Larry A. Ewashen, Editor - RR #1, Site 2, C-B4, Castlegar, BC V1N 3H7 - telfax 250 365-5327

email cds@kootcom.kootenay.net

Volume 6, No. 2 Peter's Peace Day June 2000

PETER'S PEACE DAY AT THE DOUKHOBOR VILLAGE MUSEUM


I arrived at the Doukhobor Village in 1994, having been invited by Peter Oglow to help in increasing the profile of the Museum, and thus, its number of visitors. Sorely mourned and missed, the late Paul Streliaev was then President of the museum board. To alleviate the existing financial shortages we made a push to promote the sale of life memberships Not too long after, when John Fostey had become President, I learned about the Federal/Provincial Initiatives grant and made an application for funding, and as a result we were able to dig a well and build a barn and market building, effectively completing the infrastructure of the museum. Not long after, while Elmer Verigin was president, a disagreement with the Regional District around the issue of taxes and zoning resulted in the City of Castlegar taking control of the museum property. Though things did not change a great deal, I was able to access help from the Human Resources Works Program making it possible to give the the village a much needed face lift, primarily repairs and painting.


By this time, our facility had become known for various high profile activities: David Lamb, BC Lieutenant Governor paid us an official visit, as did Premier Harcourt followed by the Governor General of Canada, Romeo LaBlanc, then the new Lieutenant Governor of BC, G. Gardom. We also encouraged and played host to many important Doukhobor events throughout both Centennials and received many international visitors such as Volodya Tolstoy and two different Russian Ambassadors. Our hard work and initiatives were paying off.


In 1999, we were funded for the Heritage Rug Display by the BC Heritage Trust. Christine Faminoff, now sadly missed, and I worked together and our attendance rose steadily throughout these years. The CCUB Fund also assisted us consistently as general improvements continued.


With the year 2000, we greet the new millennium with a new board with Jack Polonicoff as President, much optimism and several good, feasible projects. We still have serious financial problems. We are not supported financially by the City as most other city programs are. Our admission fees are modest, and they are our primary source of income. Even with improving attendance, this revenue source is not sufficient to provide suitable operating expenses for a first class museum. We can also use volunteer help.


Our communities have been generous to the fund-raisng effort of Yasnaya Polyana Bakery and especially the Whatshan Retreat. Now it is time to focus our energies closer to home in aid of the Doukhobor Village Museum; our major face to the country of Doukhobor Culture and accomplishment.
We take great pleasure in inviting you to attend Peter's Peace Day on June 25th and the special talent program on Saturday afternoon, June 24, from 3:00 to 5:00. On the 25th we are planning to have a potluck lunch/picnic so come and enjoy yourself with old friends and new. If you take your visit as an opportunity to make a donation toward the Museum your contribution will be greatly appreciated. You could play a key role in insuring that this wonderful village, the only such Doukhobor showcase in the world, will continue to be a destination that you will be proud to attend and bring your friends to in years to come. lae, ed.


Приглашаем всех братьев и сестер на праздник Петров День -- День Мира ! 25-ое Июня, 2000 г. в 10 часов утра в Духоборческом Селе Музее Обед – общий стол в складщину Вдохновительная програма, общее пение, представления, и. т. д.

In every object that exists there is a presence of God, since God is life, and what exists, also lives. - The Sophists strive in vain to re-create God, calling Him Nature. - Nature is God too. Peter V. Verigin

------------------------

MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER 2000 YOUTH FESTIVAL


Дорогие братья и сестры, Brothers and Sisters, Молодежь, Youth, Дорогие гости , Dear Guests, Иван Иванович, a very, very, special greeting to you. Last night Laura said that you were coming here today, she also said, that when you were admitted to hospital in Vancouver, the doctors said, that you were truly Blessed to have survived your accident without paralysis, we all here too are Blessed to have you in our midst again.


On behalf of the Canadian Doukhobor Society, I bring you Greetings and Congratulations. The theme of "Moving Forward Together" was most appropriate for this years' Festival. Last year, in the celebration of our 1999 Centennial, we all preached Unity, Unity, Unity, the seeds had been planted, and now Unity, and Moving Forward Together, has sprouted, and is growing all over the place. The Krestova Mother's Day Celebration was an extra ordinary affair, and the success of this Festival has been so heart warming.


