Local Ukranians celebrate week of events
Saskatchewan’s close ties to Ukrainian culture will be on full display this week.
A number of events will be taking place in Regina, including a stop of the Holodomor National Awareness Tour and meetings of the Congress of Canadian Ukrainians.
“There is such a strong Ukrainian presence and heritage in Saskatchewan,” says Ivanna Knott, one of the people who helped organize some of the events taking place this week. “Everyone here is extremely proud to be Ukrainian.”
This year marks 125 years since Ukrainian immigration to Canada began. Knott said that long connection is one reason why the culture continues to be celebrated with such passion in Saskatchewan.
“That’s a strong line of heritage and lineage,” she said. “It’s the main backbone to all the Ukrainian groups.”
Knott’s close connection to Ukrainian culture comes in part from her mother, Oksanna Zwarych.
Zwarych also played a role in the upcoming events. While much of the week’s events will be about celebrating culture, there are serious discussions to be had as well.
She said a main talking point for much of the week will be the turmoil that is happening in Ukraine. For more than two years there have been armed conflicts in the country.
“The war is still going on,” said Zwarych.” We want people to be aware of what’s going on, and all the positive things that are going on in our country and culture.”
Many Ukrainians continue to immigrate to Canada today. Knott said that, even for those who don’t speak the language, there are ways to communicate.
“Even if you don’t speak the language, you can communicate through dance and the customs of Ukrainians,” she said.
Delegates, including officials from Ukraine’s government, will be in the city; and Ukrainian Canadians from across the country will be attending the events.
There are a number of seminars taking place, including one on how to give voices to Canadian-Ukrainian communities and another on Ukrainian education.
Beyond the educational there will, of course, also be a number of performances and plenty of food for those attending.
Roma Dzerowicz will be going into four Regina schools, and stopping in many other places, to help share the history of the Holdomor, a famine in the 1930s that left millions of Ukrainians dead.
She said it’s important to make sure such a tragic history is not forgotten.
“Without history, there wouldn’t be a culture,” she said. “The history, in turn, forms the culture.”
Dzerowicz’s exhibit is a travelling bus exhibit that acts as a mobile classroom. It has an educational theatre and offers interactive lessons as well as short documentaries to help people understand the famine.
There is such a strong Ukrainian presence and heritage in Saskatchewan. Everyone here is extremely proud to be Ukrainian.