Western Icelandic Settlements -INLUS-INLNA Webinar

Western Icelanders: Our Story Our Legacy

This is a Joint Webinar of the INLNA and the INLUS on February 20th , 2025 at 7 pm CT

Icelanders aboard the Camoens leaving Iceland for North America.

Icelandic settlers founded communities all across North America, coast to coast. Each has a unique story to tell and legacy to celebrate.

Susan Bearnson Huff shares the story of the Westman Islands emigrants to Spanish Fork, Utah, the oldest continuous Icelandic settlement in North America, first settled in 1854. Descendents have remained strongly attached to their Icelandic roots not in a small part due to the Icelandic Association of Utah which was established 127 years ago in 1897. Susan will bring history alive with personal stories passed down from her great grandparents.

In the second part of the webinar, come forward in time, and travel east with us, to Markland, Nova Scotia where a weary group of Icelandic emigrants arrived from the failed settlement in Kinmount, Ontario in 1885. PhD candidate Jay Lalonde will tell us how their story was shaped by the local conditions and government policies. Markland was deemed “another failed settlement” and many of the Icelanders moved west to join relatives in Manitoba, North Dakota, Minneota and Minnesota. However, a few stayed, and their descendants proudly formed the Icelandic Memorial Society of Nova Scotia.

Both stories are significantly different from the narrative of the Icelanders who settled on the Prairies, and weave together to create a rich tapestry of Icelandic heritage for us to take pride in. In this special year of sesquicentennial celebrations of Nýja Ísland, there will be many ways we will be remembering and sharing the stories of our roots – in Lögberg Heimskringla, in local newsletters, during our celebrations and at the INLNA Convention. These video recordings will add an expanded dimension to the preservations of our narratives. Thank you for participating.

Our Presenters

Susan Bearnson Huff

Susan Bearnson Huff grew up in Spanish Fork, Utah (the first permanent Icelandic settlement in North America) surrounded primarily by neighbors of Icelandic descent. She lived next door to her Icelandic grandfather, Gisle Bearnson, who was born in Reykjavik and emigrated with his parents and other relatives when he was three years old. Her grandfather and father were farmers and cattlemen. Her grandfather named each farm they acquired, even though none of the other local farmers had names for their farms. It wasn’t until Susan visited Iceland for the first time in 2012 that she realized her grandfather was following a long-standing Icelandic tradition in naming his farms. Susan’s love for her Icelandic heritage grew even stronger when she and her husband, Richard Huff, were asked by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to volunteer their time and resources to spend 18 months (March 2017-September 2018) in Iceland as records preservation missionaries.

Susan has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Master’s and Doctorate degrees in educational leadership – all from Brigham Young University. She retired after 34 years as a teacher and elementary school principal, but continues her work as an education consultant, mentoring principals and working with schools to improve student learning.

Jay Lalonde

Jay Lalonde is a PhD candidate in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of New Brunswick. Jay received the prestigious SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship in 2023 for the project, “Model Settlers, Dirty Foreigners, and Colonial Agents: Icelandic Settlers in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada’s Immigration Policy, 1850-1900”.

Jay holds a BA in Icelandic as a Second Language and a Master of Arts in Inter-American Studies from the University of Iceland. Jay has a Graduate Diploma in Translation Studies and offers translation services from Icelandic and Norwegian to English. Jay’s doctoral research focuses on 19th-century immigration and settlement policy in North America with an interest in Icelandic settlements.

Jay is also a Research Intern at The Arctic Institute: Center for Circumpolar Security Studies which is based in Washington, DC but has members from around the world. Jay is interested in the effects of contemporary colonialism, resource extraction, and climate change throughout the Arctic, its impact on Inuit homelands, as well as Icelandic Arctic policy. Jay contributes articles regularly to the publication, The Arctic This Week which gives a weekly rundown of the Arctic’s top stories, latest news, and analysis.

When: Thursday, February 20th, 2025  at 8 pm EST /7 pm CST / 6 pm MST / 5 pm PST 

This event is open to the public and will be recorded.