At this time, I have to give Praise to the USCC organization, and the Union Of Youth. Every time I open a new issue of the ISKRA, and see the happenings that are happening, and the issues that you are involved in, it is SO commendable! Your involvement and support of the Yasnaya Polyana Project, your Doukhobor Spiritual Meetings, the Clothing Drive for Russian Orphanages, the Trade Delegation to Germany, the Chernobyl Children, and now the Training Centre, and there is more, - lots more.


I also have to comment about how happy I am about the Spirit of Co-operation and Unity that is on going here in the East and West Kootenays between all the different members of our Doukhobor Family. In this New Millennium we are living up to the true Spirit of Doukhoborism, "Where There Is Love There is God". The on going hugs, and good wishes, choke me up BIG TIME, one can actually SEE and FEEL the good vibes. I haven't left a function without my eyes being moist.


Whether or not this is due to my progressive health problem, I don't know. As I grow older, my bladder seems to be moving closer and closer to my eyes!
And now, on behalf of The Canadian Doukhobor Society, I invite you all, to Celebrate Petrov Dien with us at the Doukhobor Village Museum. It is a 2 day affair, Saturday June 24th we are having a Workshop 2000 , from 10.00 AM to 3.00 PM, this Workshop will be composed of Youth from all the different factions seeking their ideas as to the relevancy of Doukhoborism in today's world, and what path Doukhoborism should follow, after 3.00 we will have light entertainment, instrumentation, solos, duets, and stuff like that. On Sunday the regular Petrov Dien Celebration will take place. Lunch will be Pot Luck. Please join us!


Спасибо за внимание. Thank you for your attention. Alex Ewashen, President, CDS



PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE


In searching for an important document a few days ago, I came across a copy of a letter I wrote to Iskra in October, 1997, announcing my nomination as President of the Canadian Doukhobor Society. In quoting my words, I said, "I am gong to have two prime objectives during my term in office. I am going to try, with all my heart to create a climate of Unity and Harmony among our different Doukhobor factions". The other objective was the Yasnaya Polyana Project. Throughout 1999 in the celebration of our Centennial, I was like a broken record at every function, I would preach: ‘Unity, Unity, Unity!'


At this year's Day of Love welcome, I said, "The Doukhobor people are a unique people; we are born with our Opinions, Our Dedications, Our Allegiances, and By God, Come Hell or High Water, We're Not Going To Change Them! Our history has proven that! So let us forget about changing ourselves. Let us stop saying, "Come to my house, No, you come to my house". Let us develop our skills to Agree To Disagree, In A Friendly Brotherly And Sisterly Fashion, and work together, And play together, to further preserve, and expand our Beautiful Heritage.


Beautiful things have been happening within our Doukhobor Family since those days. On March 10th there was a small informal meeting held at the Brilliant Cultural Centre with USCC, CDS, and Krestova members, to discuss Doukhobor Unity. You will all remember the many words expressed by all about Unity, Unity, Unity, throughout our 1999 Celebrations. These seeds of Unity were sprouted at the Whatshan Dedication Celebration when the Krestova and USCC Men's Choirs made their debut on stage.


On Wednesday, April 12th, the Yasnaya Polyana Project Core Committee traveled to Krestova to make a presentation, seeking the Community's support. Our reception was so positive, so warm, that I could hardly sleep that night, I was so elated with the whole experience. Truly, our Prayers for Unity are being answered. I would like to end these words with the Special Prayer I composed for the Salmo Day of Love Celebration . . .


THE PRAYER

~
Our God Be Praised.
Lord, we give thanks to you for bringing us together here today.
Thank you for making us a part of each
other's lives.


We ask you to Bless our Families, and those near and dear to us, with good Health, Happiness, and Good Fortune.
And Lord we ask you to give us guidance and insight in leading our daily lives. Grant us the Wisdom to see ourselves as we really are, and not as we think we are.


Bless us with Compassion and Tolerance, and the Understanding of our families, our friends, and those in the Community in which we live.
Bless us with the Spirit of Generosity, instil in us the Spirit of Being My Brother's Keeper, so we may share our Good Fortune, and Wealth, to help othersless fortunate than ourselves.


