The life and rhythm of the early community was sustained through a
number of important and interesting community organizations.
Besides schools built at Tindastoll and at Hola, adjacent to
Stephan Stephansson's homestead, a literary society was
established in 1892, notably sixteen years before a Lutheran
Church was built. Beginning in 1898, student ministers from the
Manitoba settlement visited and a congregation was formed two
years later. To some degree, relationships between the Lutheran
Church and so-called free thought philosophies continued to be a
part of the community's character. This is not often the case in
new settlement communities, where the church is among the
earliest, if not the first institution to be established. The
literacy society established a library that served the community
into the 1930s.
It is important to note that expression of divergent opinions
likely indicated a high degree of cohesiveness in the community,
rather than divisiveness. Bound by common experience, language, an
appreciation of literary and cultural pursuits, the relative
isolation of the small community in the early years of settlement
helped it maintain a cultural vitality and confidence. As well,
the Icelanders were highly regarded as new immigrants and
experienced less pressure to assimilate.
Vonin ('hope') Ladies' Aid Society was founded by the
community's women during their brief sojourn in Calgary on their
way to the new settlement. The Society's benevolent work resulted
in a range of events that united the community. The Society was
connected to the Lutheran congregation and was key in the building
of the Fensala Community Hall. The Society still exists and until
the late 1970s continued to take its recorded minutes in
Icelandic.
World War I
The early Icelandic community largely functioned outside of the
cash economy. With the advent of the creamery and increased grain
growing, the beginning of World War I also helped spur commercial
production. The 1916 census shows that of the 700 Albertans of
Icelandic ancestry, approximately one-third of these had been born
in Iceland. Of the 700, some 400 lived in the area of Markerville
and adjacent districts. As with other recent immigrant groups,
many supported the war effort as an opportunity to demonstrate
their loyalty to Canada. Significantly, Stephan Stephansson
strongly criticized the war effort and produced a suite of poems
titled Vigslodi 'The Trail of War.' Stephansson's criticism
flew in the face of the heightened patriotism that accompanied the
war effort. In a small rural district, Stephansson's position was
particularly difficult for those who would lose sons in the
trenches and killing fields of Europe.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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