History
Sailings of our
forefathers, póstlagt/posted 1916 www.vefur.is
“Canada’s relations with Iceland began over one thousand years ago when Icelander Leif Eriksson landed in L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland.”
Taken from www.canada.is
Vikings for Scandinavia began travelling, exploring, settling and raiding early. The first raid documented was the raid at Lindisfarne in 793. This exploration continued on for some 300 years. With a lack of agricultural land and realtive unrest in Norway and other parts on Scandinavia some of the people looked to the west for new land and a new home. Iceland was explored and there was the possibilty of settlement, so some of the bold made their way to the Island of the North. Peace and prosperity existed in Iceland for some time but eventually even there unruliness prevailed. Some people were exiled and there wer few places that they could go. Greenland was still relatively uninhabited and had been found by some lost sailors. Erik The Red was one of the first to settle Greenland along with his family. With numerous tripto Greenland from Iceland it was only a matter of time before some ship would go off course and find North America. The first person documented to have done this was Bjarni Herjolfsson in 985. He did not set foot on land so he was not the official European discoverer of North America. That was left up to Leif Eriksson, the son of Erik the Red. Following Bjarni´s directions Leif set out on locating this land to the West. He received the name Leif The Lucky because he rescued some me that were drifting out at sea and that is how he got the nic name “Lucky”. Leif is said to have been the first European to discover North America. He explored a fairly large area of the coast, the north he called Helluland, believed to be Baffin Island. He called it Helluland because of its lack of trees. The next area he named Markland, possiblly Labrador. It had vast forests but very dificult land to settle. Then he named the land still futher south Vinland. This was a lush and hospitable land. Grapes and other vegetation grew in abundance and in the wild. Originally this was thought to be Eastern Canada but it could have even been as far south as New York.
The first settlers of North America are said to be Ţórfinnur Karlesefni and his wife Guđrun Ţórbjarnadóttir. They travelled to Vinland with the intention of settling there. They even had a child there, probably the first European born in North America. His name was Snorri Ţórfinnsson. This settlement has been proven with the discovery of archealogical artifacts of Nordic origin at L´Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada. Though this was probably only a transit area, it does prove that the settlement did exist. The settlement came to an end for various reasons. They are not all clear but one main reason was growing unrest and problems with the natives, called “skrćlinga”. Another possible reason was a change in climate, it was getting colder and probably harder to grow crops and survive. The settlement was abandoned and everyone returned to Greenland and Iceland. Guđrun kept travelling but never returned to North America, even though she is kind of called the “Mother” of North America in terms of the Europeans at least. Columbus is said to have visited Iceland and heard about Vinland, possibly the reason he attempted the trip.
The next major Icelandic settlement of Canada did not take place until about 900 years later. Times were very dificult in Iceland in the mid to late 1800s. Volcanoes were destroying much of the argricultural land. The winters were severe and something had to be done. North America was opening up to immigrants. A few people moved and tried to find satisfactory areas to settle. Some people went for religious reasons, like the Mormans in Utah and others for the basic reason of survival. After a few sites were found and tried a site in the undeveloped District of Keewatin was chosen. It was just north of Manitoba as it was in those days.
It seemed to suit the Icelanders just fine. They were given their own government and rights. They called it “Nyja Island”, New Iceland and it was established in 1875/1876. Even though not all the Emmigrants from Iceland went and settled there it was the main destination and remains a center for the “Western Icelander” At least 25% of the population of Iceland emmigrated to North America, which must have been devastating to many but in someways a necessity to others to avoid starvation and more.
Major Icelandic Settlements in America
Data from Tracing
Your Icelandic Family Tree © 1975 by Eric Jonasson
Dates show year of first settlement.
New
Iceland was chosen because they could have their own government and land. The
thoughts on the beginning were that they would keep the Icelandic language and
their customs going. The area would let them keep their agricultural way of
life and even let them reap the benefits of the Lake in terms of fish. The
first few years were very dificult. The first main group arrived late if the
fall of 1875 and had little time to prepare for winter. The winters were
extremely cold and long. The local natives helped the Icelanders fish through
ice and break the land. Small Pox also wiped out much of the population but
people survived. It remained a separate
country within Canada until Manitoba enlarged in 1881. The
Icelanders believed it was to their benefit to join Manitoba and begin to learn
English and trade more openly with their Manitoba neighbors. New Iceland lost
many of its inhabitants with religious desputes. Many moved to Winnipeg,
Pembina County in North Dakota, others even moved farther away to Alberta and
other places beyond.
Even though people were still on the move they did find time to put out some newspapers and write letters home to Iceland.
