Gold Dust on His Shirt: The True Story of an Immigrant Mining Family

admin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:32:00 +0000

When you think about migrant memoirs of North America, stories of moving north from Latin America often come to mind more than those detailing moves east and west. Flipping around that common assumption, Gold Dust on His Shirt tells the story of Irene Howard’s Swedish-Norwegian immigrant family’s tumultuous life in Canada at the turn of the twentieth century.

After the death of her first husband in Norway, Howard’s mother Ingeborg immigrated to Canada. She left her young daughter Inga behind with the child’s grandparents, promising to send for Inga as soon as she was settled. Instead, once she arrived in Prince Rupert (in current day British Colombia), she met and married a Swede, Nils Alfred in 1913. Only seven years after Norway had gained its independence from Sweden, the couple felt—and was—thousands of miles from the political controversies of their homeland. Six months later, Ingeborg gave birth to their first son, Swedish-Norwegian-Canadian Arthur Ingemar. Over the years, Ingeborg and Alfred had several more children—Verner Erik, Nels Edwin, Irene—and were uprooted from their home several times. Alfred’s job working on the railroad demanded that the family relocate as work became available. As Alfred became involved with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and began mobilizing other immigrant workers, his job prospects were often limited due to his radical organizing.

Reading about language barriers, death by tuberculosis or mine collapse, police raids, and workers’ struggles against mining companies is a sobering experience. Living a reverse tale of sorts—an American in Denmark, mostly unable to speak Danish—I have a lot of empathy for the characters in this story. I also suspect that my own Norwegian background and my adopted Danish family made this a more interesting tale for me. I didn’t mind reading about characters named Sigurd Ullstreng, Olav Trygvasson, and Elling Erikssen Aarvig. For me, it was a bit comforting and homey—or “hygge,” as we say in Danish.

Howard’s history is fascinating, though her presentation is a bit dry. At times, the book reads like a genealogy scrapbook instead of a memoir, listing people and events in a factual if uninspiring way. For history buffs, this is no doubt enjoyable. I will admit to struggling at times to wade through the details of a time and place with which I have no real familiarity. Yet Howard’s story is valuable and often untold, and her objective storytelling—in which she often removes herself entirely from the narrative, even though she lived through the same events—is a refreshing departure from the self-centered account most memoirs provide. I suspect I will revisit this book for years to come, perhaps as my roots deepen and spread among the Nordic states and North America.

Howard was born in 1922 amidst her father’s career change from mining to fishing. That she has survived the last eighty-seven years—three less than my own still-living Norwegian grandmother—with her story intact, now fully documented and published, is no small feat. In Norwegian, we say, “gratulerer”—congratulations.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, July 11th 2009

True Norwegian Black Metal

admin — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:59:00 +0000

By Peter Beste

Vice Books

Photographer Peter Beste spent seven years researching this book, including thirteen visits to Norway where he photographed and interviewed the musicians who are his subject. The result is a photojournalistic epic that looks and reads like crime fiction.

The meat of _True Norwegian Black Metal _is the pictures, mostly black and white. Band members dress like demons or corpses, splattering their faces with black and white stage makeup. They wear bullet belts, spiked armbands, and rags or leather gear designed to look like burial garb or battle armor. Inverted cross necklaces and medieval style weapons also abound. The overall effect is theatrical, but these are not publicity or promotional photos. One of the most striking is Nattefrost, front man for an eponymous band. He stands bare-chested in an alley, glaring at the camera, his face painted white with black stripes. A middle-aged woman stares at him with disapproval as she walks down the street, but Nattefrost is oblivious to her presence.

That picture, and others like it, sums up the message and appeal of black metal. The band members reject mainstream society. To the Norwegians, that society is embodied in the Christian religion. The musicians feel that Christianity has robbed them of their heritage, and so they embrace Odinism, Norse legends and symbols, and satanic or demonic images.

In the early 1990s, several infamous church burnings were linked to the black metal scene. Near the same time, a young singer who called himself Dead committed suicide. Dead was the lead singer for Mayhem, a prototypical black metal band. In addition, Varg Vikernes, founder of the band Burzum, was convicted and imprisoned for the murder of Euronymous, his friend and fellow musician.

These events and others caused controversy and attracted international attention for a time. Beste’s book does a good job of explaining these events without condemning or praising the participants. Instead Beste shows readers where the music came from and gives them an idea of why it became so popular so quickly in Norway. The pictures are the main focus, but there is plenty of good writing, too.

Metalion, founder of the underground magazine Slayer, wrote the introduction. This is important because Metalion was involved in the scene and knew the people first-hand. There is also a graphic timeline of black metal and its myriad influences. In the back of the book are magazine and newspaper clippings as well as hand written letters from members of the groups.

True Norwegian Black Metal is worth reading for the photos alone. The stories and reminiscences will help readers better understand this aggressive, insular, much maligned form of extreme metal. Peter Beste has crafted a book that will appeal as much to black metal fans as to those who are just curious.

Written by: Steve Watson, April 30th 2008