For truly we who live in this Blessed Country, are truly Blessed .
Those whom we may have slighted, or hurt, in any way, or whom we THINK, we may have slighted, or hurt, let us ask of them Forgiveness.
All this we ask of Thee Dear Lord, Grant us these Wishes, so we may truly, and Passionately, begin to Heal the differences in our Beautiful Doukhobor
Family, for we Truly are One People.
Our God Be Praised
Alex Ewashen, President, CDS

Here was a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another simple village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of his divine manhood. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through a mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying - and that was his coat. When he was dead he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today he is the centrepiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as that one solitary life. Author unknown



DOUKHOBOR DIALOGUE


A Personal Tribute to a Doukhobor Pioneer
Our friend William N. Papove ("Bill") has just passed away on April 13th in a Vancouver hospital. We lost a remarkable man who contributed to the Doukhobor society with his practical advice and work. As a land surveyor-engineer he mapped the boundaries of the western Canadian provinces and territories and excelled in the world as one of the founders of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) when he introduced a new humanitarian approach to social and economic development in South East Asia.


Bill was born in 1913 to one of the Russian Doukhobor migrants near Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan. In his youth he organized Russian drama nights, and otherwise sought to preserve the best of his Slavic culture. He was one of the first Doukhobors to graduate from the University of Saskatchewan where he obtained his Civil Engineering Degree in the 1930s; this led him to become one of the outstanding Canadian land professionals and a pioneer consultant abroad. Bill treated people as equals regardless of whether they were native, local, or international; as a result the colonial experience of dealing with people from the top down was transformed towards a new, more humane, democratic approach in participatory development.


His professional skills and respect are well known. When the British Columbia government was preparing to sell back the community land that Doukhobors had unjustly lost during the 1930s, Bill Papove was commissioned to survey all the Doukhobor lands for the Land Settlement Board. With his open heart, he served his brother and sister Doukhobors as Chairman for two years (1957-1958) of the Union of Doukhobors of Canada and with Peter S. Faminow (Secretary of UDC) dared to comment on the mistreatment of zealot children behind a high wire fence in New Denver, British Columbia.


In 1999, Bill financed Volume I of the History of the Doukhobors in V.D. Bonch-Bruevich's Archives (1886-1950s), and showed once more his true generosity as a man with close roots to the soil, with deep ties to the nonviolent movement and one world, and with a keen desire to probe the frontiers of knowledge so as to help improve society.
Some of us lost not only a friend, but a mentor. In the 1950s he encouraged me to study the Doukhobor movement by inviting me to stay at his residence in Vancouver while I began my esearch. Out of that effort evolved my three-volume work-in-progress manuscript of the Doukhobors - which served as the bedrock of future studies.


Through the years, our friendship deepened through visits, telephone calls and consultations, and a tour of our Motherland. I learned of his successes and hardships in his life. When he changed his first job with Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company in Trail, B.C., where he worked for 12 years, the engineering section closed for a half day to celebrate and say farewell to Bill. During this period in the 1940s, I learned that Bill lost 85% of his lungs when he continued to work during a bout of pneumonia - for which he later paid a price to his dying days. Yet Bill was not one to complain. My best memories of him is one who, with a smile, like Tolstoy and Gandhi, was always ready to think about the Big Issues of the day and to help others.
For many years I have encouraged Bill to write his memoirs. Unfortunately, he never did, although he had good intentions. One day, I would like to write a book on his rich heritage which he passed on to us in the form of interviews, notes, and countless conversations. With his life Bill Papove deserves the status of one of the Doukhobor Pioneers in Canada during the 20th century.


by Koozma J. Tarasoff and Kristina Kristova, Ottawa, Ontario April 14

It was with regret that I just lately heard of the passing of William N. Papove on April 13th in Vancouver, a Doukhobor Pioneer of great stature. William was a world renowned surveyor-engineer who surveyed the western provinces and territories, and the Doukhobor lands when they were going to be offered for sale to the Doukhobors by the Province of British Columbia.


I never had the honor of meeting "Bill", but I corresponded with him not too long ago. Bill was the Chairman of the Union of Doukhobors of Canada in 1957 and 1958. In September 1999, I asked him for his comments about the "iffy" future of the CDS. His words were, "However, being dedicated to the nobler aspects of our humanity, we carried on, and so must you, in a world so motivated by the use of naked force! In this endeavor, it is only human to get temporarily tired, and spent, but to proceed towards our worthy goal within a stable and gentle environment". He was not out there in the forefront "pushing Doukhoborism", but he was considerate and generous to the cause. In my last correspondence with him, he sent us $100.00 to the CDS, and $200.00 to the Yasnaya Polyana Project.
We are indeed fortunate to have had a man of "Bill's" stature in our midst. Alex Ewashen ______________

DOUKHOBOR DOINGS!


