Lizard Lake ...and Land. Part 5

Continuation of my education in winter of 1910-1911

At last I went to Lizard Lake to meet my parents, brothers and sister there, but my stay there was very short. I was taken to Arelle, 35 miles East of Lizard Lake to continue my English education. Brother Ivan took me there to one Russian farmer by the name “Big Mike Rabuka” where I had to stay and from where I had to walk to school with his children. While I lived there that winter so I felt it was my duty to work to repay them for my stay at their place. So very early every morning while everybody were still asleep yet I woke up, lit the lantern and was gone to clean the horses and cattle farms and throw the manure on a pile outside farms.

After cleaning manure from the farms or stables, I return to the house where by this time everybody is awake already and Mrs. Rabucka is making breakfast. After breakfast we are off to school, which was situated quite a distance from their place in the open country as there was no town of Arelee yet at that time. What time I was getting up in the mornings, I don’t know as not only watch, but being immigrant boy I didn’t even have decent or enough clothes to wear.

One time on the way to school my feet was so frozen I could not feel them, and when in the school they began to thaw, it seems as my shoes is going to burst. On Saturdays, had to cut firewood with a buck saw on a saw horse, as to encourage me one of the girls pointing to pile of many cords of already sawed firewood said, that your brother Eli did all that. He sure did it, as when he came to Canada in the fall of 1909, so that winter 1909-1910 he worked for this farmer.

My education had no progress at all here, as their home language was Russian and I had no home work at all. So I don’t think that I learned more than a few words during this winter. One time when we were coming from school through the yard of one Englishman, one of the girls said to him “you must go too.” What those words meant, I did not know. Later I found out from them, that there was some kind of gathering and she said to him he should go there too.

While I had no progress in education I had one progress in raising lice on my head. My hair was swarming with them. At school they were dropping on the scribbler and when I pull the hair with a fingers, I’ll have them in my hand. I was often scratching my head, so everybody was laughing at me knowing that I have lice, but I have no fine comb to comb them out of hair, and I couldn’t do it with my fingers.

Mrs. Rabucka had a fine comb, as I saw she often combed the hair of her daughters. I admit she was a nice woman, but for some reason she never offered me that fine comb, that I could comb out insects of my hair. Due to my shy character, I never dared to ask her.

Only once during my stay there, after washing her daughters hair and combing them she asked me to come and wash my hair, saying “The girls went to bed now, so come and wash your hair.” Well I did wash my hair in a wash tub, but it didn’t help me much to get rid of my insects. Oh if I had a fine tooth comb I could have rid them earlier. After washing I was looking for comb on open spaces. I thought maybe she left it there, but couldn’t find nowhere. Well I blame myself for not asking her but that is a bad side of my nature, I couldn’t dare.

Well at the end of the school days term I happened to be at our newly acquired home in this country at Lizard Lake district, where our immigrants started to establish themselves on their homesteads, building the houses and other buildings and started to cultivate the virgin prairie land with Oxen.

As I see it now, what a waste of time it was in my schooling days, placing me in Russian homes. If I was placed in English speaking home I am sure I could learn faster to speak and understand English.

As an example, the other immigrant boys who started to work for English speaking farmers, they in a short time could communicate with them though they couldn’t read or write yet, but in opposition to them I could read and write but did not understand the meaning of it.

Well once again in the late fall of 1911 I was taken to Arelee and placed again in the home of a Russian farmer by the name Jim Perepelitza, and I will not stay unfortunately but fortunately that there was no teacher yet, so I stayed there only one weak. During that time have been sawing or cutting logs for firewood with a bog saw for two. So one of the older girls and myself was doing it. I remember when Mrs. Perepelitza gave me her boy’s buckskin moccasins to put on my feet, and how cold it was in them to stand on snow, while sawing wood because there was no insoles nor felt socks. As there was no teacher yet, so I was taken home. Later Pereplitza boy wrote me that there was a teacher, but I did not go there anymore.

 As during summer of 1910 and next winter I was absent from Lizard Lake so I couldn’t relate much of the hard ships of our immigrants that first year but to establish themselves in a new country or virgin prairie land. I’ll say it wasn’t easy task. Of course there were already some farmers but they were poor themselves to render much assistance to the new comers.

All men who were 18 years and over could obtain from government one quarter section of land free, paying only 10 dollars fee only on such conditions that the farmers during 3 years, has to live and improve their land, cultivating 20 or 30 acres. At the end of three years he would take the oath of allegiance, and he will be a British Subject (as that time there was no Canadian citizenship yet) and he will get a title to his land as owner, and now as British subject he has the right to participate in elections of all forms of government by casting his vote for the man or party he thinks best.

So the first thing a man looking for land has to get a list of available free homesteads from land office in town. Then he has to pick one that suits him, or whatever is left, then to register it in his name at land office paying only fee of ten dollars.