Framfari was the first newspaper and it was given out in New Iceland. Other newspapers were also given out, like Lögberg and Heimskringla. Books were written.
Icelandic poetry and literature prospered, with such names as
Stephan G. Stephansson (1853-1927)
Stefán Guđmundsson
was better known by the name Stephan G. Stephansson, which he adopted in the
New World. He regretted doing this, to a degree. He was the Western Icelanders'
primary poet, and one of the finest poets of the Icelandic language. He was
born at Kirkjuhóll in Seyluhreppur in Skagafjörđur. He also lived at
Syđri-Mćlifellsá, Víđimýrarsel and finally in Mjóidalur in Bárđardalur. He left
for North America with his parents in 1873. He tried settling in three
different places. First he settled in Shawano County in Wisconsin, then in
Garđar in North Dakota and finally in Markerville in Alberta, Canada. Stephan
was thought to be very intelligent as a child. However, he never attended
school, except for a few weeks worth of English studies in Bárđardalur before immigrating
to North America. He was active in community affairs and economic development.
In his childhood, he published a handwritten paper called, "Dalbúinn"
(The Valley Resident), and continued the tradition with some friends in North
Dakota by publishing the paper "Fjalla-Eyvindur." It was there
that he took part in the foundation of the Cultural Society which dedicated
itself to liberal progressive ideas which were of great interest in North
America at the time.
He was a prolific
poet who first attracted attention with his nature poems from Alberta in 1890.
The Canadian professor, Watson Kirckonnell, says that no other poet could draw
a comparable picture of the nature of western Canada. He wrote many fine
obituaries and composed poems based on ancient stories, history and
contemporary events. For the most part, he was a controversial poet. His
writings were often thought to be abstract and obscure. He took part in debates
about national affairs, had radical and challenging opinions. Many people wrote
opposing views in newspaper articles. His life was somewhat calmer when he was
older but he was still capable of upsetting people. For example, he later
protested the participation of Western Icelanders in World War I. After the
war, he strongly protested plans to raise a memorial for the fallen soldiers of
Icelandic heritage. He thought it was more sensible to take care of those who
returned with broken bodies and souls. He said: "Perhaps some part of our
glory can be preserved in a pyramid so that it won't be blown away in the
deserts of time. Even so, this human notion of taking bread from the living to
give stone to the dead is misguided" (Bréf og ritgerđir (Letters
and essays IV), p. 332).
Many of Stephan's poems are about experiences of immigrating to North America. He did this without glorifying the New World, as was common. He was more critical than that. In Iceland he is best known for the patriotic poem "Úr Íslendingadags rćđu"(From a Speech on Icelandic Day) which begins with the words "Ţó ţú langförull legđir/ sérhvert land undir fót" ("Though you, who have widely travelled/ were to travel to every country"). His patriotism was fairly mixed. He wrote poetry for both Iceland and North America and once said in a poem that he really wasn't a native of any country.
Guttormur J. Guttormsson (1878-1966)
Guttormur J.
Guttormsson was born at Víđivellir by Icelandic River in New Iceland. He
attended primary school for three years but was otherwise self-educated. He was
a farmer who loved music and played in a brass band. He is often considered the
second best Western-Icelandic poet, the first being Stephan G. Shephansson.
Guttormur mainly composed poetry but also wrote a few plays. His first book of
poetry, "Jón Austfirđingur og nokkur smákvćđi", (Jón from the
Eastern Fjords and a few poems), was published in 1909. Most of the book is a
long narrrative poem about Jón from the Eastern Fjords, his journey to North
America, difficulties he encountered and his fate. His next book, "Bóndadóttir"
(Farmer's Daughter), was published in 1920 and contains a few of his best known
poems, e.g. "Sandy Bar" and "Winnipeg Icelander". He then
published Gaman og Alvara (Amusement and Seriousness) (1930), Hunangsflugur
(Honey Bees) (1944) and Kanadaţistill (Canada Thistle) (1958). Guttormur
was controversial and radical in his beliefs and yet playful and sarcastic. He
readily composed poetry about Western-Icelanders' lives and the reality they
faced. He also tended to describe the down-to-earth reality of his immediate
surroundings, depicted in an unexpected, often symbolist context.
Above: The 223rd Scandinavians at Camp Hughes,
1916 (Photo Courtesy of the New Iceland Heritage Museum)
Icelandic soldiers served proudly with their fellow countrymen in both of the World Wars.
It was a group of Western Icelandic hockey players named the Winnipeg Falcons that won the first gold medal in Hockey for Canada at the Winter Olympics of 1920 in Antwerp, Belguim.
Link to Article on the
Falcons http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympians/falcons.shtml
This Article is Courtesy of Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Citizenship -- Historic Resources