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Vol. 8 Issue 2 Spring
1999
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Keep in touch with the Ukrainian community in British Columbia with
CONTACT! Here are the major stories from the Spring 1998 issue.
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* Trade Mission
to Ukraine a boost to tourist industry
Local travel agent Myrna Arychuk of Cascade Travel describes her
trek to Ukraine with Canada’s prime minister and other business leaders last January.
* Royal
BC Museum to host exhibit of Internment of Ukrainians in Canada during WWI
A Victoria museum is very excited to host The Barbed Wire Solution: Ukrainians and
Canada’s First Internment Operations 1914-1920.
* The
Man-Made Famine in Ukraine and its Deniers on the Internet
InfoUkes co-founder Dr. Andrij Ukrainec, whose mother barely survived the 1932-33 Man-Made
Famine in Ukraine, talks about the InfoUkes website dedicated to the famine, as well as
deniers of this well-documented tragedy.
* Ukrainian Easter:
Remembering timeless traditions
Kamloops writer Gena Crowston shares childhood memories of celebrating Easter Ukrainian
style.
* Thanks from Mahala
Organizer of outreach program amazed and grateful for community’s support
for Ukrainian orphans
* New! Genealogy Column
Genealogist and author Muryl Andrejciw Geary shares tips and techniques for
getting started on your family tree.
* Professor from Chernivtsi visits BC
On a recent trip to BC from the University of Alberta, where Dr. Anatoliy
Kruglashov of fields blunt questions from Ukrainians in BC and addresses the issue of low
youth enrollment in Ukrainian studies programs in Canadian universities.
* UCC-Vernon donates Ukrainian history collection to local university
Executive of UCC Vernon branch donates first of the eleven-volume History of
Ukraine-Rus to Okanagan University College, and pledges remainder.
* Anniversaries
Kelowna cultural society celebrates 20th, Vancouver Island Ukrainian
Concert celebrates 15th
Also ... honouring the late Isidore Goresky, Music Review: BARABOLYA ...THAT MEANS POTATO!, Ukrainian summer study courses, upcoming dance festivals
and other community events, The Art of Ukrainian
Cuisine, where to get a good perogy supper ... and more!
Trade
Mission to Ukraine
a boost to tourist industry
By Myrna Arychuk
"Ukrainians
helped build Canada and now Canadians must help build Ukraine."
Throughout the entire Canadian Trade Mission to Ukraine last
January, I heard this phrase repeated over and over, and I believe it to be true.
However, since we must all deal with an increasingly global
economy, the success of Canada's help is very dependent on Ukraine's co-operation.
Both Prime Minister Jean Chretien and the Minister for
International Trade, Sergio Marchi, delivered strong warnings to Ukrainian leaders on the
absolute necessity of improving the climate for western investors.
Mr. Marchi said doing business in Ukraine is like "digging a
well with a needle". He urged the Ukrainian government to solve six major problems,
including their taxation and regulatory systems, inconsistent certification rules,
arbitrary bureaucratic enforcement, and the lack of local financing and clear property
ownership rights.
Tourism is a positive way for Ukraine to build its economy,
however, this sector must also have reform and consistent service. While government
officials in Ukraine are slow to catch on to global economic realities,
"ordinary" Ukrainian citizens have been quick to recognize that the tourist
trade offers them a means to profit from their warm and hospitable nature.
The City of Kyiv outdid itself in hosting the Canadian delegates.
We visited St. Michael's Church and were fascinated to learn that the Soviets had razed
the church and turned the site into a parking lot. But architects and planners are now
using old photos and plans to reconstruct the church, bells and all, true to its original
form. (I was told one bell alone weighs eight tons!)
There are two terrific restaurants I visited with two economics
professors from Simon Fraser University teaching at the University of Kyiv, James Dean and
Lance Brannmar. The Tsarski Celo had fabulous live music and the most delicious raspberry
perohy! (All their perohy were superb - I think I tasted all the varieties they offer!).
The Khata Karasya was decorated with gorgeous, authentic Ukrainian artifacts, particularly
antique ceramic plates and a ïÿö or
ï³÷ - the legendary Ukrainian "stove" that is so much
more than just a stove. The food was superb, particularly the borsch and homemade bread -
hot from the ïÿö!
There was live music here, too, and dancers and
actors who performed a hilarious "audience participation" skit.
A less sophisticated but still enjoyable culinary adventure was a
trip to McDonalds. Except for the language, it was exactly the same as in Canada, from the
Á³´ Ìàê (Big Mac) to Êîêà
Êîëà (Coca-Cola). The menu even suggests salt and ketchup on the fries!