Now he has to procure, oxen, plow, wagon, sleigh and of course axe as the main thing he has to build is shelter for himself and family. Fortunately the forest wasn’t very far and our immigrants were hard working and laborious people. All their buildings were made from logs, plastered with mud clay.

Now with the Oxen and walking plow he started to break down that strong virgin prairies and it was a hard job. Due to rocks it was tossing the man handling the plow on all sides, even many was hurt. Only due to slowness of Oxen it wasn’t so extremely bad yet. However one man obtaining a homestead tried to plow the land with the walking plow and found out that there is more rocks than soil. So he canceled it and took another one.

My first activities and incidents as a farmer boy.

My father obtained homestead by the lake. It was North West quarter of section 20^th township 39 and range 14 and it was not full quarter, as some land was underwater.

Now since summer or spring of 1911 and on I stayed at the farm with father and mother. Father has already built house and smaller buildings but the tee pee poles was still standing reminding their first Indian like shelter, where they could not hide anything edible from the gophers.

Father also had already four huge horned old oxen and a walking plow. So when he was plowing, I have seen what job it is but never the less, he broke in that two summers 35 acres and my job was to pick stones.

Later we got from some place an old fashioned two furrow plow, with 10 width shares and the made of cast iron, so whenever the plow strikes the stone the is gone, it easily brakes. This plow had no seat but handles so you have to walk behind and steer it. So father was doing it and I handled the oxen and whenever you make them go little faster with a willow whip, there goes Conynka again! You hit another stone.

My father also had a horse by the name Jack, the one which Brother Ivan had when he was on the farm near Borden. Also later he bought from Antov Eichler domesticated sterns so it was easy to break them for work, and the ones he had before he traded to Jew for a horse named Joe.

My first trip to Biggar with Brothers Paul and Eli, and with a three loads of fire wood, pulling by three teams of oxen, took us 24 hours both ways. Biggar on a straight line is about 22 ½ miles south from father’s place, but there were no constructed roads yet just Indian trails. So we had to take one either East or West 2-3 miles to go around gullies and lakes, so this way it was about 28 miles.

We started from home at midnight, and it seemed to me we were going long enough. So I asked brothers if we will be soon in Biggar. They only laughed at me, as we have gone only about eight miles yet. So we travelled and travelled until at last we reached Biggar at noon time. There we sold our firewood to Biggar residents, bought only necessities for existence and are off on return trip for home which we reached at midnight too.

As I mentioned already about the gophers, there were so many of them, that the farmer can’t expect any crop unless he gets rid of some of them. So every year in the spring, we had to poison them, placing at each hole of their abode some wheat kernels saturated with poison. Also a lot of howling coyotes and badgers and skulls and bones of previously roaming herds of Buffalos, which Hudson Bay Company had to kill, and in compensation obtained some land from the government.

Of course in small lakes and sloughs were a lot of muskrats, and late in the fall one can see a lot of muskrat houses on the ice built by them for winter from grass and reeds. There was a lot of grass on this lake East sec. 17

As their furs were valuable, so that fall of 1911 I was a muskrat trapper, and trapped quite a lot of them. Skinning them right there on the lake but at that time we did not know yet how to stretch the skin, so my father cut it, Willow twigs, about 20 inches in length and bent them on the center and we stretched skins on them, and the shape of them was like a triangle.

When my brothers went to town of Radison I gave them those skins to sell. They took them there to a Jew store keeper and when he saw these skins he said, they were not stretched properly, and not worth much. So for all that skins I can’t remember exactly how many but over fifty, they brought me shoes, cowhide or whatever skin it was but they was like iron, hard to bend them.

One day just before Christmas time father and myself went to Biggar by horse drawn buggy, as though there was snow, but not enough for sleigh. We started very early, the day turned to be very cold and windy with blowing snow. My feet began to freeze in those hard shoes. I tried to walk behind buggy but to no avail, so I pulled the shoes off the feet and wrapped in some kind of a rag we had and on reaching CPR station, I tried to put on my shoes again but I couldn’t as the shoes was frozen too. My hands by trying to put on shoes started to freeze. So we proceeded to Biggar and stopped on the street in front of a T.H.C. dealer office. Mr. Tom Ellis and it was 9am and the agent just came in and was making fire in stove.

So I get up from buggy and ran to his office, and took off socks whatever they were and here my toes and half of my feet were all white as snow. So I asked Mr. Ellis to bring me some snow, and I started to rub them with snow. It took me quite a while to do it, until I started to feel them normally again.

Well this was the last time my feet were so badly frozen, and though for some time yet, they were tender and subject to frosts but never in my life experience such a thing again as that time in those, my hard earned hard shoes.

But in mans’ life there is always something to happen again, as the people’s Wisdom Says: “There is no man, whose life will not be subject to some unlucky adventures” So it was with me in the winter of 1911-1912. We still had that first old huge horned oxen with sharp tips and they were in the stables for the night with a rope over their horns and tied to a manger pole.

