Ukrainian Canadian conference "rocks" Edmonton (05/26/02)

Ukrainian Canadian conference "rocks" Edmonton

by Andrij Makuch

EDMONTON - A recent gathering at the University of Alberta looked at the topic of "Ukrainians in Canada from the Great War to the Cold War." Titled "A Rock and a Hard Place," the conference on April 11-13 brought together Ukrainian Canadian specialists and enthusiasts to hear presentations on matters ranging from a history of the hemp seed oil press in east central Alberta to a treatment of the Vasile Avramenko dance repertoire within the "paradigm of national art."

The conference was organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Program (UCP) of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS). Financial support was provided by the University of Alberta and the Taras Shevchenko Foundation. The April date was chosen by the conference organizers so that it would coincide with the 25th anniversary banquet of the CIUS and, thus, highlight the institute's important role in the development of Ukrainian-Canadian studies over the last quarter-century.

The event was the largest gathering of its type since the "Cross-Stitching the Borders" conference, which was held in late November 1998 in Toronto. As such, it provided a rare opportunity for people in the field to gather en masse in one place. Conference participants were quite pleased with the quality of the papers overall, and they were keen to see another academic conference on a Ukrainian Canadian theme organized in the foreseeable future.

The conference also provided an opportunity for representatives of the CIUS-UCP, the Ukrainian Resource and Development Center at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, the Canadian Center for Ukrainian Culture and Ethnology (CCUCE) at the University of Alberta, the Prairie Center for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage (PCUH) in Saskatoon, the Center for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba, and the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies get together before the conference to look at ways in which to best cooperate in the development of Ukrainian Canadian studies. The information-sharing and networking session was productive, and several modest, but wholly realizable, initiatives were agreed upon.

The conference officially opened on Thursday with a wine and cheese reception at the university's Faculty Club. The conviviality of the evening was enhanced with the Edmonton launch of two recent works on Ukrainian Canadian themes: Sonia Mycak's "Canuke Literature: Critical Essays on Canadian Ukrainian Writing" and Bohdan Kordan's "Canada and the Ukrainian Question, 1939-1945: A Study of Statecraft."

Dr. Mycak, who came from Australia for the conference, related how over time and through several visits to the Great White North, she had become familiar with and appreciative of the Ukrainian Canadian experience. Dr. Kordan coyly avoided going into detail about the contents of his latest book, which was published by McGill-Queen's University Press, and instead encouraged those in attendance to also have a look at the various PCUH publications which were available for purchase.

The academic portion of the conference started on Friday morning with a session on "Pivotal Personalities." The Rev. Dr. Myroslav Tataryn (University of Saskatchewan) examined the tribulations of the socially and nationally conscious Ukrainian Catholic clergyman Nicholas Shumsky as he struggled with a succession of troubled and divided parishes; Myron Momryk (National Archives of Canada) spoke about the formative years of Mike Starr, the first Canadian of Ukrainian origin to hold a federal Cabinet position in the immigrant mileau of south-side Oshawa, Ontario; and Drs. Oleh Gerus and Denis Hlynka (both from the University of Manitoba) provided a lively multi-media presentation about the critical role played by politician Anthony Hlynka in publicizing Ukrainian issues both during and after the second world war.

The morning session concluded with papers by Rhonda Hinther (McMaster University) about the role and activities of children in the politically charged Ukraininan Labor-Farmer Temple Association and Andrij Makuch (CIUS, Toronto) regarding attempts to establish non-Communist Ukrainian left-wing organizations in Canada during the interwar period, focusing particularly on Mykyta Mandryka and Danylo Lobay.

The afternoon began with a session devoted to the "Evolution of Ukrainian Canadian Identity." Alexander Makar (CCUCE) related his findings from a content analysis of Ukrainian Canadian almanacs; Dr. Frances Swyripa (University of Alberta) looked at the relationship of ethnicity to a number of sacred spaces in the Canadian Prairies; and Dr. Sonia Mycak (University of Sydney, Australia) spoke about Anna Kuryliw Bychinsky's English-language prose. It continued with an examination of Ukrainian Canadian literature. Jean Kowbel (University of Manitoba) looked at the literary achievements of Paul Crath [Pavlo Krat], while Valerii Polkovsky (University of Alberta) talked about questions of ethnicity and thematic diversity in the context of interwar era immigrant writing.

The afternoon sessions ended with a joint presentation by former agricultural department officials Joe Gurba and Roman Fodchuk on the history and impact of the Ukrainian agrologists working in rural east central Alberta. Their talk was illustrated with a sampling from the latter's extensive slide collection of Ukrainian life in the Vegreville Bloc Settlement in the 1950s and 1960s.

The evening was dedicated to laughter and satire, as the Lovers of Literature and Drama Club of Edmonton's Ukrainian National Federation Hall put on a special performance which included selections from the Ukrainian Canadian theatre repertoire of the 1920s and 1930s. Conference participants and the Edmonton Ukrainian community had the rare opportunity to see "Vuiko Shtif" and other characters return to the stage for the first time in decades.

Saturday's program began with a grab-bag of presentations: Roman Fodchuk (Cochrane) on the hemp seed oil press in East Central Alberta, Brian Cherwick (CCUCE) on Ukrainian music in the interwar era, and Uliana Holowach-Amiot (Calgary) on the early years of the Canadian Ukrainian Youth Association (SUMK).

The morning sessions continued with two examinations of Illia Kiriak - a comparison of Laura Salverson's "Viking Heart" with "Syny Zemli" by Mykola Soroka (University of Alberta) and a sketch of his life and community work by Jars Balan (CIUS, Edmonton).

The afternoon sessions started with a look by Bohdan Nebesio (Neporany Fellow, University of Alberta) at the National Film Board of Canada's production and distribution activities among Ukrainian Canadians in the early 1940s, followed by two fascinating examinations of Vasile Avramenko: Dr. Andriy Nahachewsky on how the Avramenko dance ouevre can be viewed as "national art" and Orest Martynowych (Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, University of Manitoba) on Avramenko's activities in Canada to approximately 1940.

The conference program concluded with a panel discussion (involving Andrij Makuch, Orest Martynowych, Myron Momryk and Andriy Nahachewsky) on the research that has been done on Ukrainian Canadian life in the interwar era and possible directions for future endeavors in this area. The session was chaired by a former director of the CIUS, Prof. Manoly Lupul, who used the occasion to underscore the importance of the Canadian dimension of the CIUS's activity. One of the main points raised in discussion was the need for more social history research on Ukrainians in Canada, and the suggestion was made that the UCP consider "Budni i Sviata" (Weekdays and Holidays) as a theme for another conference.

That evening most conference participants joined the Edmonton community in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the CIUS at a banquet held at the university's Faculty Club. Among the highlights of the evening were appreciations for several key figures in the institute's development - Bohdan Bociurkiw, Laurence Décore, George S.N. Luckyj and Ivan L. Rudnytsky - and recognitions of the central role in the institute's establishment and development played by Peter Savaryn and Dr. Lupul.

Andrij Makuch is research coordinator, Ukrainian Canadian Program, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.

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