Rama remembers Holodomor and celebrates 125th anniversary of Ukrainian Canadians
A capacity crowd gathered at St. Anthony’s Parish Hall in Rama to not only take part in commemorating a horrible Ukrainian genocide, but also to celebrate the anniversary of the immigration of Ukrainians to Canada.
The Rama Golden Jets hosted the Holodomor Commemoration and 125th Anniversary of Ukrainian Canadians on November 19. The Golden Jets have been commemorating Holodomor every third Saturday in November since 2010, or the year when Saskatchewan first recognized Holodomor, but this year, they combined it with a celebration.
“It is sad that it took 80 years for people in Canada to recognize this horrific genocide,” said Mary Kowalyshyn, one of the organizers of the event, which began with the singing of O Canada as well as the national anthem of Ukraine before presentations were made by guest speakers.
Oksana Burback, along with her mother, Catherine Zanevich of Yorkton and formerly of Ukraine, dwelled on the hardships during the Holodomor in Ukraine. Burback, who spent her summer vacations with her grandparents, described what her family told her of what took place during the time of Joseph Stalin.
“It is difficult to comprehend the cruelty that these people experienced: their homes ransacked, depriving them of any food, their fear of going to jail for singing Christmas carols and being beaten if they opposed any of the wishes of Joseph Stalin,” said Kowalyshyn.
Burback and Zanevich described how Ukrainians were forced to eat berries, bark and whatever else they could find in nature in order to survive. The pair then closed with a Holodomor song where a father is separated from his children and lost somewhere in Siberia. The song brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience, according to Kowalyshyn.
Marcella Shewchuk introduced the next guest speaker, Rev. Methodius Kushko of Yorkton. He gave a history of Ukraine dating back to the time of the Tartans, and also detailed his recent trip to the Ukraine where he toured the Holodomor Museum in Kiev. Kushko said he cried when he saw all the horrific, graphic pictures and when he saw the statue of the “Hungry Girl,” a statue of a girl holding a handful of wheat, similar to the recently erected statue at the Legislature in Regina.
“When will Ukraine be free?” Kushko asked. He closed with a brief biography of Joseph Stalin.
Rama Mayor Darrell Dutchak had the honour of introducing Cathay Wagantall, the Yorkton-Melville MP. He gave a brief biography of her, surprising many who had no knowledge that at one time she and her husband had a business in Springside.
“We were like neighbours,” Dutchak said.
Cathay Wagantall began by describing her childhood and stating that her mother was Ukrainian. She said that she has tried to attend many of these types of functions, particularly this year with it being the 125th Anniversary of Ukrainian Canadians. She recently attended the 75th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in Regina, where she met Andriy Shevchenko, the ambassador of Ukraine. She further stated that Canada has a close relationship with Ukraine.
Wagantall said she felt very honoured to be present at this event in Rama because “it just feels good to be home.”
Burback and Zanevich partook in the ceremonial lighting of the Holodomor candle, and to symbolize the hunger faced by Ukrainians, everyone had a small piece of dry bread with a little bit of water.
Though the Holodomor commemoration was over, the anniversary celebration was just beginning.
Kushko said a dinner prayer as kutia (or wheat soup) was served to each table, then all proceeded to the banquet hall for a Ukrainian meal prepared by women of St. Anthony's Parish.
During the serving of dessert, Glen Tymiak, the national past president of the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood of Canada, expressed his gratitude for the event. He gave information on the Holodomor Tour Bus which has been travelling throughout Canada and encouraged everyone to see it.
Mary Kowalyshyn, the emcee of the event, thanked the sponsors for the event and acknowledged those who displayed artwork for the event. John Prokop of Yorkton built church which was a model of the real Ukrainian Church in Tadmore, Sylvia Myall of Foam Lake prepared an entire display of history since 1891 along with a beautifully dressed Ukrainian doll, Eddie Diakow of Rama brought two violins which he handcrafted and Elsie Thoms of Humboldt brought numerous delicately hand-painted Ukrainian Easter eggs of varying sizes, including ostrich eggs. Lloyd and Rose Virag of Lebret also had their book, Reflections of Ukraine, available for purchase. The book was written to celebrate the 125 years of Ukrainians and portrayed colour photos of all the Ukrainian churches in the countryside of Saskatchewan.
The ceremonial cutting of the 125th anniversary cake was by Oksana Burback and Cathay Wagantall.
The Vesna Ukrainian Dancers of Invermay entertained the crowd followed by a performance by The Zayshleys. Many enjoyed Randy Zayshley's Ukrainian singing, according to Kowalyshyn.
Holodomor, or “death by hunger” in Ukrainian, refers to the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933, according to information from the Holodomor Research and Education Consortorium. Joseph Stalin intimidated, arrested and executed thousands of intellectuals, church leaders, and Communist Party supporters; confiscated farmland and forced farmers to work on government owned farms, and set high quotas of grain for Ukrainian villages to provide to the Soviet Union, which resulted in a man-made famine for the people of Ukraine. The genocide was denied to have happened for decades, but Canadians are now commemorating the event across the country.
Schayla Kirschman