(×óäîâó ñìàæåíó êàðòîïëþ ìîæíà çàìîâèòè
³ç ñ³ëëþ òà êåò÷óïîì.)
Another must-see is Kyiv's beautiful Tourist Complex
Prolisok,
the first and only Ukrainian tourist company to be a signatory to the Canadian trade
mission Prolisok and Cascade have recently entered into a partnership where Prolisok will
act as host for Canadian tourists who book with Cascade. The signing drove home just how
important it is to Ukraine's budding tourist industry to uphold a reliable partnership and
provide consistent service.
Tourism is a real boost to the local people, and with every visit
I notice vast improvements. They loved to talk to us and were extremely helpful and
courteous. With tourism a very young industry in Ukraine, it's still very
"authentic", and not very westernized - yet. This may possibly be the best time
to visit Ukraine!
Royal
BC Museum to host exhibit of Internment of Ukrainians in Canada during WWI
A traveling exhibit entitled The Barbed Wire Solution: Ukrainians and Canada’s
First Internment Operations, 1914-1920 will open April 15 at the Royal BC Museum in
Victoria and run until June 30, 1999.
"The Museum is very excited about the exhibit," said
Kari Moore, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of
Victoria, who made the arrangements with the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation
Centre, an archival centre in Toronto which produced, sponsors and owns the exhibit.
The purpose of this exhibit is to remind Canadians of the darker
spots in our history, to help ensure that mass internment of any innocent group of people,
particularly the poor and powerless, will never happen again, she explained.
By the outbreak of the First World War, there were about 171,000
Ukrainians living in Canada, the majority farming on the prairies, with others working in
the mining, logging, construction and other industries. All had come to Canada believing
they had found a refuge from the poverty and oppression of their foreign-occupied
Ukrainian homelands.
Their hopes were dashed and their dreams betrayed when the
Government of Canada invoked the War Measures Act for the first time in its history, and
interned over 8,000 men, women and children, the majority of whom were Ukrainians, in
concentration camps across the country. This act also declared over 88,000 people to be
"enemy aliens" forcing them to register with the authorities, carry
identification documents, report to the police on a regular basis, and forbidding travel
outside the country.
The Barbed Wire Solution: Ukrainians and Canada’s First
Internment Operations, 1914-1920 explores the social, economic and political circumstances
leading to Canada’s first use of the War Measures Act. A variety of media is used to
guide visitors through the historical events, including three-dimensional models,
artifacts, interpretative illustrations and the award-winning documentary video Freedom
Had a Price.
Visitors will have a glimpse into living conditions of the
prisoners and their guards in the camps thanks to primary historical documentation and
photographs gathered from the numerous national, provincial and municipal archives.
Ribbon-cutting ceremonies will take place Thursday, April 15 at
11:00 a.m. at the Royal BC Museum, 675 Belleville Street in Victoria. The museum is open
seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call
the museum at (250) 387-5822.
The
Man-Made Famine in Ukraine and its Deniers on the Internet
By Dr. Andrij Ukrainec
My own mother, recently departed, almost didn't survive it. She told me of how her
mother had to smuggle food from across the border with Russia, far from their village, in
order to feed the children so they wouldn't starve during the dark, despairing days of the
artificial famine of 1932-33 in Ukraine.
Only a child then, my mother said she was so weak at one point
that she could barely see. Luckily, she lived. Similar stories are common among Ukrainians
who somehow survived that terrifying time.
As part of our History section at InfoUkes there is a section
about The Famine (1932-33) (http://www.InfoUkes.com/history/famine/) with several
informative articles which had been previously published. The Famine pages are also linked
into the History Television web site, the cable television history channel in Canada.
We thought it important to alert visitors that there are those who
actively deny that the Famine ever occurred. In addition to two articles addressing this
issue, we expose web pages of revisionists and deniers.
Grover Furr's Politics and Social Issues Page is maintained by Grover
Furr, an English Professor at Montclair University. Furr states:
"…stories about the `horrors of Stalinism' are used to
demoralize millions of people who are otherwise fed up with capitalist exploitation …
so serious research on the USSR during the period of Stalin's leadership is vital in
helping us understand ... what we must learn from [the Bolsheviks and] their heroic
experiences".
The site includes links to a Communist site that refers to the
Ukrainian Famine as a hoax perpetrated by pro-Nazi Ukrainians, and an article by Jeff
Coplon in the Village Voice (New York City) downplaying the significance of the 1932-33
famine and attacking the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre's
documentary film "Harvest of Despair".
