Researching Ukrainian Canadians in Manitoba

The first Ukrainian family came to Manitoba in 1891 and settled on a farm near Gretna, where many Mennonites who spoke the Ukrainian language already lived, according to an article published in 1951 by the Manitoba Historical Society in celebration of the 60th anniversary of their arrival. In 1892, a group of Ukrainians from Halychyna settled in the Cooks Creek area of Manitoba.

The first Ukrainian rural settlements were established in August of 1896 by immigrants from Galicia and Bukovyna at Stuartburn and Lake Dauphin. They travelled to Dominion City by train and the twenty or more miles to the Stuartburn district by wagon. New settlements of Ukrainian families were also established during this period in the Pleasant Home, Lake Dauphin, Strathclair, Shoal Lake, Sifton and Ethelbert districts. Source: Early Settlers in Manitoba – The Ukrainians by Anthony Garbolinsky.
https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A2379220/datastream/PDF/view

Many of the earliest immigrants didn’t actually call themselves Ukrainians, instead referring to themselves as Ruthenians.

Alex Kolebaba and family at Gardenton, 1917.
Courtesy of the Archives of Manitoba

“Manitoba, especially its capital city of Winnipeg, will always have great historical significance in the settlement of Ukrainians in Canada. This was the first stopping place (at the Immigration Hall) for groups of Ukrainian immigrants who dispersed from here to their final destinations, the homesteads. In 1891, the year of the first wave of settlement, there were 4,833,000 souls in Canada and 152,506 in Manitoba.” Source: Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Manitoba Provincial Council.

Manitoba History: Welcoming Immigrants at the Gateway to Canada’s West: Immigration Halls in Winnipeg, 1872-1975 by Robert Veneberg, Manitoba Historical Society Archives, Winnipeg, 2011 https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/65/immigrationhalls.shtml

Manitoba History: “Canadians and Ukrainians Inseparably”: Recent Writing on the History of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada by Peter Melnycky, Manitoba Historical Society Archives, 1992 https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/24/ukrainians.shtml

Ukrainian Settlements in Manitoba
Article taken from Ukrainian Catholic Churches of Winnipeg Archeparchy, History of Ukrainian Catholic Churches in Canada, Volume 4 by Anna Maria Kowcz-Baran, Saskatoon, 1991.
https://www.archeparchy.ca/wcm-docs/docs/Ukrainian_Settlements_in_Manitoba.pdf

Manitoba Vital Statistics Branch, Province of Manitoba
https://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/genealogy.html

Archives of Manitoba, Province of Manitoba
https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/

The Manitoba Genealogical Society, Inc.
https://mbgenealogy.com/

Local History and Genealogy Resources Information Guide – Winnipeg Public Library
https://guides.wpl.winnipeg.ca/localhistory

East European Genealogical Society
Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba
https://eegsociety.org/

Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Manitoba Provincial Council
https://uccmanitoba.ca/

Manitoba, CanGenealogy
https://www.cangenealogy.com/manitoba.html

Manitoba, Canada Genealogy – FamilySearch
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Manitoba,_Canada_Genealogy

Manitoba GenWeb Project
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~canmb/index.htm

Manitoba Genealogy (private group)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1636186383286595

Manitoba History: A Public Discussion Forum of the MHS (private group)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/manitobahistory

Manitoba History (private group)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1036509169818642/

Winnipeg and Manitoba history (public group)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/971227750235526/

Manitoba’s Abandoned History (private group)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/739382209487285/

Books:

Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography: Pioneer Settlers of Manitoba, 1891-1900, Vladimir J. Kaye, Ukrainian Canadian Research Foundation, 1975

Pioneer Profiles: Ukrainian Settlers in Manitoba, Michael Ewanchuk, Winnipeg, 1981

Hardships and Progress of Ukrainian Pioneers: Memoirs from Stuartburn Colony and Other Points, Peter Humeniuk, Winnipeg, 1977
A Guide to the Study of Manitoba Local History, Gerald Friesen and Barry Potyondi, Winnipeg, 1981

Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide, Sherry Irvine and Dave Obee, Ancestry Publishing, 2007. Chapter 18: Manitoba

Ukrainian settlers on their farm near Stuartburn, Manitoba,
early 1900’s, Courtesy of Olga Drozd on Pinterest.ca