Ukrainian Canadian History

In 1891 Iwan Pyllipiw and Wasyl Eleniak were recorded as the first Ukrainians in Canada, while Stefan Koroluk also filed his homestead in Alberta. There also had been some other individuals who had arrived earlier, but this year is considered the start of the Ukrainian settlement in Western Canada.

The first wave from 1892 to 1914, were mainly peasants and farmers fleeing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There was limited land, primitive farming methods, malnutrition, widespread illiteracy, mounting indebtedness etc. Most Ukrainians emigrated to Canada came from Galicia and Bukovina in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This first wave of Ukrainian settlers halted in 1914 due the start of World War I. Approximately 170,000 Ukrainians from the Austro-Hungarian Empire arrived in Canada.

My Kalynchuk and Stetsko ancestors arrived in Halifax, Canada on April 30, 1897, and made their way to the Edna-Star Ukrainian Bloc by the fall of 1897. They came from Galicia. My Pawliuk and Tkachuk ancestors arrived in Alberta in 1898 from Bukovina and settled near Smoky Lake, with other Bukovinians.

In the book, “Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography of Pioneer Settlers of Alberta, 1891-1900, Vladimir J. Kaye, 1984” (and some other books), I was able to find entries about my two-family branches. I continue to seek out more books and look at the contents and index first, under Galicia, Bukovina, and my family surnames and villages. We are quite fortunate that there are many publications and videos/ films produced about the first wave of Ukrainians, coming to Alberta and Western Canada.

Edited by books:

The Ukrainian Canadians: A Study in Assimilation, Charles H. Young, Edited by Helen R.Y. Reid, 1931

Continuity and Change: The Cultural Life of Alberta’s First Ukrainians, Edited by Manoly R. Lupul, 1988
https://marketplace.ualberta.ca/products/continuity-and-change-the-cultural-life-of-albertas-first-ukrainians

A Heritage in Transition: Essays in the History of Ukrainians in Canada, Edited by Manoly R. Lupul, 1982

New Soil – Old Roots: The Ukrainian Experience in Canada, Edited by Jaroslav Rozumnyj, assisted by Oleh W. Gerus and Myhailo H. Marunchak, 1983

Canada’s Ukrainians: Negotiating an Identity, 1891 – 1991, Edited by Stella Hryniuk and Lubomyr Y. Luciuk, 1991

Ukraine and Ukrainians Throughout the World: A Demographic and Sociological Guide to the Homeland and Its Diaspora, Edited by Ann Lencyk Pawliczko, 1994

Re-imaging Ukrainian Canadians: History, Politics and Identify, Edited by Rhonda L. Hinther and Jim Mochoruk, 2011

The Extraordinary Lives of Ukrainian-Canadian Women: Oral Histories of the Twentieth Century, Edited by Iroida Wynnychyj, 2022

Authored books:

Men in Sheepskin Coats: A Study in Assimilation, Vera Lysenko, 1947

The Ukrainians in Canada, Ol’ha Woycenko, Second Revised Edition, 1968

Vilni Zemli (Free Lands): The Ukrainian Settlement of Alberta, J. G. MacGregor, 1969

Chronology of Ukrainian Canadian History, Andrew Gregorovich, 1973
https://archive.org/details/chronologyofukra0000andr

Greater Than Kings: Ukrainian Pioneer Settlement in Canada, Zonia Keywan and Martin Coles, 1977

No Streets of Gold: A Social History of Ukrainians in Alberta, Helen Potrebenko, 1977

Land of Pain, Land of Promise: First Person Accounts by Ukrainian Pioneers 1891-1914, translated by Harry Piniuta, 1978

Recollections About the Life of the First Ukrainian Settlers in Canada, William Czumer, 1981

Ukrainian Canadians: A History, Michael Marunchak, 1982

Salt and Braided Bread: Ukrainian Life in Canada, Jars Balan, 1984

Peasants in the Promised Land: Canada and the Ukrainians, 1891-1914, Jaroslav Petryshyn and Luba Dzubak, 1985

Creating a Landscape: A Geography of Ukrainians in Canada, Lubomyr K. Luciuk and Bohdan S. Kordan, 1989

The Ukrainian Bloc Settlement in East Central Alberta, 1890-1930: A History, Orest T. Martynowych, 1985, preprint 1990
https://archive.org/details/ukrainianblocset00mart

Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924, Orest T. Martynowych, 1991

Ukrainians in North America: An Illustrated History by Orest Subtelny, 1991

All of Baba’s Children, Myrna Kostash, Fourth Edition, 1992

The Land They Left Behind: Canada's Ukrainians in the Homeland, Stella Hryniuk and Jeffrey Picknicki, 1995

Community and Frontier: A Ukrainian Settlement in the Canadian Parkland, John C. Lehr, 2011