Well in the morning I went to the stable to untied them and let them out, and I did untied two of them , and when I came to third one whose horns were the biggest and sharpest, to untie him he stepped back, and the result was that his rope was stretched tight and his head bowed. So I could not untie him from manger pole, unless the rope will be slackened. So I faced him and he all at once struck me with his sharp horn in the forehead, just above the top of a nose between the eye brows. Of course I was unconscious, I don’t know for how long. When I came to consciousness, I was lying still in the stable or sty but at the door. I don’t know how and when I crept there, but it is then when I started to cry and scream and of course was heard and led to a house where first aid was applied. It took some time until the wound was healed.

Well the Lord was good to me, he spared my life. It could have been worse, even death if the horn of that Ox slipped only half an inch to the right or left. I could be hanging on the ox horn by my skull. In my later years there were four more incidents, maybe I will tell later, the Lord my good shepherd was my helper and watched over me.

As it is written in Psalm 34:7

“The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”

Voyage to Canada - Part 4

Voyage

Our departure to Canada

Early in the spring of 1910 father sold all his possessions, and with mother and myself being a minor of 12 years, emigrated to Canada too. The reason we left our country was two fold- yearning for religious freedom, and to better our material situation, but the main reason was a providence of God, which we understood only later.

Our journey was as follows:

We left our village on March 29^th by the Julian calendar, or April 11^th by the Georgian Calendar, in the year 1910. Neighbours transported us by wagons to the town of Voronezh, about 20 kilometers away. We did not leave alone, four more families and three single men from our village joined us, and we had company including children of 3 souls.

At Voronezh we boarded a train and arrived at the Libow Sea Port in the province of Curland located on the Baltic Sea. Passports were issued to us there on April 2^nd or April 15^th by the Georgian calendar. At Libow we boarded a small, shabby ship by the name of “Colsberg, Spiro and Co. a Jewish name written in Russian. We sailed on the Baltic Sea and through German sea near Kiel and North Sea. The voyage lasted four days and during this time nearly everybody was sea sick. At last we reached England, there we waited three or four days until April 23^rd, when at Liverpool we boarded the ship named “Carthaginia” which supposed to take us immigrants to Canada.

Although the ship was not fit to transport people never the less it was newly painted loaded with cargo and with people and so we began the voyage in the Atlantic. On this ship our immigrants were poorly fed, not enough even bread, so other boys after meal, goes to another table to see if something left over there, but as for me, I was lucky that mother took some dry rye bread from home, so I was finishing my meal with that.

Our voyage at Atlantic lasted 21 days as in the middle of Atlantic something broke down in the steamer and we were at the mercy of the waves. Throughout each night the ship whistle sounded continuously to prevent a collision. At last a ship whose name I cannot remember came to our rescue. A small rope was thrown to our ship, a thick cable was attached to the rope, and our sailors pulled it aboard and attached to our ship, and when that rescue ship started to pull our ship that cable snapped and so they had to repeat it again, and this time was everything fine.

The rescue ship towed us to the land somewhere in the Maritime Provinces, can’t remember the name. There our ship was repaired and we sailed again on to Saint Jones (Johns?), where the cargo of sheet iron and other products was unloaded, and then passengers were allowed to go on shore.

I remember when we were ascending a hilly road to this harbor town, we met Salvation Army, singing and playing their musical instruments, I think it was Sunday. So we stopped and listened to them, and when the collection plate was passed around, some of our immigrants donated Russian Kopecs. After collecting the money I noticed they looked at our coins with great interest.

I think this was the last voyage as a passenger ship for our “Carthaginia” as all the paint that had been applied at the start of the voyage, was scrapped off right there at the harbor. Later there were rumors that it was converted to a whale hunting ship.

At Halifax we boarded a train for the Western provinces of Canada, and as we passed through Southern Ontario we saw dwellings and orchards of inhabitants and our immigrants were gladdened by the sight and imagined to have sometimes such places of their own.

Later on though, when we passed though the bush and hills our people began to keep saying “Where are they taking us?”

Then when we was passing though the plains of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, we were encouraged a bit. The length of our delayed voyage caused my brothers and sister to think that we had perished in the ocean.

Since we left our village on 11^th of April by new calendar, and reached our destination in Saskatchewan on the 23^rd of May. So it took us 42 days of travelling. 4 days voyage from Libow to England. 21 days voyage on the Atlantic and the rest 17 days with the stop overs on land. So that’s why due to our long journey they thought maybe we had perished.

Approaching our destination in Canada in the Province of Saskatchewan

“Never the less we were surrounded by the grace of God”

When our CPR train was passing through Canora Saskatchewan and stopped at the station on suggestion of my mother, I looked out through the train window and saw a man talking to a conductor and told my mother about it; and all at once that man was inside the train, and took mother and me with him out of the train and this man was my oldest brother Ivan.

