Sigurðsson, my great-great-
grandfather, and learned their history
from my living relatives. Even though
I can’t say I’m a great farmer, there
was a heavy weight walking across
the fields farmed by my family for
generations that was only surpassed by
the tragic story of their departure.
I met my cousin Viðar, who
doesn’t speak a word of English,
and we talked about the trip he took
to Canada right before I was born to
visit my grandfather and his family on
their homestead in Saskatchewan. He
told me stories (all in Icelandic) of our
common ancestors who he had been
alive to meet.
Our trip ended with kaffitíma in
Bessastaðir, the residence of President
Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, where we
regrouped with the Snorri West
participants (Icelanders who came to
Canada over the summer), who we had
met earlier in the summer, and went for
an evening swim at the Blue Lagoon.
I believe this trip offered a lot of
personal growth and perspective on
my own life, and I would consider it a
pilgrimige for any Vestur-Íslendingar
who are interested in exploring their
ancestry. The Snorri Program marks its
20th year in 2019. It is open to anyone
of Icelandic descent between the ages
of 18 and 28, while those 30 and older
are eligible for the Snorri Plus Program.
I will never forget my time in Iceland,
nor will it be the last time I touch down
in the Keflavík Airport. My trip was
made possible by the Snorri Program,
Icelandic Roots, and the Icelandic
Canadian Frón in Winnipeg. For more
information about the Snorri Program,
you can visit www.Snorri.is.
NICE WOMEN DON’T WANT THE VOTE
Last chance to see exhibition celebrating
Manitoba women winning the right to vote
Á SNORRAVERKNEFNINA – ON THE SNORRI PROGRAM
Ben Boxall
Winnipeg, MB
PHOTO: STEFAN
A petition to the Lieutenant Governor and Legislative Assembly calling upon the
Province of Manitoba to extend the vote to women
PHOTO: MANITOBA MUSEUM
“Votes for Women” pennant of the Political Equality
League. The yellow of the pennant symbolized letting light
into dark corners.