Community books:

Alberta in the 20th Century: A Journalistic History of the Province, Volume 1: The Great West Before 1900, edited by Ted Byfield, 1991

Alberta in the 20th Century: A Journalistic History of the Province, Volume 2: The Birth of the Province, 1900-1910, edited by Ted Byfield, 1992

Alberta in the 20th Century: Centennial Limited Edition, The Albertans: From Settlement to Super Province, 1905-2005, Author and Edited by Paul Stanway, 2005

Early Ukrainian Settlements in Canada, 1895-1900: Dr. Josef Oleskiw’s Role in the Settlement of the Canadian Northwest, Vladimir J. Kaye, 1964

Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography of Pioneer Settlers of Alberta, 1891-1900, Vladimir J. Kaye, 1984*
https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/14179/file.pdf

The Ukrainian Pioneers in Alberta, Canada, The Ukrainian Pioneers in Alberta, Canada, 1970 (Blue book)*

Ukrainians in Alberta, Ukrainian Pioneers Association of Alberta, 1975 (Red book)*

Ukrainians in Alberta, Ukrainian Pioneers Association of Alberta, 1981, (Green book)*

(*Regarding the above mentioned four books, the Ukrainian Pioneers Association of Alberta has scanned and put these books online at their website, 

https://ukrainianpioneers.wordpress.com/resources/publications/ )

Videos

130th anniversary of Ukrainian Immigration to Canada Story
Historian Radomir Bilash tells the Iwan Pylypow & Vasyl Ilyniak (Eleniak) story of their immigration from Nebyliv, Ukraine to the current day Lamont County in Alberta, Canada in 1891.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqGP5rrnHh0

Studying Ukrainian Communities in Canada: Where to Start?, by Jars Balan
This is the second in a series of presentations for the 2021 Summer Institute at the Kule Folklore Centre for the project: Trapped in the Archives of Repression. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdlDQZ2aDFc

Ukrainian Archival Collections in Canada: Preserving the Past, Building the Future
May 11 – 13, 2018. Organized by the Kule Folklore Centre (KuFC), the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), and the Friends of the Kule Folklore Centre, the three-day event brought together some 70 archivists, academics, and community members interested in the state of Ukrainian archives in Canada and the challenges they face in the future. Keynote is Myron Momryk and 7 panel sessions.
http://ukrainian-archives.artsrn.ualberta.ca/, conference schedule
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W64Q_Gg8hE&list=PLzaAluGOZByFxw0MPc15Ak5Fdc_KOSTtO

Steamship Agents During the First Wave of Immigration: Migrants and Historians Tell Different Stories, by Dr. Andriy Nahachewsk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICdxP65g_SI

Oldest film showing Ukrainians in Canada, 1921
This 23-minute film titled "The Ukrainians" is part of a series of early silent films in the Nation Building in Saskatchewan series. This video was posted on YouTube by Ed Monton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b9m9Tf7vSc

Ukrainian Winter Holidays, 1942
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecqK4wM9fyo

New Home In The West - Ukrainian pioneers/immigrants in Canada, 1943
Was posted on YouTube by Don Goodes. This early film is about the Ukrainian pioneers in central Canada. In 1943 when the film was released, Canada was in the throws of World War II.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMnqLR-y6bU

Ukrainians in Canada, 1946, Edmonton Festival
Has been posted on YouTube by Ed Monton. This is a rare film that highlights a festival of dance that took place in Edmonton in the summer of 1946. The first pioneer Wasyl Elyniak can be seen at 8:07.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxP0zBbiYoI

Kurelek/Курилик, 1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86hAzgPFUHw

Reflections of the Past, 1974, Ukrainian Pioneers, Manitoba, Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSpkE9VamX0

Teach Me to Dance, 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymh03NxLNAk

Wood Mountain Poems, 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxa1ediYuqM

Canada Vignettes: Easter Eggs (pysanky) / Великодні писанки, 1978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_rSMNRx74

Laughter in My Soul, 1983
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxJT01C4Xmk

Ukrainian Canadians - A Time to Remember, 1988
Ed Monton posted this video on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcGhp7W98d8

Memories of a Ukrainian boy growing up in Alberta in the 1920's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt55eu9C8Ak

A Place Called Shandro, Directed and produced by James E Motluk
An impressionistic documentary that chronicles the settlement of Alberta, Canada by Ukrainian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Narrated by the voices of actual pioneers and their descendants, their stories of struggle and celebration come to life through spectacular cinematography that captures the majesty and beauty of the prairie landscape they helped to tame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_zcKXEzncs Trailer
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/aplacecalledshandro to rent this film

Courtesy of CIUS Press, 1988,
Book Image, Public Domain

Courtesy of the University of Alberta,
1991, Book Image, Public Domain