I think he was informed by a group of CPR agents that the group of immigrants at last are coming, so that’s why maybe not once he was at the station waiting for us. As he recently moved to Canora, but we didn’t know that because, he lived near Borden, and Radison and that’s why our destination was at Radison and we had address in Borden.

Well he took us to his home where we met his wife Katerina and their five children. The youngest one Vera was just born. So we stayed at their home and father and Ivan had gone to meet the others at Radison Lake where they had to disembark at the end of their long treacherous sea and land journey and it was on May 23^rd 1910.

My stay at Canora Saskatchewan and my school days.

Soon my mother received a word from Father, to come immediately to Lizard Lake district at which from now on supposed to be our future home. So she left the home of her son and departed to Lizard Lake, while I stayed yet for another while at the home of my brother.

As dominant language of Canada is English which is incomprehensible for us immigrants and as we came here with intentions to live here and to be citizens of Canada we had to learn the language of this Country, so my brother sent me to school.

While at school I was sitting in a desk at rear of a school room and as I didn’t understand anything yet, so teacher had a bird cage on her desk table and was saying “open- shut, open –shut.” Well I was repeating after her open shut but didn’t know what it means as I didn’t see that tiny door she was opening and closing.

 Of course by and by I learned the Alphabet and spelling, but the meanings of the words and pronunciation of them was a mystery to me. If I had Russian English and English Russian dictionary with the pronunciation of words, or self taught, I could make a better progress but at that time, I knew nothing about it and of course there was nobody to think about it and supply me with such helping books. At school were many Ukrainian and Doukhobor children as inhabitants of Canora and vicinity where mostly (or largely) of Slavic origin. I even had a privilege to see at the station first Doukhobor spiritual leader Peter Verigin when he arrived to visit Doukhobor’s community there in Canora.

My attendance at Baptist’s Sunday school and Church Service.

As there was no Ukrainian Baptist service in town but in the vicinity on the farms as there were already believers who were gathering in farm dwellings for their worship services. So my brother Ivan borrowed team of horses with wagon and one Sunday he and his wife and myself we drove to the farm where services was held that Sunday.

On the way there as we passed through the bush country a few times I jumped from the wagon to pick strawberries in a jiffy and to overtake them as they continued the trip. At last we arrived to the Kuziacks place where church service was held in his house and also Sunday school. This was my first attendance at Sunday school and church service of Evangelical Baptists.

I can’t recollect the lesson now, but the golden text was from Matthew 7:21, which I memorized then in Ukrainian language and which during my life never escaped my mind. “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

We had dinner at Mr. Gabora’s place where I was surprised to hear Gabora’s son, boy of my age praying at the table, before partaking the food I thought it was only the father’s duty to do it, and here father asked his son to ask God for blessings on food and he obediently and earnestly prayed coming from the heart and not by memorized prayer as I was taught.

Few more times I have been there and began to know more people like Mr. Tom Jevardowski, who was a missionary there at that time. I didn’t know at that time but much later I learned that the previous year of 1909, there was on the farms in this Mr. Pavolink’s place, first Russian-Galician Evangelical convention, initiated by my brother Ivan, who invited from eastern Canada Reverend J. Kolenikof, to help to organize their convention. Later the name was changed to Russian-Ukrainian as gradually, the name Ukrainian became more known.

My stay at brother’s place in Canora was about 3 or 4 months, and by staying here I was spared all the hardships that immigrants on their arrival to Lizard Lake went through this first summer in 1910.

My First Letter to Canada - Part 3

My first letter to Canada

As my oldest brother Ivan with his wife were already in Canada since 1903, so soon as I learned how to write my mother who was illiterate urged me to write a letter to my brother Ivan. I can’t recollect what else I wrote, but then I remember as it was winter so I wrote:  We have winter time now, so there is snow ice and frosts and also frosts all over the world. His answer to my letter was: “It seems that Misha likes skating.” That much at that time Village children knew little about the world, until they read some geography at school. In childhood days it seemed to us there is end of earth at the horizon and the sky just like a tent over the earth.

My experiment with the bullet

“Curiosity has no limits” as the people’s wisdom says” so it was with me. As I strongly wished to see the gun powder, how it looks like and as our family had a revolver so I found one bullet in the drawer, and cut the lead flask at the end of the shell, but there was still some lead left inside of the shell. So I found nail and a hammer and placed the shell upright on the window sill and start hammering the nail inside of a shell. Suddenly there was ear deafening “boom” and my curiosity was rewarded by my two torn to the bone fingers, thumb and middle one, in which I held the nail. In due time it healed but the visible scars remained through the life. Luckily I didn’t lose my eyes, as I know one boy who in similar incident lost one eye, and the other was damaged to some extent.

Well the boys always will be the same at this stage of life, striving for something and eager to have or to know something.

