Icelandic Roots 
A journey of heritage, fellowship, and remembrance

Author: Sunna Olafson Furstenau, Fargo, ND

Two busloads of Icelandic Roots members and volunteers – cousins and friends from North America – have returned from twelve unforgettable days in Iceland, a journey of heritage, fellowship, and remembrance. The 2025 heritage tour featured three new emigration port ceremonies and countless moments that deepened our knowledge and our shared Icelandic bonds.

The tour began with an extraordinary visit to President Halla Tómasdóttir at Bessastaðir. She spoke warmly about her experiences at the 150-year celebration in New Iceland this summer. She praised Icelandic Roots for its dedicated volunteers, their cooperative spirit, and its “positive pluralism” – pride in heritage while welcoming all who share an interest in Icelandic culture and history.

Three emigration port ceremonies followed, along with a gathering in Akureyri with the mayor and city officials, who thanked us for our participation in the K.N. Júlíus memorial. New plaques and storyboards were unveiled at Eyrarbakki, Stykkishólmur, and Húsavík – the very ports where so many emigrants once set sail for North America. Each ceremony brought descendants and Icelanders – cousins across the ocean – together in song, reflection, and gratitude. These sites join the 2023 plaques in Seyðisfjörður, Vopnafjörður, Sauðárkrókur, and Borðeyri.

Throughout the journey, our group was warmly welcomed by Icelandic Roots volunteers who live in Iceland and joined us at each port ceremony. We also gathered for two memorable team dinners – one in Akureyri and another in Reykjavík following the Icelandic National League of Iceland convention – joyful evenings filled with laughter, gratitude, and friendship.

The port ceremonies honor the nearly 17,000 emigrants (documented in the IR Database) who left Iceland between 1854 and 1914 – many facing famine and hardship, yet carrying the language, faith, and spirit that shaped new communities across North America. The tour traced Iceland’s story as participants explored saga sites, turf churches, and museums – discovering the beauty of the land and the family who remain there. At every stop, we found new connections, shared stories, and friendships that made the invisible threads of heritage visible once more – living reminders of our Cousins Across the Ocean connection that continues to unite us.

The journey concluded at the Árni Magnússon Institute, where participants viewed precious manuscripts with Professor Gísli Sigurðsson. Standing among these treasures, the group reflected on the mission of Icelandic Roots: to preserve the past, strengthen the present, and inspire the future.

The emigration port ceremonies and our travels across Iceland remind us that heritage lives not in the past, but in the people who carry it forward. Through stories, music, and remembrance, we bridge the ocean once divided by distance and find that the heart of Iceland still beats within us all.