The Progressive Labor Party Home Page also takes the position
that the Famine was a hoax and attacks "Harvest of Despair", stating that it
"uses lies, misleading film, and Nazi collaborators to attack Stalin, the Soviet
Union, and the whole idea of communism, while promoting nationalism and fascism."
The Progressive Electronic Library site, with pages generated by
Professor John Plaice of Quebec's Laval University, attempts to rehabilitate Stalin as an
enlightened, misunderstood leader.
One of the areas tackled is the "myth" of
collectivization and the "Ukrainian Holocaust", building on the works of Douglas
Tottle, "Fraud, Famine and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to
Harvard".
The InfoUkes Famine site provides a bibliography and links to
other related sites, notably Library of Congress Soviet Archives Exhibit: Ukrainian Famine
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/ukra.html
and Induced Famine 1932-33: The Forgiven Holocaust http://www.ukar.org/famine.shtml
The purpose of these pages on The Famine is to educate the public
about this event in Ukrainian history which is hardly publicized in the mainstream media.
Now, thanks to the internet, those people seeking the truth will
not be as easily deceived by those seeking to suppress it.
Ukrainian Easter:
Remembering timeless traditions
By Gena Crowston
Growing up in rural Saskatchewan, my family and everyone else who immigrated from
Ukraine celebrated all of the festivals according to the Julian calendar. This meant that
Easter could happen while the earth was still snow-bound, or when the first tender blades
of grass were unfurling. But regardless of the weather or the date, we all attended the
Easter church service.
The church dated back to 1905, and was built by the pioneers in
the style they used in Ukraine - a log structure of hand-hewn logs held together with
hand-made wooden pegs. The walls were plastered, inside and out, with a mixture of clay,
straw and cow manure. The roof was thatched and even within my memory the back entry still
had a dirt floor. A Russian Orthodox priest from the Canora parish served the congregation
until the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox church was established in Canada in 1918.
For many weeks preceding the Easter service, my mother would be
creating her intricately designed Easter eggs. She would then select the brightest and
most elaborate eggs to grace her Easter basket, which would be blessed on Easter Sunday.
It always contained a kolach (braided bread), a babka (sweet yellow Easter loaf), a ring
of garlic sausage, a dish of cottage cheese and one of studenetz (headcheese), and my
father's favourite -solonuna (a piece of pork fat which was simmered and let cool to
solidify).
Easter morning would find us up very early, getting dressed in
our finest clothes. This was one time when Dad, who hated ties, would willingly put one
on. Then we gathered outside where the horse was hitched to the buggy for the hour's drive
to church. Mother always insisted that Dad tuck extra hay around and under her Easter
basket so that no misfortune might befall it.
The church service was at least two hours long, and we stood and
knelt on the unpainted wooden floors (according to tradition, there were no chairs,
benches or pews). Afterwards, weather permitting, we would assemble outside and line up
our Easter baskets for the priest to bless, then chat with neighbours and exchange
greetings and Easter eggs.
What a thrill to finally be back in the buggy and on the way home!
Breakfast was not allowed before a church service, and with six miles to go home and a
basket full of food, we wasted little time! Once out of sight of the church, Dad would
remove his tie and then reach into the Easter basket for his solonuna. From his pocket he
would take his jack knife and cut it into small pieces. He'd pull a salt shaker from
another pocket and the fat would be liberally sprinkled. Then pieces of the pork were
placed on chunks of kolach which mother broke off (she claimed the kolach tasted better if
it was torn rather than cut). Dad always insisted that she bring some crushed garlic to
dip his solonuna in. I can still hear him smacking his lips after devouring this Easter
delicacy as the horse slowly plodded her way home!
My parents were very firm in celebrating their Ukrainian culture
and they instilled that same pride of heritage in their children. Sometimes, in our
younger years, we did not always appreciate this, but now I find that this time holds my
fondest memories. I have tried to instil the same pride of heritage in my own children,
and together we still celebrate many of the traditions - enhanced of course by modern
technology and conveniences!
About the author: Gena (Droneck) Crowston was born in Sturgis,
Saskatchewan in 1938, where she graduated from high school and went on to North Battleford
to train as a Psychiatric Nurse. No sooner after retiring from a forty year career in this
field, she took to writing. Her book about her pioneer grandparents' and parents'
homestead days is almost ready for publication. Gena's strongest conviction is that we
must preserve our Ukrainian history and traditions for future generations. She lives
– and writes – in Kamloops.
Thanks from
Mahala
By Elaine McEwen
When I started my work on a project to help underprivileged
children in Ukraine in February of 1998, I never envisioned the extent of the love and
generosity of Canada's Ukrainian community.
