Ukrainian Canadians 1896-Ukrainian Canadians 1896-19151915A Case of Mistaken IdentityA Case of Mistaken Identity

“Prison is prison, no matter where.”

-Phillip Yasnowsky (pg. 55)

Past HistoryPast HistoryUkrainian

ancestral home is now what we call Ukraine, southern Poland, Romania and parts of Austria and Slovakia.

Culture and Language was a strong influence on the Ukrainian people

In the 1840’s 90% of Ukrainians were serfs. They were slaves on land owned by landlords. You needed permission to improve the land, educated your children, judge, jury and executioners.

Serfdom was abolished in 1843 by King Ferdinand I

Why Canada Wanted Why Canada Wanted UkrainiansUkrainians

“I think the stalwart peasant in a sheepskin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half-dozen children is good quality....These men are workers. They have been bred for generations to work from daylight to dark. They have never done anything else and they never expect to do anything else. (pg.58)”

Clifford SiftonManitoba Cabinet Minister

Immigration to CanadaImmigration to CanadaUkrainians begin to look further

for places to raise children without being tormented by others.

Get away from famine, high taxes, and the banning of schools, cultural centres were closed, and from where it was illegal to even speak Ukrainian.

Conditions Prior to WWIConditions Prior to WWIIf children were sick when they

entered Canada they were sent back to their country by themselves.

Newspapers discriminated against Ukrainians

Ukrainian Holidays weren’t observed by Canadians causing Ukrainians to be fired from the CPR and forced to live in caves outside of Edmonton.

During World War IDuring World War IThere were 24 detection camps8,579 people were taken to these

camps6,000 of them were Ukrainian 107 Ukrainian people were killed

by illness, killed for trying to escape

VideoVideoCanadian WWI Internment plaque

unveiling: Beauport Armoury

After World War IAfter World War IRacism still exists towards

Ukrainian people according to Jean Dales who immigrated to Canada when she was 2 years old. If a Ukrainian immigrant comes to Canada and speaks in their cultural language they are classified as a displaced person and are shunned by society.

Our PerspectiveOur PerspectiveWe were both shocked to find out

that Ukrainians were held in concentration or internment camps. We both thought that our education in high school completely avoided this information. We were lead to believe that this sort of history happened in Germany.

IQ tests were also an interesting subject because they were offered in all these languages excluding Ukrainian and Chinese.

Discussion QuestionsDiscussion QuestionsWhat part of your reading affected

you? Where would it be found on John Boyko’s Racism Ladder?

From the title of this reading do you think this is an appropriate title? Is it really a case of mistaken identities? Why or why not?

As a society do we question what we read or just make the assumption that it is factual?