In the late 19th century, Canada needed to expand its population and the West needed to be opened to agriculture. Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior, saw the solution in a group of Doukhobors, Russian farmers and religious
In the late 19th century, Canada needed to expand its population and the West needed to be opened to agriculture. Clifford Sifton, Minister of the Interior, saw the solution in a group of Doukhobors, Russian farmers and religious dissenters. He invited them to Canada to settle the Prairies; rescuing them from religious persecution was of secondary importance.
At Kylemore, Sask., the Doukhobours were known as the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood. The leadership had purchased a total of 11,632 acres of land in the area and 250 people (all but one family) had come from B.C. to live and work. (Photo: Remembering Times)
The Doukhobors became an organized movement in the 18th century. They renounced the Russian Orthodox Church’s ritual of worshiping icons, giving them their original name “Ikono-bortsi” – icon wrestlers. In 1785, Archbishop Ambrosius called them “Doukho-bortsi”- spirit wrestlers – intending an insult by implying that they struggled against the Spirit of God. The dissidents adopted the name, declaring, “We are Spirit Wrestlers because we wrestle with and for the Spirit of God against those things which are evil.”
Doukhobors based their religion on two commandments: recognize and love God with heart, mind and soul; and, love one’s neighbour as oneself. Their highest moral development came at the end of the 19th century when, inspired by the leadership of Peter Verigin, they advanced the practical and ethical aspects of their lifestyle. Doukhobors believed that killing animals assaulted human sensibilities, and resolved not to consume animal flesh. They also rejected alcohol and tobacco as harmful to the human body, which they believed was created by God to be pure. Devoted to pacifism, they rejected violence and militarism. When 7000 protesting Doukhobor soldiers destroyed their weapons on June 29, 1895, the Czarist State expressed its disapproval and so, ironically, did Church authorities. The defiant act led to exile and persecution.
The Doukhobors’ situation received attention around the world. Russian author Leo Tolstoy, American Quakers and a great many Canadians helped the Doukhobors uproot their lives and make the journey to Canada, to the territories of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan. In December 1898, the new settlers prepared for the largest single migration across the Atlantic to North America. Seven hundred men, women and children, volunteers fr