Boys ardent wish for toy guns

The Village boys in the brackets of 7-11 years started to make their own toy guns, short ones like revolvers. They obtain used rifle bullets shells and carve the gun stock from wood and fasten to it these shells, one or two for single or double barrel gun, and make a cock on rubber string with a nail head that fits into the center of the shell and it is ready for use. As storekeepers were selling tiny inflammable paper shells of course I made one too, but sold mine , as one boy couldn’t make himself, came to me with his father wanting to buy from me, so I did. Can’t recollect now how many Kopecks I got for it.

Afterwards these toy guns became dangerous weapons, as the boys started to use gun powder and pellets in them. So elders of Village through their rules forbade store keepers to sell those tine shells, and they were unattainable any more.

Our family revolver is stolen

Speaking of toy guns, not every boy was satisfied with just a toy one. Some had dreamed of having sometimes a real one.

Such a boy was my cousin on my Mother’s side and though he was younger than myself was kind of a clever and subtle boy. Being a relative he was often coming to our place to play with me. In our two roomed house with porch we had a cupboard that was hanging on the wall, as there was no place for standing one, as underneath was davenport for sitting. In this cupboard besides other things, father had a money bag where he kept his gold and coins of ten rubles each (at that time gold money was in use) and a revolver which was kept in the top of this cupboard.

As most households had weapons for self defense. So at such times that he was coming to visit me, and he knew our house very well. So in his mind engendered evil thought to steal money, so he could buy a revolver. He succeeded in stealing 10 ruble golden coin from father’s cash box. Having money in his pocket now he wanted to buy revolver from my cousin on father’s side. For some reason had no success, so he decided to steal ours.

When he came to our place once again he told me: let us play hide and seek, I will be here in the house and you hide some place in the yard. I did hide myself and was watching for sometime, but he didn’t’ come to seek me. So all at once thought struck me; why he wanted to stay in the house. So I ran to the house and there was no trace of him I searched the top of a cupboard and there was no revolver.

I ran as fast as I could through the neighbor’s yard and garden straight to the lake, and I over took him. Once his coat was unbuttoned and I noticed the gun peeping from the inside of his pocket. He wanted to throw dust in my face (pull the wool over my eyes) by saying: “Can you skate like this? Showing me how he can skate. But as soon as I caught up with him I grabbed the gun and I can’t recollect, but later he told me that I hit him in the face with a hand. Later he was horribly punished by his parents for this evil trick he has played. It has come to light all his intentions and about stolen money previously before he stole the gun.

My home duties

When both my parents were working away from home in the fields, especially harvest time when men and women had to reap the grain by hand with a  reap hook also called sickle or harvest hemp, pulling by hands. So at such times I had to be home to tend the home duties as feeding hogs and watching orchards etc.

To feed hogs I had to cut some potato tops and beet tops, and chop it into tiny bits mix it with a handful of flour and it is ready for their meal. As to watching the orchards it is a difficult task, as we had two. One by the house and the other is farther on another street. You can’t be at both at the same time. However who wants to steal some apples, he finds a way to do it even in your presence. When I went to another orchard, here comes to me a grown up lad and started to tell talk with me, and when he saw that his accomplice already had picked the apples and ready to get away, so he told me “look somebody stealing your apples.” So, but I ran to that spot where he jumped over the palisade and was gone, as was gone the lad who distracted me by his talk from my duty.

As not everybody in the Village has orchards, so the indigent were tempted to steal, especially the older boys and the “necessity is the mother of intention.” so the adage says. So one time a group of older boys cunningly came to me with such a proposition. Showing their necks they said “do you see this hollow at the back of our necks? We don’t have any apples, so that’s why we are thin. You bring us some apples to eat and you will see that the hollow will be filled. So I brought them full school bag of apples, and inspected the hollow and brought them second and third bag until their stomachs were filled, but the hollows at the back of their necks were still the same.

Other times I had to care for the sheep, taking them somewhere for grazing. Especially care should be taken at the spring when they are washed one by one in the lake for shearing wool. So I had to take a special care of them, so they won’t get dirty until they get dry.

Brother Paul, Sister Erfronsinia with their spouses leaving for Canada

On returning home from his three years term of military service brother Paul in course of a time got married to Anna Feseoyco. Later my sister was given in marriage to Alexander Llyenko. As our mother was from Llyenko’s house too so they were still close relatives, and the priest before officiating their marriage had to obtain permission from higher Hierarchy which of course was given and marriage performed.

Early in the spring of 1909 brother Paul and sister Erfrosinia with their spouses decided to leave their native village and their country, and to emigrate to unknown land of Canada, where our older brother Ivan and his wife were already there since 1903.

Departing Prayer

At the time of their leaving the house many relatives and friends came to bid them farewell, and the house was packed with the people. So I climbed and stood on back by the wall, and being only 11 years old, never forgot that prayer by which brother Paul prayed. He did not pray to cross that hanged in the corner neither by the table, nor by memorized prayers as we were taught to pray, nor making the sign of the cross by his hand or his forehead and chest but prayed straight to the God in the name of Jesus Christ, from the depth of his heart by the prayer of their need, to bless their and his unknown journey and bless the relatives and people they are leaving behind.