WORKSHOP APPROACHES - Doukhobors In Today's World - Workshop June 24/2000


Have you ever thought: What is Doukhoborism anyway? Is it really any different than other peace groups? Will Doukhoborism survive as a meaningful, identifiable movement?


A group of interested, caring individuals are going to wrestle with these, and other fundamental questions about Doukhoborism June 24th, as a prelude to Petrov Dien.


Participants of last years' forum 'The Next Hundred Years' are all invited to this workshop, as well as several other people expressing interest in helping shape the future of Doukhoborism.


Thirty of us will congregate at the Doukhobor Village Museum Restaurant from 10:00 to 3:00, on Saturday, June 24th.


The results of this workshop will be published and made available to all those interested.


Bob Ewashen, Workshop Coordinator

ORAL CULTURE -

Are there parallels between the following study, and our highly valued oral culture as embodied in the psalms and hymns?


Study of Ga music of the Ga people of Ghana -


Like all Ga religious songs, they are pleasant and full of life to hear but extremely disappointing when the words are written down, for they are mostly proverbs, memorable sayings of dead and gone people and references to obscure incidents in history, only rarely can the singers themselves give any explanation of them . . . [One group sang] a long polyglot song which began in archaic Ga and tailed off into a mixture of extinct dialogues and obscure proverbs . . .
Field [1937:16]

Are You [Still] With Us?


Too many members still have not paid their membership fees for 2000. Please remit your dues as soon as possible to: George Marken, RR1 S27 C4
South Slocan BC V0G 2G0


SEEDS OF DIVERSITY -

Ever since the multi-nationals have merged their pesticide-fertilizer business with the sale of seeds that need them, concerned growers have launched a search for traditional seeds that have survived the generations without benefit of noxious chemicals. One such group is Earth Matters in Nelson @ 352-2140. Another is Seeds of Diversity Canada, Box 36, Station Q, Toronto, ON M4T 2L7. If you would like to join this movement, or have heritage seeds to describe and share, get in touch with them. They will be pleased to hear from you.


MOTHERS' DAY 2000


Many nice things happened on Mother's Day - there was a splendid, harmonious turn out and lunch in Krestova - many others joined the Mother's Day Walk for Peace in Osoyoos. Such events keep this day for becoming just another commercial exploitation to sell over priced Hallmark cards ['Hallmark Holiday'] and over priced floral bouquets. Then there are their partners in exploitation, the restauranteurs, as if 'mom' was not the best cook in the world.


In the early 17 century, young people working away from home were given the day off to visit their mothers on ‘Mothering Sunday', the fourth Sunday of Lent. Coinciding with fresh spring flowers, they often brought their mothers a small present such as a posy.


At the beginning of this century, this religious holiday was secularized into 'Mother's Day', falling on the second Sunday of May. The merchants pounced, but such events as mentioned above help to retain the original spirit of this venerable day, and a reverence for motherhood and mothering.
A Jewish expression says: 'God could not be everywhere, so he made mothers.' Perhaps Oscar Wilde said it best: 'All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his'.


A Poem Beneath her heart every


Mother carries a Saviour and His name is all children Phyllis A. Burger


The Last Hurrah


We were all sad to hear of the death of Nick Kalmakoff, collector and binder of Doukhobor psalms and hymns, as well as Secretary of the old Union of Doukhobors. Nick's work brightened up many a cold winter night on the prairies, as families and friends gathered around his sborniks and had an old fashioned vicherushka, singing the traditional songs. When a new song appeared, Nick had it and many people learned their Doukhobor songs from his collections. Anyone who wants to see him in action on his last edition, can buy or borrow a film I made of Nick as he put together his 'Last Hurrah', as he called it. It is well worth watching and is available at the DVM. lae


PRESENTING:

PETER'S DAY 2000

We should never cause injury to one another
under any circumstances. . . . it is not
permissible to take the life of a human
being . . . and in witness of our
dedication to these beliefs, we have
burned all of our firearms in Russia in
1895 . . .'

Peter V. Verigin


Join us at the Doukhobor Village Museum on June 25 to commemorate
the 106th year of this anniversary. A bus will be here at 9:30 to
transport you to Peter V. Verigin's tomb for the prayers and return to
the Village for Pot Luck Lunch - the afternoon program will begin about
1:00 p.m. with welcoming speeches, choirs, and congregational singing.

On Saturday, the day before, join us for songs and stories
at the Village from 3 - 5.

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