immigrant woman Print

Surviving the Land They set sail for Canada and the promise of land in 1900. Their belongings were meager, including only the most important items needed for their new venture. Hoes, scythes, sickles, a hammer, an axe and a set of grinding stones were boxed in a crate called a skrina. They were also allowed to take a metal pot, some wooden spoons and a wooden bowl. Once on land and after a three day train trip they lived temporarily in an immigration house and after a few weeks were eventually dropped off by a government representative on the allotted homestead. Immediately the family began work constructing a lean to with a grass roof to make due until a more substantial hut could be built in preparation for the winter. The family endured much discomfort fighting off black flies, mosquitoes and bloodsuckers in the summer and biting prairie temperatures in the winter. Four years later, after the family had toiled clearing land to plant crops, built a log home and erected fences for livestock, a government representative returned to tell them a mistake had been made. They had homesteaded on someone else’s land and therefore would have to vacate. Their good friends, “the Indians”, wanted the Ukrainian family to follow them to good land. They chose a rolling piece of land with a creek running through it. Many thought the land to be the worst choice in the area. When asked why he chose it, the man replied that when travelling and crossing the creek in the wagon, he was stunned by the huge amount of fish being tossed onto the land by the turning wagon wheel spokes. He felt the creek would be good to them. Excerpts from the “Wowk Family Book”

Print:Giclee on Photo Paper

Size:10 W x 8 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:15.25 W x 13.25 H x 1.2 D in

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