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“LES PUITS DE DUNREA” (THE WELLS OF DUNREA) BY GABRIELLE ROY A REVIEW BY HELENE TURKEWICZ-SANKO John Carroll University Why should a French title of a work by a French Canadian woman writer be of any interest to any Ukrainian anywhere in the world? The answer lies in the work itself where, in a few pages, author Gabrielle Roy has depicted a period of Ukrainian history which is not often the subject of a novel originally written in French. “The Wells of Dunrea” is a chapter of an autobiographi cal novel entitled Street of Riches, the story of a young girl raised in a small town in Manitoba, a compilation of vignettes about herself, her family, and others, including Ukrainians. Published in 1955, the novel is dedicated to the pioneers of the Canadian West. At the turn of the century, Ukrainians came to settle in Canada. Their identity was buried and confused. When they came from Bukovyna, they were known as Doukhobors; when they came from the section of Ukraine under the rule of Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I, they were called “ Ruthenes” or Ruthenians’; and when they came from the section of Ukraine ruled by czarist Russia, they were “ Blanc Rus- siens” or “White Russians” . Ruthenians came to Canada in great numbers at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the twen tieth century. Living under the Austro-Hungarian empire, they could follow, often on foot, the newly built railroad tracks and eventually reach the coast of the Adriatic Sea from where they boarded boats to the Americas and even Australia. They brought with them their “sheep skin” clothes, their language, their customs and their know-how as builders, diggers, farmers and cattle breeders. And it is these people who are the focus of “The Wells of Dunrea”. In the story, Roy writes: “for an unknown reason, father called them Petits-Ruthenes” (Little Ruthenians). Her central character, Christine, is a child; she could not know the real reason, the historical and political situation that caused the denomination “ Little Russians” to be freely used. When he purposely creates a new term, Little Ruthenians, Christine’s father appears to make a distinct effort to be politically correct and yet remain true to his understanding of the Ukrainian iden tity. We may suspect that as a Francophone in an Anglophone world, he knew first hand what emotional toll these immigrants had paid in their native land to keep their identity. Were not his ancestral roots also European? Were they not from France and the French- speaking province of Quebec? As a government official, he was an educated man and certainly knew of Ukraine as the “ bread basket of Europe". Seeing these people searching for a better life must have raised a few ques tions in his mind and some genuine compassion in his heart. And so he called them “ Little Ruthenians” , a compromise to please the official people of the Cana dian government as well as the newcomers. To him, they were a special group among the many groups of immigrants he had worked with: Off all the groups he had settled, this one prospered best. It had not yet been established for a full decade; a short enough time in which to build a happy settlement out of a handful of suspicious and illiterate immigrants, let alone clear the land, build houses and even make God feel at home with icons and votive candles. Yet all this and much more had the Little Ruthenians accomplished... And that was the sort of settler Papa liked: people facing forward, and not everlastingly whin ing over what they had to leave behind. Christine was only an infant when her father, an employee of the Canadian government, was sent to help Ukrainian immigrants settle the frontiers of Canada in the province of Saskatchewan. Many of these immi grants had been drawn to Western Canada by the Can adian Pacific Railroad which made lots of money trans porting immigrants. The railroad sent photographers to take pictures of Western Canada to show Eastern Euro peans that in Canada one could have wheat fields and houses just like in Ukraine. So the immigrants came. Among her childhood friends and classmates, Christine, like Gabrielle Roy herself, counted many Ukrainians. At the time of the story, Saskatchewan was very windy and short of water. In summer there was almost always a fire smoldering somewhere in the province. A strong draft could spread it dangerously. At Dunrea, Ukrainians worried little about this becouse they were close to a river, the Lost River, which was no longer “ lost” becouse they themselves had revived it through their intense efforts and continuous work. Following the advice of Christine’s father, the settlers had brought the Lost River back to life by planting trees next to the dried out river bed so that the soil moisture could be captured and held. Then the village of Dunrea was born. The vil lagers dug wells, built houses, planted vegetable gardens, designed orchards, and raised livestock. Gabrielle Roy gives a portrait of what a Ukrainian colony in Canada looked like prior to World War I. As we read, there is a strange feeling that Ukrainians had transplanted a part of Ukraine to the plains of Canada. Dunrea was a cluster of about twenty houses with white-washed walls, thatched roofs and tiny and low windows. Little details bring the village to life: women adding indigo blue to the white-wash to give the walls a grayish look, red geraniums by the windows, little sheds, beehives, a pigeon cote and shelters where the cows Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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