What can I say about the Doukobors. What I remember from the 60s/70s is the Sons of Freedom in BC, savagely opposed to having to send their children to school and conform to provincial laws. They marched naked, held hunger strikes, burned buildings, and fought vehemently to keep their autonomy.
In essence the Doukobors were pacifist vegetarians, in search of their version of utopia. After years of heavy persecution, Leo Tolstoy, the Quakers, and others put together enough money to get 7500 Doukobors our of Russia and to Canada via Halifax.
Veregin SK is named for the leader of the group that emigrated from Russia to Canada. Several years later Canada changed the rules and insisted on some adherence to national standards in order to keep the assigned land. But in BC it was different, so off they went, many of them, to the Grandforks and New Denver areas; until the rules changed again which is the angst that I remember. They were right to fear schools and integration because their world has disappeared into the realm of museums as a result of the exposure to the mainstream lifestyle that was less restricted and so mush easier.
By now Veregin is the National Doukobor Heritage Village, and that's it. A passionate, peaceful, hardworking and not without its problems society has disappeared into our modern mash.
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| tin trim to Peter 'Lordly' Veregin's house |
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| apparently a typical bedroom with the hanging cradle |
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| a 100 year-old furcloak |
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| the most beautiful lace and other handwork |
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