Documenting the past

Ukrainians preserve ties to their heritage

By Darlene Polachic
for the Saskatoon Sun
reprinted with permission

Karen Pidskalny's forebears were among those Ukrainian immigrants. Today, she co-ordinates the Saskatchewan Ukrainian Historical Society, a project aimed at preserving and documenting the history of Ukrainians in the province.

The idea for a historical society was born during the time when Ostap Skrypnyk was executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) Saskatchewan Provincial Council. He moved on to the National Congress, but his successor, Danylo Puderak, not only revived the idea, he was able to secure funding that enabled the project to proceed.

Pidskalny's first task as co-ordinator was to organize a conference to launch the society. "I didn't want it to be just another conference,'' she said. “I called it 'My Baba's Trunk.’”

Pidskalny took her cue from her own grandmother's trunk which came to Canada in 1904 filled with the precious belongings that reflected her grandmother's life and culture.

"When Ukrainian women marry, they get a dowry," Pidskalny explains. "My mother got a cow and some chickens. When I got married, I was promised a trunk. I asked for the trunk that belonged to my baba because it had special meaning for me. She kept her corsages, photographs, important documents, community mementos, and her wedding dress in it.

"As I was thinking about the conference and my Ukrainian history, I realized that my Baba's trunk was my connection to the past and a history lesson in the making." The trunk originally belonged to Pidskalny's great-grandmother Magda Blocka whose family came from Western Ukraine and homesteaded in the Rosthern area in 1904. "My baba, Maria, got the trunk when she married Anton Bloshka. When she died, my mother Arlene Sopotyk inherited the trunk. Eventually it was given to me. I have some things in it that belonged to baba: a setting of her silverware, a dress that belonged to her and a hooked rag rug she made."

'My Baba's Trunk' proved to be the perfect springboard for the Historical Society Conference. Sessions and presenters addressed such things as the beginnings of Ukrainians in Saskatchewan; early committees, organizations, and memberships; how to research one's Ukrainian family tree; and where the society should go from here.

Andrij Makuch of U of T gave an overview of the first 15 years of Ukrainian history in Saskatchewan, and Dr. Alan Anderson, a sociologist from the U of S explored early settlement patterns and ethnic blocks.

"Often, Ukrainians tended to settle in ethnic blocks, usually along the Parkland Belt in Saskatchewan," Pidskalny explained. "Sometimes whole communities were transplanted."

Another session addressed the fact that one of the first things the new settlers did was organize a church, school or hall. "These became major social gathering places. Life in Canada was quite a shock. People were used to living in a village setting where someone was always coming or going. Here, they were isolated, miles away from their nearest neighbour. They looked forward with much anticipation to church and social gatherings and concerts."

Bill Barry, author of Ukrainian People Places in Saskatchewan also made a presentation, as did Cliff and Michelle Rush from the Saskatchewan Genealogy Society and Bohdan Bayda whose family tree research fills several volumes.

The family tree session generated a good deal of interest.

"Many Ukrainians are researching their family tree and run into major roadblocks," Pidskalny says. "One of the roadblocks is language. If you don't read, write or speak Ukrainian, you can't decipher cemetery headstones or early church records. Another problem is the shifting borders and name changes over the years for the country of origin. People don't know where to look for information." A plus, she says, has been the opening up of Ukrainian records in recent years.

One thing that came out of the conference was the Society's desire to "do something with cemeteries."

"There are as many as 3000 cemeteries in Saskatchewan," Pidskalny said. "Between 200 and 250 are Ukrainian ones. Every parish would have had a cemetery and there are 99 parishes in the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, not to mention the Orthodox community. Many churches have closed, but the cemeteries are still there. We need to preserve them. They are our proof that we were here.

"We want to work with the Saskatchewan Genealogy Society going through the cemeteries to translate and record the information." Ideally, she says, it will all be on the Internet at sometime in the future along with other Ukrainian Genealogy information.

The Ukrainian Historical Society welcomes contact from anyone interested in Ukrainian history, and is always looking for information on Ukrainian organizations, cemeteries, religious history, art and music history, cooking traditions and the like.

"We have a library at the UCC office and would like to receive community books, family history books, and anything that pertains to the early history of Ukrainians and Ukrainian organizations."

Karen would also like to see workshop sessions or possibly videos made to record specific cultural traditions. "Like the making of paska or Easter bread. I was in Canora and Yorkton this Easter season when the women of the community were making paska. They got talking about paska receipts. One swore by an old wedding bread recipe.

"And Christmas traditions. And Ukrainian wedding traditions. If you go to a Ukrainian wedding, the bride and groom wear crowns. The bride has myrtle tucked in her hair. A ceremonial embroidered towel ties the bride's and groom's hands together and they walk around the altar three times. The priest puts the wedding rings on their right hands. Stories like that need to be documented and preserved."

The information and resources being compiled by the Saskatchewan Ukrainian Historical Society are available to everyone. Pidskalny says it is important not only for people of Ukrainian heritage, but for other ethnic groups who lived in Ukraine, as well.

Information can be obtained through the Ukrainian Canadian Congress website: www.ucc.sk.ca or contact Karen Pidskalny at 652-5850 or 664-0045.