Last summer, Dianna Krawchuk, Anita Hlady and I went to
Chernivsti, taking with us medications and clothing, a little money, and a burning desire
to help orphaned children in Ukraine.
The experience was indescribable. The sights, sounds and smells
linger like smoke swirling around me, constantly reminding me of the sadness and
helplessness of Ukraine's orphans. Conditions at the Orshovetsky Children's Home, our
first focus, were dismal enough, but we were particularly appalled with what we saw at the
Mahala Boys' Orphanage. Isolated, knowing only the medieval conditions of their
surroundings, these boys, many of whom are disabled, are shunned by hospitals and churches
and have only their own meagre infirmary and chapel trying to help them.
In speaking with the caregivers and directors at Mahala, Dianna got a
keen sense of their deprivation, from rotting mattresses to a lack of basic necessities
from disinfectants to shoes. Meanwhile, Anita took notes on the conditions to help us
recall all we had experienced, while I photographed and took videos that we could use in
future fundraising efforts.
After returning home, we tried to make sense of our experiences and
present them in a way so that our community could understand the depths of these disabled
orphans' despair. We drew up a report and showed our photos and videos to individuals,
groups and clubs. Dianna’s miraculous work with special fundraising events, like the
Christmas Eve Celebration, the Gypsy Night Cabaret, was instrumental in getting word out
about our work (the next one will be a home and garden show in May). We have had numerous
radio interviews, newspaper articles, and a television feature on Echoes of Ukraine on
Roger's community channel.
We had hoped for a small response from the publicity, but what we
got from our Ukrainians in Canada was a river, brimming with love and generosity, straight
to Mahala. A full freight container of much-needed items will sail to Ukraine in April.
How can we ever begin to express our gratitude to all of our donors,
helpers and supporters? What we have accomplished was only done with the generosity, care
and support of our Ukrainian community in Canada. You are making our dreams - for the
orphans of Mahala - come true. Thank you from the volunteers, Ukrainian Canadian Social
Services, Vancouver Branch, and I know, most certainly, from the disabled orphans in
Mahala.
Music Review:
BARABOLYA ...THAT
MEANS POTATO!
Ron Cahute & Ihor Baczynskyj
Melodica Entertainment Productions
Review by Trish Bugera
Every time my husband, Anthony, and I wade through the
Slice-O-Matics and solar
toothbrushes at the PNE ShowMart, we always seek out the Ukrainian booth to pick up a CD
or two of Ukrainian music.
Last year, while searching for something both fun and educational
for our son, Vladimyr (who turned one in January), I was drawn to a CD entitled
Barabolya.
With a cover featuring a cartoon drawing of a charming,
gap-toothed potato wearing running shoes, this one looked like it would be fun for
Vladimyr. Turns out Vladimyr wasn't the only one to find it fun!
This album teaches Ukrainian language skills to children in an
entertaining, rather than condescending, manner. Popular, easily recognizable songs are
tweaked into fun language lessons, thereby appealing not only to the youngsters, but to
adults who know the songs in their previous incarnations.
According to the liner notes, Ron Cahute and Ihor Baczynskyj are a
couple of fathers who not only wrote and recorded the album, but actually had the courage
to submit their songs to a group of 5 to 13 year-olds.
The album begins with the Azbooka (alphabet) drill, based on a military
marching tune. Slap some fatigues on your children and let them run loose in the yard,
reciting the Azbooka; while burning off pent-up energy!
Ron and Ihor also put fun into such basics as the seasons of the
year, counting to ten, and the days of the week. The musical style dabbles with the Irish
jig, the Latin beat, and 50's rock. There is even an Ed Sullivan impersonation.
The most memorable tune has to be the title cut,
Barabolya, which
uses a melody made popular by the 50's hit, La Bamba. I dare you not to chuckle when Ihor
and Ron sing that "It's a dream with sour cream!"
The album's final song is entitled Nice Perena, which actually
makes the horrid yet popular 90's tune The Macarena tolerable. You can do the dance while
singing about Baba¹s pretty quilt, if you must.
Accompanying printed lyrics would have been helpful (in
phonetics), for following along with the songs. However this is only a minor complaint.
I notice that Ron and Ihor also have an Onion album.....
Hmmmm. Might be a good accompaniment for a potato!
The Art of
Ukrainian Cuisine
This issue: Ukrainian Easter delicacies
Recipes:
Beet & Horseradish relish
Easter Horseradish
Uncooked Horseradish sauce
Easter Pasta Dessert
Easter Cheese Cake
Cooking tip: How to prepare horseradish – and survive!
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