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Saga of Hope, An Icelandic Odyssey (21/52)


This is also part of this series: Scattering of Seeds, A (52)

DVD PPR Price: $195
DVD Site Price: $75
DVD Home Price: $19.95



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Subjects: Canadian History, Family Studies, Immigration, Multicultural Studies

Grade Level: JrH-Adult
Producer: White Pine Pictures
Closed Captioned: No
Running Time: 30 mins
Country of Origin: Canada
Study Guide: No

Copyright Date: 1999
Available in French: Yes

“Saga of Hope” is an exploration of director Juliann Blackmore's newly discovered Icelandic ancestry. Her great-great-grandfather, Sigursteinn Oddson left Iceland in 1883. His neighbour, Hans Peter Tergesen, left in 1887. The two men were part of a massive exodus from Iceland to Canada. A devastating volcano and its aftermath drove one-third of the population from their island home. The majority went to a settlement in Manitoba they named “New Iceland”. Hans Peter opened a general store that became the centre of the Icelandic community and is still run by the Tergesen family today. Sigursteinn worked his lifetime breaking land. The hardships of a settler's life finally shattered his family, scattering his descendants across Canada. This is the haunting story of a great-great-granddaughter's efforts to reclaim a family and a culture. In French: La saga de l'espoir: une odyssée islandaise