My summer activities of 1909

After their departure I was left alone with only father and mother, and I had to help my parents as much as I could and especially for the whole Summer, after the days work, whatever horses we had with 3or 4 with colt, every evening I had to take them for the night for grazing somewhere in the field or in a forest, and early in the morning you got to be home. This was the custom, or better to say necessity to do it. So mostly young people were doing it, but there were older men too, who had nobody to replace them.

It is a good thing when we are able in the evening to gather together with the bunch of others, so we know then where we will go, and if to open fields, we had to take firewood from home, besides other things as victuals  and a big home made coat with a hood and horse fitters. It is all you have to carry on horseback.

But sometimes if you are late due to lateness of coming home from field wok, and the others are gone, so it is hard by yourself to find the others where they had gone for grazing. I remember one time I didn’t find them, so I decided to be alone. I thought it is dangerous, because of a timber wolves who love colts, so I had to keep them on a rope by the fire where all the boys sleep on the ground around the fire. So I fettered horse’s front legs with a rope hobble. It is a usual routine and put the halters for a pillow and just throw myself that big wool home made coat which serves both ways for mattress and cover and lay myself under the bush to sleep. But soon I found out that I had to move from there, as I was infested with the ants, as there was ant hill beside that bush, and in the dawn I did not see it.

The other time we were late with my cousin and hardly found the other boys, in the forest, by reflection of a fire. For this camp fire, everybody has to contribute fuel, and as there was already lots of wood and due to lateness of time, we didn’t go to pick some more wood for fuel. My cousin as he older and braver said; as we are not going for the wood, so we will not use your fire for our warmth and we will sleep further away from the fire. So we lay down ourselves under the young oak tree and of course as young boys were worn out from daily obligations, soon fell asleep, with a dead sleep. When we awoke in the morning, we found out that in the night, the older boys did a trick on us.

They untied my fast shoe laces which of course consisted of a long thin rope and tied my both legs together and as for my cousin, they bented down the young oak tree, and tied his legs to that tree, so they were hanging in mid air and this was our punishment. There were many more different incidents, but I think I will stop here, because there will be no end to it. One thing I want to mention is, I only liked the best Saturday evenings because when you take horses for grazing overnight you don’t have to come home in the morning but at noon; and after lunch you take horses for a swim in the lake and bathe yourself too, and here we go again until Monday morning.

So Sunday we had rest and fun with the many games. Also I want to state that forests were abundant with all kinds of birds, amongst them Coo-Coo bird and nightingale, which are lacking in Canada.

As I mentioned above about the fast shoes, so though we had high up to knee leather boots and belt boots for winter, but in the summer used to wear this light, as so to say slipper, made of bark from young linden trees, with eyelet around it on top for rope laces, and we never saw or wear the socks but with a piece of old bed sheet wrap your foot and up to knee and tie around with these laces. men’s footwear and they make them themselves.

My attendance at Baptist’s Sunday school and Church Service.

As there was no Ukrainian Baptist service in town but in the vicinity on the farms as there were already believers who were gathering in farm dwellings for their worship services. So my brother Joan borrowed team of horses with wagon and one Sunday he and his wife and myself we drove to the farm where services was held that Sunday.

On the way there as we passed through the bush country a few times I jumped from the wagon to pick strawberries in a jiffy and to overtake them as they continued the trip. At last we arrived to the Kuziacks place where church service was held in his house and also Sunday school. This was my first attendance at Sunday school and church service of Evangelical Baptists.

I can’t recollect the lesson now, but the golden text was from Matthew 7:21, which I memorized then in Ukrainian language and which during my life never escaped my mind. “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

We had dinner at Mr. Gabora’s place where I was surprised to hear Gabora’s son, boy of my age praying at the table, before partaking the food I thought it was only the father’s duty to do it, and here father asked his son to ask God for blessings on food and he obediently and earnestly prayed coming from the heart and not by memorized prayer as I was taught.

Few more times I have been there and began to know more people like Mr. Tom Jevardowski, who was a missionary there at that time. I didn’t know at that time but much later I learned that the previous year of 1909, there was on the farms in this Mr. Pavolink’s place, first Russian-Galician Evangelical convention, initiated by my brother Joan, who invited from eastern Canada Reverend J. Kolenikof, to help to organize their convention. Later the name was changed to Russian-Ukrainian as gradually, the name Ukrainian became more known.

My stay at brother’s place in Canora was about 3 or 4 months, and by staying here I was spared all the hardships that immigrants on their arrival to Lizard Lake went through this first summer in 1910.

