In the latter part of the 1800's
the vast expanse of British North America was known as
Rupert's Land — home to the Metis and Native people. In 1870
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald negotiated the transfer of
Ruperts Land to Canada.
In 1896
the Federal Liberals swept to power on a promise to populate
the West. The government viewed this rich agricultural area as
the potential bread basket of the nation. The Honorable
Clifford Sifton, Minister of Interior, visited the Bucovina
area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and encouraged Bucovinians
to migrate to Canada.
The
government's prescription for immigration was "A stalwart
peasant in a sheepskin coat, born of the soil, whose
forefathers have been farmers for generations with a stout
wife and half a dozen children is good quality". This message
went out to Europe, Scandinavian countries and the Balkan
states. Our Romanian pioneers fit this description well, and
they were overwhelmed with the prospect of owning land. And so
they came.
Subsequently Government surveyors marked out townships down to
quarter sections of 160 acres. For a $10.00 registration fee
any adult male could apply for a free quarter of land. Title
would be granted after three years residence and improvements
The
first identified and recorded Romanians who came to Canada
settled in Saskatchewan from 1896 to 1900. The first settlers
to Alberta from Boian, Bucovina came in early 1898. They were
Ichim Yurko and Elie Ravliuk. They settled in an area in
Alberta that they named Boian after their home town in
Bucovina.
The
Boian area was rich in grass, lakes, creeks, and forests. All
these resources were wonderful for homes, fuel for fires, and
raising grain and livestock. Yurko and Ravliuk were very much
attracted to this new land for it was very similar to their
homeland in Bucovina.
In their
letters to relatives in Boian, Bucovina Yurko and Ravliuk
encouraged their former townsmen to join them in this
wonderful area later named Alberta. Subsequently some 30
Bukovian Romanian families organized themselves for the
journey to Canada. In the spring of 1899 two groups of
Romanian immigrants packed their belongings, travelled by cart
to the railhead, then by train to Hamburg, by boat to Halifax,
and finally by train to Edmonton. Then they hired teams of
horses and wagons and journeyed northeastward of Edmonton to
land where they made their new homes.
The
Romanian families who arrived from Boian, Bucovina, prior to
1900 and who formed the nucleus of the settlement of Boian,
Alberta were (alphabetically) the Cuchurean, Cozub, Feica,
Gorda, Harasym, Hauca, Hutzcal, Iftodi, Isac, Kelba, Moscoliuc,
Murariu, Mihalchan, Matei, Porozni, Petruniuk, Ravliuk,
Romanko, Surca, Soprovici, Svecla, Toma, Yurko and Zaharichuk
families. They were joined by other Romanian families and by
January, 1901 approximately 100 Romanian families were settled
in the Boian district. Smaller groups of Romanian settlers
settled in rural Alberta districts such as Ispas, Shepenge,
Midway, Malin, Hamlin, Desjarlais, Shalka, Borowich, Zhoda,
Soda Lake and Smoky Lake.
In the
spring of 1909 the Calgary Albertan reported about a party of
Romanian immigrants at a C.P.R. depot.
"None of
the party can speak English, but they were apparently enjoying
themselves and in the best spirits, when visited by an
Albertan reporter and a C.P.R. policeman. The new arrivals are
of exceptionally fine physique and altogether appear to be a
desirable class of immigrants." The emigration continued to
1921.
Many
Romanian emigrants who came to Canada as pre-school children
were unable to obtain even a basic education. By the time
schools were built in Canada they, especially the young
ladies, were grown and married, and had children of their own.
The
first shelters were very primitive, built of logs with sod
roofs and dirt floors and maybe a tiny window or two to let in
the light. The violent forces of nature brought bitter cold,
long and lonely winters, a situation more often to be endured
rather than enjoyed.
In 1918
when the Spanish flu epidemic swept the globe our pioneers
were helpless against the forces of this virus. Medical help
was far away, and there were no doctors, nurses or medicines.
They resorted to garlic, whiskey and what other folklore
medicine they could think of. Some became deathly ill and
others had multiple deaths of infant children. They buried
their dead and prayed.
These
difficult times were followed by prosperity and better times.
Mechanized equipment and tractors were becoming the new trend
in farming and the heavy work became easier. By 1929 they
faced another crisis The Depression Years. The prices of
agricultural products fell to an unbelievable low. A prime
marketable hog was sold for about $3.50 and a 60-bushel wagon
box of wheat fetched about the same amount. The people on the
land had enough food but it was extremely difficult to clothe
a large family with this kind of income. These people did not
concede defeat. They summoned their energies and survived.
Another period of contentment, prosperity, advancement of
farming technology followed.
In 1939
when World War II broke out the community of Boian and
surrounding districts experienced a mass exodus of adult
people. Some volunteered and others were called for military
duty. Others left for Eastern Canada to work in mines, and
factories that produced for the war effort. Some people from
each family were allowed to remain and farm the land.
As the
war escalated in Europe, and every news hour was bombarded
with war casualties, the parents listened and the mothers wept
silently and prayed for the safe return of their children. The
war came to an end and most returned safely but only for a
brief period to embrace their loved ones, and then they were
off to urban centers to take construction jobs, government and
professional jobs, to attend universities, to become teachers
and entrepreneurs. But their roots were always in Boian.
The
original pioneer immigrants became pensioners and senior
citizens and held their grandchildren on their knee, with
stories of the hard times and the good times.
One hundred years later if we travel to Boian and at the
crossroads of Boian Center we will see the museum, which is
developing and growing yearly. As we ascend the long hill we
approach St. Mary's Orthodox Church, steeped in history and
standing magnificently as a stately sentinel overlooking the
long valley below. We cannot help marveling at the genius of
our pioneers for choosing this site for the church. As we let
our eyes sweep the landscape - from the foot of Eagle Tail
Hill southward to the village of Hairy Hill we envision the
progress and the work of our pioneers. The Province declared
the church and graveyard a "classified Historic Site". We walk
southward through the cemetery which is neatly kept and
groomed by the loving hands of volunteers, we walk among the
crosses to find the eternal resting place of "The Stalwart
Peasant in a Sheepskin coat" and along side the Stout wife who
brought forth and nurtured a large family of children.
The
Romanian immigrants maintained many elements of their eastern
European folk culture. They cooperated and assisted one
another to build familiar institutions which lessened the
shock of their transition to the new land of Alberta. In 1921,
during the first Alberta census year, a detailed breakdown
listed a total of 2,017 people of Romanian descent in Alberta.
Since 1921 the Romanian heritage presence in Alberta has
multiplied manyfold. Some of the Romanian families who
migrated to Alberta prior to 1900 have multiplied into six
generations and some into seven generations. The time has come
for these many past, present and future generations to honor
and remember our ancestors who gave us historical, emotional,
linguistic, spiritual and economic brilliance as Canadians.
Vasile(Bill) Yurko
Steve Axani
