A photographic exhibition:
Early Icelandic Settlements on the West Coast
- A glimpse into the history of the building of British Columbia -
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A photographic exhibition: Early Icelandic Settlements on the West Coast - A glimpse into the history of the building of British Columbia -
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Burnaby, British Columbia – On March 3rd and 4th the Scandinavian Cultural Society, the Icelandic Archives of B.C. and the Icelandic Canadian Club of B.C. will host an exhibition of over two hundred spectacular, restored photographic images depicting the early Settlements of Icelanders in British Columbia and Point Roberts. The exhibition will be held at the Scandinavian Community Centre in Burnaby.
The digitally restored photographs illustrate the lives of Icelandic settlers in the early 1900s. The images provide a moving glimpse into the life and times of this immigrant group and documents their contribution to the building of British Columbia.
The exhibit has been a work in progress for the last 30 years. It has been created by Robert Asgeirsson, curator of the Icelandic Archives of B.C. who researched, collected photographs, and met with descendants to listen to and document their stories. He feels the archival collection tells an accurate story of when these settlers came to Canada to start a new life by building communities on the West Coast.
Asgeirsson, of Icelandic decent, says “These fascinating images are like footprints in the sand - they are the evidence of our existence on the B.C. shores.” He continues “If you don’t capture the images of those footprints, the evidence is washed away with the tides of time, leaving no record of anyone having been here. It grieves me as I look at the old photographs that are now fading, cracked and tattered. I get this compelling urge to try to stop the deterioration and natural aging. As a photographer, I want to bring digital copies of them back to the original condition of the prints.”
The migration of Icelanders to Canada began in the early 1870s. With bad weather and volcanic eruptions killing off cattle and sheep and the resultant starving of their people, the Icelanders wanted a better life. At the time, Canada was campaigning in Northern European countries to get robust hardy immigrants to come and break the land and settle the country. With the Canadian government offering free land and homesteads about six thousand Icelanders immigrated to Canada over a period of three to four years starting in 1874. To Iceland with its population of only about thirty thousand people it was a significant exodus.
The first Icelandic settlers arrived in central Manitoba and then continued on into North Dakota, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Most of their working experience in Iceland came from fishing with the result that most of those settling on the West Cost engaged in fishing, some in farming and others in logging. Some of the early immigrants settled on Smith Island in the mouth of the Skeena River. There, where salmon was abundant, they built the Osland Settlement. Similarly, they settled on Hunter Island, at the northwestern boundary of Fitz Hugh Sound, and in Victoria and Point Roberts, a US military base at that time.
The exhibition beautifully documents the living history of the West Coast settlements and many of the unsung heroes of Icelandic decent that made our province their home. Notable individuals include the late Byron “Boss” Johnson, Canada’s first non-Canadian Premier of B.C. (1947); Geiri Sigurgeirsson whose fishing boat design set the standard in the trolling fleet industry on the West Coast; and a fellow named Erikson who was the personal fishing guide to Bing Crosby whenever he visited Campbell River.
The exhibition Nordic Spirit: Early Icelandic Settlement on the West Coast can be viewed on March 3rd (10am – 9pm) and 4th (10am – 4pm) at The Scandinavian Community Centre, 6540 Thomas Street in Burnaby. A closing reception will be held on Sunday March 4th from 2pm – 4pm with Scandinavian consuls and local politicians in attendance. For more information or to RSVP to the reception visit: The Icelandic Archives of British Columbia’s website http://www.inlofna.org/IABC/Welcome.html.
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