1

The Vatnabyggd Memorial in Elfros, SK Canada
25 September 2005
Elfros, SK Canada

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Icelanders had come from possibly the worst economic, social and environmental issues in Icelandic history. They had come with the clothes on their backs, one cubic foot of possessions, and a determination to make a better life. To this end, the Icelandic settlers seemed determined to become part of their new country as quickly as possible. Children learned English instead of Icelandic, names were Anglicized, and the adults rarely talked about their lives before Canada. Thorrablot and other festivals were celebrated for the first few years, but the practice gradually faded. Only the food, special Icelandic recipes, seems to have been passed on.

3

Conditions were bad enough in Iceland, but
for the first group of Icelanders who came to Canada, conditions weren't any better for the first year.

4

Helgason, Helgi on the Icelanders at Kinmount
10 December 2005
Foam Lake, SK Canada

5

[Helgason, Helgi and Eyolfson Cadham, Joan]
[Helgi] I'm not sure of the area, I think its Eykireyri, that's what my cousin told me, it sounds like that's where they seemed to come [from]- but they were starving, there was no hope of them making a living, the economy there ahd collapsed, there was just nothing there for them. And the railroad said, hey come on over we got jobs for you, so they packed up and headed over and I dont' think they brought a thing with them. I don't think they had anything. Yeah, i think it was 74 or 75 when that big trek came in through the railroad, and of course they landed - I don't know where they landed off the ship - but they all ended up in Kinmount.
[Joan] They came into Quebec City and then they went to Kinmont,and most of them came fair to dying, well a whole bunch of them did.
[Helgi] Oh a lot of them died, perished on the way over.
[Joan] And the Kinmount project dried up on them and there was just no sustenance anywhere, and they were all back to starving to death. It was just like being back in good old Iceland again.
[Helgi] When the Helgasons arrived, they were come to work on the railroad. It was december when they arrived here and the railroad said sorry we don't work in the wintertime, 'cause they expected to have a job as soon as they got here, and they had not a penny with them. They lived in cardboard boxes for that first winter and my grandad was the only youngster to survive the trip over and the first winter of that group.
[Joan] Really, no kidding
[Helgi] The only youngster. Every last one of them perished and many adults with them. So they had a pretty rough go. I don't know that any of them worked on the railraod again, I think they probably found things to do. Well they had to find something to do or they'd starve to death, so they had to take odd jobs. So I don't know whether many of them worked on the railroad the next summer or not, I have no idea. So that guy in - Gislason or something -in Ontario - I would love to get that book -
[Joan] Don Gislason [see http://icct.info/kin_index.html for more details]
{Helgi] - and read that cause he's got all that history of that group. In fact he's got the ship records and the pass...
[Interviewer] passenger list?
[Helgi] Yeah he's got all of that. No, that was a pretty devastating winter that one.

6

Jakob Bjarnason, who settled NW16-32-15W2, was born in Kinmount ON and is probably the first Icelander born in Canada.

7

For more information on the Icelanders at Kinmount, see
http://icct.info/kin_index.html

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Plaque, Vatnabyggd
25 September 2005
Elfros, SK Canada

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The first generation of settlers seem to have wanted to forget. The following generations, however, want to remember.

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Plaque, Vatnabyggd Memorial
25 September 2005
Elfros, SK Canada

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In 1981, when several residents of the Elfros area decided to start an Icelandic club and join the Icelandic National League of North America (INL of NA), interest in Icelandic heritage grew in the Vatnabyggd area. Thorrablot, the traditional midwinter festival, was started up again and still continues.

Thorrablot is traditionally celebrated during the month of Thorri (which covers approximately 4 weeks over January & February) in Iceland, but in Vatnabyggd it is celebrated in the spring and alternates between Wynyard and Foam Lake hosting the celebration. A major component of the celebration is the traditional Icelandic food, but entertainment is also important.

12

Plaque, Vatnabyggd Club
9 October 2005
Elfros, SK Canada

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Johnson Site at Foam Lake Marsh, named for Carl Johnson
9 December 2005
Foam Lake, SK Canada

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The Foam Lake Heritage Marsh is honouring the Icelandic pioneers by naming trails and viewing sites in Icelandic and after Icelandic members of the community.