Descendants of the first Icelanders to settle in Manitoba held an annual pilgrimage to Willow Island on Oct. 21 to pay tribute to their forebears who arrived at the spot 149 years ago to the day.
This year marks the 50th Walk to the Rock, which was started by Gimli resident Connie Magnusson, her mother and her aunt to pay tribute to their descendants at the monument erected at the site.
About 36 people, including Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson and Gimli councillor and Icelandic Festival representative Thora Palson, gathered at New Iceland Heritage Museum before heading out on a six-kilometre walk south along the breakwater and long stretches of sand along Lake Winnipeg. They descended a stretch of huge rocks protecting Willow Island Road before arriving at the big white rock on Willow Island where the first wave of Icelanders arrived on Oct. 21, 1875.
“This has been a meaningful walk for me to take annually because it’s something that my Amma (grandmother) and her sisters also took part in,” said Tristin Tergesen, manager of the Waterfront Centre. “It’s been important to me to continue this walk and to recognize the Icelandic settlers who landed on the beach on this date – Oct. 21.”
Chris Brooks, who looks after the NIHM’s artefacts and does fundraising, said she’s been taking part in the walk for about 15 years.
“We have such close ties in this community. My work at the museum with the artefacts people have donated makes me feel strongly connected to the first Icelanders. And this walk to me symbolizes our connection and respect for what they went through to settle this area and the hardships they suffered,” said Brooks. “It’s important to recognize that every year. We’re all here because of them.”
The first Icelanders arrived in New Iceland – a reserve along the western shore of the lake created by the federal government on Indigenous land – on barges pulled by the steamboat, the SS Colvile. The captain cut the barges loose during a fierce storm and they landed by the big white rock on Willow Island where they made camp on the beach. A plaque erected on the rock commemorates the first Icelander – Jon Olafur Johannson – born in western Canada on Oct. 22, 1875.
Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson joined the walkers again this year.
“I take part in this walk to commemorate the sacrifices made and the perseverance shown by our ancestors over the years after they arrived. And the Metis and the First Nations in the area helped them to ensure they survived in New Iceland,” said Johnson. “Can you imagine setting foot on Willow Island back in the late 1800s with a big northeaster rolling them in with the waves, the frigid temperature and the first Icelander born here the next day?
Selkirk-based Elder Ruth Christie, who attended the commemoration again this year, has a close connection to the landing. Her great, great grandfather, James Monkman, was on the barge with the first wave of settlers to help them find suitable land. And her great grandfather, John Ramsay, provided life-giving assistance to the Icelanders during their first Manitoba winter, teaching them how to fish, hunt and build shelters.
Gimli resident Jerry Jonasson recently found out that his relatives were among the first wave of settlers.
“I read the history of the Geysir area [near Arborg] and I realized that some of my relatives were part of the original landing. It was a bit of a surprise to me,” said Jonasson. “I knew they came here in 1875, but I didn’t know they were among the first. It was such a struggle just to survive back then and I never got to hear the stories.”
Lorna Tergesen, one of the descendants of the first wave of Icelanders, read a poem at the rock to commemorate the landing, and JoAnne Johannson Gullachsen, another descendant of the first Icelanders, laid flowers on the monument.
Express Photos by Patricia Barrett
