| When the Doukhobors immigrated
to the Northwest Territories, it was an three conditions as
negotiated by their representatives with Clifford Sifton, Minister
of the Interior: |
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1. |
Land in a bloc; they must
live in group settlement as they had in the Mir system
in Russia |
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2. |
Military exemption; they
could not serve as soldiers |
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3.
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Control
of their internal affairs; they wanted to preserve their internal
system of government and upbringing of their children. |
The
government, eager for these well-experienced settlers, agreed
to all conditions. In a sad commentary an the times, each
condition was bent or broken to suit the changing conditions
of the Canadian political climate.
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The
first and most important condition to be revised was the enforcement
of the Homestead Act as it reinterpreted the Hamlet
Clause under the Dominion Land Act. The new
interpreter was the new Minister of the Interior, Frank Oliver,
who dictated, in March, 1906, that all Doukhobor land entries
were to be `dealt with in all respects as ordinary homesteads.'
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This
abrupt reversal in land policy, fueled by an active deliberate
program to encourage individual farming and to break up large
aggregations of community land, resulted in 258,880 acres
reverting to the Crown, creating the greatest land rush in
Canadian history. The Doukhobors in effect, were now homeless
and if the community was to be saved, dramatic and decisive
action was necessary.
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In 1908,
Peter Verigin made a shrewd purchase, surmising that the rocky
soil shown him by land speculator Claude Laing Fisher, would
grow fruit. He was right, and an initial purchase an a property
called Waterloo was renamed Brilliant, for the shining waters
at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers. The
nearby plateau was called Dolina Ooteshenie, the
Valley of Consolation.
Owning the land now
allowed the Doukhobors to continue their communal life style,
and as owners, they were not subject to the oath of allegiance
which they feared would create an obligation for military
service.
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The
initial purchase of 2800 acres at Ooteshenie
was soon followed by 2,700 acres an the outskirts
of Grand Forks, 2,200 acres in Pass Creek and 1,100
acres at Slocan Junction.
By 1909, Brilliant, the lower terrace of Ooteshenie
and part of Krestova were cleared for planting. By
1912, the Brilliant bench, a second terrace at Ooteshenie,
160 acres in Pass Creek, nearly all of Glade and several
hundred acres in Krestova were ready for planting.
Trees cleared were over 3 feet in diameter and over
100 feet high, the resulting timber was hauled to
community saw mills and provided railway ties, posts,
poles and cordwood. By 1910, even before the majority
of Doukhobors had moved from Saskatchewan, land ownership
grew to 10,000 acres, and to 14,403 acres by 1912
.
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Settlement took place rapidly between 1908 and 1913.
First small log homes were built, then long single
story structures. Eventually, the famous village
style was developed, consisting of two large communal
houses (doms), 32 x 40', 60' apart an 100 acre plots,
with U-shaped one story buildings around the compound,
providing work areas as required to service the
inhabitants which could number up to 100 souls.
They were initially built of wood; as the brick
factories were developed first in Grand Forks and
later in the Slocan Valley, bricks were used for
construction of the doms. Those of wood were then
veneered with brick siding. Attics were used for
storage and basements provided root cellars. The
100 acres provided gardens, fruit trees, firewood
and pasture for two milk cows, chickens and horses.
In 1910 Verigin built the
first Doukhobor school at Brilliant followed by
5 more in Brilliant, others were built at Raspberry,
Fructova, Pass Creek, and Glade. By 1911, more
than 50,000 fruit trees had been planted and by
1912 two irrigation systems were in place, a concrete
tank 75' x 125' x 14' deep was built which held
1,000,000 gallons, fed by mountain streams, and
gravity fed for many villages. A four cylinder
pump an the Kootenay also supplied water to the
reservoir by a 14 inch wooden pipe. The system
was over seven miles, supplied by a wooden pipe
factory in Ooteshenie. As the community expanded,
irrigation systems were developed further; water
from Pass Creek was brought to Brilliant through
gravity flow. Two systems an the Columbia brought
water to the lower bench in Ooteshenie with 6"
wooden pipes, staves provided by mills in Champion
Creek and Ooteshenie.
A brick yard was begun in
Fructova near Grand Forks, other centers boasted
blacksmith and woodworking shops, harness making
and cobbler shops, a large honey industry, and
eight saw mills by 1912.
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Released
from Siberian exile and on his way to Canada
for the first time, Peter V. Verigin poses
in England in 1902. |
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