Community profile: Ukrainians thrive in Northwest Territories (04/06/97)

Community profile: Ukrainians thrive in Northwest Territories

by Yuriy Diakunchak

YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories - When one thinks of Canadian Ukrainian communities, Edmonton, Winnipeg or Toronto's Bloor West Village are usually the first to pop into mind. Not many people would think of mentioning Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories as a thriving center of Ukrainian life. Canada's Ukrainians are proud of their past role in opening up the Canadian West; here in the far north they are the modern-day counterparts of those early pioneers. Not only are the new pioneers playing an important role in harnessing Canada's vast northern frontier, they are also pushing the envelope of awareness of Ukraine and things Ukrainian.

The Ukrainians of Yellowknife have made Ukrainian culture and information about Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada accessible to their local community. The Yellowknife Ukrainian Association (YUA), set up in 1985 and numbering around 30 paid members, has been busy organizing Ukrainian dance, food and art for the "benefit, edification and enjoyment of all the residents of the city," according to Marvin Marykuca, the association's past-president.

Recently, the association donated a set of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine to the Yellowknife Public Library.

The presentation of the five-volume encyclopedia was done in conjunction with an exhibit from the Oseredok Gallery of Winnipeg. The association sponsored the exhibit on early Ukrainian pioneer life, titled "Harvest of Dreams," which ran for three months in public gallery space.

"The purchase of the encyclopedia, and its presentation to our city library is indeed something that we are pleased to have done for our community," said Mr. Marykuca. The association plans to purchase two more sets of the encyclopedia in order to donate them to the two local high schools in Yellowknife.

Though Yellowknifers now have access to a great deal on Ukraine and Ukrainians through their public library, the association has been exposing them to Ukrainian life on other levels as well. The annual "Malanka," or New Year's dance, which has become a highly popular social event in Yellowknife according to Mr. Marykuca, is a good example.

"The Malanka is a big item. We have people who have no Ukrainian heritage whatsoever coming. They enjoy the performance, they like the food, the music," said Mr. Marykuca, who moved to Yellowknife from Winnipeg in 1977.

The association also sets up a pyrohy booth during Yellowknife's Raven Mad Daze Festival, which is held during the summer solstice. "The pyrohy and kovbasa go like wildfire. We can never keep up. It's a very popular thing," Mr. Marykuca noted.

The YUA has also seen success over the years with its float in the Canada Day parade. "About three or four years running we won first place in each category," Mr. Marykuca pointed out. The group has decided to take a break from the parade for a while to give others a chance to win the honors.

The big project facing the YUA right now is revitalizing its dance group, The Aurora Ukrainian Dancers. The dance program started in 1978, but experienced a four-year hiatus until being revived last year. At its zenith, Aurora performed before the entire world on the Northwest Territories stage at EXPO '86 in Vancouver. Now the group has approximately 30 students and is planning to add a section for older dancers in their 20s.

"With the dance group we have tapped into the people who have a second-generation ancestry in the Ukrainian community, who want their children to know a little bit about the culture," said association president Kathleen Michalchuk.

Though the organization's main focus is to promote cultural activities in Yellowknife, the membership has also supported initiatives outside of the cultural field. One of these is a scholarship program for students entering post-secondary institutions. Another initiative involved support for the humanitarian work of Dr. Claire Moisey, a former Yellowknifer who has been working with children suffering from the effects of Chornobyl.

The organization itself is "pretty low-key," according to Ms. Michalchuk. As past-president Mr. Marykuca put it, "Most of us in the organization have had fun. We've done quite a few things for the community, and we feel good about it because it's something we started. We don't have a major agenda, we just do the things that have been successful for us and the things the community expects from us, like the Malanka."

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