The Shakotkos - Part 2

Shakotkos

In the Village of Slo-oot resides many other Surnames, there were already many inhabitants known as Shakotkos, on one street there were nearly all Shakotkos.  Ukrainian names ending with KO means Son of such man whose name was so and so, like in English Peterson, Johnson, Wilson etc. It is hard to say now what the name of a man was, from whose name originated the name of Shakotko but it seems that from the unknown time to us now, Shakotko descendants sprang from one stock or source, and lived side by side together. Some of them still relatives to us, the others intermarry between themselves. Nowadays of course they are scattered all over Ukraine and Russia, but there are still many in the Village.

As in our Village there were already inhabitants with the same names. So nearly everyone had another name. Some names were given by Villagers to someone who had some kind of event or by his character or deed or words he said, or by the name of his ancestors and they were mostly the names given, than original name.

For example: Our name given epithet was Youdenko from the name of my Great Grandfather. There were two brothers, one is Jude the other is Hoorin, so though their original name is Shakotko, the descendants of Jude were called Youdenki, and the descendants of Hoorin- Hoorinovichi. So for the Villagers we were known as Youdenki, as I said before my Great Grandfather Jude and my Grandfather was Efim, and my father Stepan Efimovich. They were descendants of the Ukrainian Cossacks and so we are too. On my father’s house on the outside wall facing street, was nailed a metal plate, with his name and that he is a Cossack, and there was of a picture of pail indicating, what he should look (pg.5) like in the count of fire in the Village, also in father’s passport was written Stepan Efimovich Shakotko, Cossack and in my school certificate written that I am the son of a Cossack. So if we want it or not we are descendants of Ukraine Cossacks.

 Shakotko – Glyenko

Youdenki – Lakeyenki

These names are closely interwoven together by marriages. As my mother was from the Ilyenko house, and my sister was given in Marriage to Ilyenko’s house too. The Villagers name for ilyenkos was Lakeyenko from Luckey meaning a foot man. Well for a time being this will be enough for inhabitants and the Village Slo-oot  (Slout) which is my birthplace.

My Birth, Baptism and Name.

I was born on the 17^th of September (on the 4^th of September by the Julian calendar) in the year of 1897 to a pious Greek-Orthodox family by the name Stepan Efimovich  and  Ksenia Fedorovka Shakotko. I was the youngest in the family as there were three brothers and a sister older than myself. The spread between oldest and youngest was 17 years. The oldest one is Ivan then Paul, Eli and sister Eofrosinia.

By the custom of the Greek-Orthodox church, which was a state church in Russia as a babe I was taken to a priest to be named and christened/ baptized. The Orthodox Church has many names of the saints on everyday in their Calendar. So there was a name of Zacharias one day ahead and on the 6^th of September (or new cal. 19^th of Sept.) was a holiday called Miracle of Archangel Michael. So the priest said, choose the name either Zacharias or Michael. 

As my Uncle, mothers brother Michael Fedorovich Ilyenko, was present there too, as my Godfather, so they all said let it be Michael. Since then I am known by that name Michael Stepanovich Shakotko.

My Childhood

At the time of my birth, my oldest brother Ivan (born Sept. 1880) was already trained in tailor’s trade and has gone Kiev capitol of Ukraine , 300 Kilometers and established himself there as a tailor. In Kiev there were believers by the name of Baptists but commonly were called as Stundists. On their church services Ivan was converted and was baptized on confessing his faith on the Lord Jesus as his Saviour.

My first childhood recollection of him, when he came to visit us in Slout and brought me a present of two railway box cars filled with candy and to my sister two small pails, also filled with candy. Many a days I played with those cars but later it was stolen from me by neighbor kids.

Also at that time he bought us a large new bible, Second edition apocrypha books just printed by Synod of Orthodox church in Kiev in 1899. That bible our family started to read, though did not understand it all, but all the same people started to call us Stundists.

Brother Ivan and his wife depart to Canada

In the year 1902 brother Ivan became acquainted with a lady by the name of Katerina Bohdashefksy. In the month of July of same year they were united in marriage. In 1903 brother Ivan his wife and mother in-law and her children left Russia for Canada. They first lived in Winnipeg Manitoba then Borden, Saskatchewan and at Canora Lake at the time of our arrival to Canada. So Brother Ivan was in Canada since 1903m while I came with parents in 1910.

My recollection goes yet to one incident when my brother Paul and Eli, were going to a bush for wood and they took me with them, when I was 2^1/2 years old.  They told me to stay on the wagon while they went to search for dry wood. Well while I was laying on the wagon I was looking at clouds in the sky and then a big bird flew over me, and I think I got scared, and got up from the wagon and was playing around the wagon until I got farther and farther away from wagon until I got lost in the woods, wandering around, I vividly recollect now, that I was sitting and sobbing holding my right foot with my hand and beating the ground with my heel.  Luckily there was a dog with us, so when my  brother did not find me by the wagon or around , and seeing there is no dog either, so they called the dog, which ran to their voice and then the dog led them to me and this the lost one was found. And when they were asking me I told them that something big flew over me with hands legs and head and I got scared. Brothers often, was taking me with them whenever they were going to work at the field.

