Прес-служба Посольства України в Канаді
Press Office of the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada
Division de la Presse d’Ambassade d’Ukraine au Canada
June 20, 2011
№37
Train of Ukrainian Pioneers Project gathers Ukrainian-Canadian
Immigration History
The Train of Ukrainian Pioneers, a venture undertaken by the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada, will be travelling with a replica of a typical accessory by here by many Ukrainian immigrants over the past 120 years – a trunk. By the time this trunk reaches the train’s final destination in Edmonton on July 8th, the organizers of the train project hope to have it contain donated documents and artifacts that will represent a cross-section of the personal immigration experiences of the Ukrainians who started coming to Canada in 1891. The Embassy is putting out a call to people living in the places where the Pioneer Train will stop to donate memorabilia from the trips to Canada taken by their ancestors, from the smallest of shipping receipts, telegrams, passports, diaries, to larger items like kitchenware, hand-tools, clothing, small furnishings, and other items
“While there are numerous collections in the museums of Canada that tell what happened to the Ukrainian immigrants after they came to Canada, information that speaks of the journey from the towns and villages of present-day Ukraine to this country is harder to find. Our Train hopes to contribute to this lesser-developed aspect of Ukrainian-Canadian history by collecting it along the way and filing our symbolic trunk, which in Ukraine was called a skrynia or kufer. After we complete our journey in a few weeks, this new collection of Canadian history will be donated to a professional museum”, said Dr. Ihor Ostash, Canada’s Ukrainian Ambassador to Ukraine.
The Historical Train of Ukrainian Pioneers will leave Halifax on June 24th, and will retrace the rail journey taken by many Ukrainians. It will have several-day stopovers in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton.
– 30 –
Media Contact:
Olena Zakharova, Press secretary
Embassy of Ukraine in Canada
Tel.: (+1-613) 230-2961 ext. 105