After my brother Paul was conscripted for 3 years of military service in 1903, so then many times Dad was taking me with him to the field. So I saw sowing fall rye seeds in the fall or other grain in the spring, scattering it by hand and afterwards harvesting it. Many times slept overnight in the fields at the wagon, in the count of rain under the wagon. Also many times brother Eli was taking me with him whenever he was going to work on the field, and when mother gives lunch consisting of rye bread and chunk of pork, salted. Sometimes was taking raw potatoes and was baking it in hot ashes of wood fire. He was very fond of pork (he liked pork much) so he cuts for me very small and thin slice saying, is it enough for you Misha? (Misha or Mishka, my pet name) I of course always said yes it is enough, though I wanted more. Due to my shy and meek character, I never could demand or stand for my rights, and this was my weak side through the whole of my life.

In winter time of course play time for children. Playing with snow balls sleighing downhill or snow hill and as only few children had wooden sleighs, so they make themselves sleighs from the chunk of ice. They go to the lake which in the center of Village. Cut big chunk of ice, then make it round and smooth at bottom, at top make a hollow for the seat, and at side make hole to tie string, and ice sled is ready. This was my profession too, and here we go down hill street to the lake and the end always landing at the widow’s house door which was the last of the Street by the Lake and as a widow’s house wasn’t fenced in front like the others.

As there were lots of minnows in the Lake so in the winter children were fishing for them. So I did too. First you have to cut off long hole in ice about 1 foot by 3 foot and then on one side you make small opening right to the water, then cover it for the night and early in the morning I go with a pail and net and here you have about half full pail of Minnows, which were fried by mother for breakfast.



Michael's School Certificate 1908



My elementary education started in the fall of 1905 in the two roomed Village school. One room consisted of two classes, one; beginners and other second year pupils and fourth year pupils has to qualify for an examination and it is thus far the Village schooling lasted. And it was only in winter months, not the whole year round, and consisted of reading, writing, history, arithmetic some geography and Religious instruction by Priest on appointed days. My schooling lasted only three winters 1905-6, 1906-7, and 1907-8. As in one Winter I was promoted from second to third class. On finishing my Village schooling, I got my certificate and honorary list for very good progress and excellent conduct. Higher education was inaccessible for the poor at that time.

The Great Ukraine - Part 1

Our village

In the Great Ukraine, which is under Russian rule for centuries; in the province of Chernigov, in the region of Gluckhov and the village of Slout (Slo-oot) from unmentioned times lived our ancestors. http://g.co/maps/s264b

The village situated about 13 kilometers north from the town of Glukhov and is scattered around a big irregular ham shaped lake, teeming with fish. The lake is surrounded on its two opposite sides by a gigantic forest stretching high, into the skies which form an abode for birds and many forms of wild life.

The village’s name of Slout probably derived from the epithet of this lake, and it had from 800-900 dwellings, or about 5000 in habitants which were of a three category.

First, Landlords or country squires, there were about three in the village, the rest two: Cossacks and peasants. Here I want to insert a remark about the lake; unfortunately for themselves, the Villagers sold the Lake which is in the center of village to the Landlord called Jon de Brigers which of course is a German name. The other part of the lake on the outskirts of the village still was called Cossacks Lake, but the sold one became known as Landlords Lake.

They soon learned what a terrible mistake they had done; as the mentioned landlord hired the Asiatic men, which riding on horseback was guarding his possessions, land , forests and lake Poor women who dares to catch some fish with a net, and if catched were scourged by a whipuntil their legs were bleeding and same with the men for trespassing his possessions were punished, even some were shot.

The friendly inhabitants of the Village lived in modest, but comfy homes made from logs plastered clay ground and with thatched roofs which are hazardous in the event of fire.

Their chief occupations are agriculture and horticulture. Majority of the people had their own lands in very small plots around the Village and this constitutes their chief source of income.

Many of the Villagers have their own orchards, with many varieties of fruit bearing trees, and berry bushes. Their primitive living did not depend on market prices at that time some necessities, such as sugar, tea salt, coal oil and grease for the wagon because they produce mostly everything for themselves such as wheat but most of all rye, buckwheat, prosso-millet, peas, hemp, flax, and some other cereals.

In the village they have a windmill for gristing flour, and making grain, and from hemp seeds they make edife oil and from the hemp and flax fiber they spin it into threads or spinning wheels and then make linen or looms, and make their own clothes and over coats, and from the lamb and sheep skins, make fur coats. Also make rope from the hemp fiber and candle from tallow and bees wax. So they were mostly independent not like nowadays, if there is no energy we have no light nor heat in our homes, and if you are not prepared for emergency we may freeze in our wooden houses.