Rescheduled Unveiling of the Cave and Basin Internment Exhibit - September 13, 2013

With all the excitement of June's rains in Southern Alberta, and nature's response to the excessive downpours, the Official Opening of the Cave and Basin Internment Exhibit in Banff was cancelled. An earlier blog post told of how Calgarians marked the day, however the "official" opening was deferred.

I recently received an invitation to the rescheduled unveiling of this important monument and sincerely hope you will share the information far and wide. It is indeed remarkable how responsibly Canadians see their part in history, and how morality and justice in the end truly prevail.

Mark you calendars and share the date!

The Honorable Jason Kenney,
Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism
invites you to the official opening of Parks Canada's exhibit entitled
ENEMY ALIENS, PRISONERS OF WAR: 

CANADA'S FIRST WORLD WAR INTERNMENT OPERATIONS 1914-1020.

The event will take place on Friday, September 13, 2013 at 2 PM
in Banff National Park at the Internment Exhibit Building
adjacent to Cave and Basin National Historic Site,
311 Cave Avenue, Banff, Alberta.
RSVP to Steve.Malins@ps.gc.ca.

Those planning to join the group travelling by bus from Edmonton to Banff on September 13th for the rescheduled unveiling may call Andrea Malysh at 1-866-288-7931 to reserve a seat. I am not sure what arrangements other areas have made for travel to the Banff Internment Site Exhibit Unveiling - please keep me posted, and share with others. And thanks to those who can mark this event for all Canadians!

http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/03/pavilion-at-cave-and-basin-in-banff.html

http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/05/official-opening-of-cave-and-basin.html

http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/06/new-pavilion-at-cave-and-basin-opening.html

http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/06/rainy-flood-weather-cancels-event.html

New Pavilion at Cave and Basin Opening June 20

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Banff's Cave and Basin is a popular tourist attraction featuring thermal waters and a protected environment for rare plants and creatures, but is also celebrates Canada's National Parks and our history. A while back ukrainiancalgary blog received an invitation to the reopening of the Banff Cave and Basin historical site, and ceremonial opening of the new exhibit honoring Canada's First World War Internment Operations on June 20, 2013.

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So I recently visited the Cave and Basin site, and was surprised by the nostalgic trip it presented. When I was there the site was dripping in rain, hazy with mist and fragrant with natural beauty. The Cave and Basin site in Banff is absolutely gorgeous. Walking around the site, we found the new pavilion, which a worker called the Tea House - still under construction. Inquisitive, we silently walked down the stairs to the marsh to see a beaver, birds, little fish and a remarkably tranquil natural area, and we wished had lounge chairs.

The Government of Canada and its Ukrainian Community have achieved a financial redress settlement by which an educational and commemorative endowment is providing Parks Canada the financial resources required to build a permanent exhibit. The special site will honor Canada's first national internment operations at the Cave and Basin site in Banff National Park. The permanent display will provide visitors an opportunity to appreciate how Canada takes responsibility before all its citizens to honor Canadian history, the complex but true stories of people with aspirations, for themselves, their kin, their nation and the world. 



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Looking forward to the Thursday afternoon ceremonies at the Pavilion on June 20, 2013 - see you there!





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Official Opening of the Cave and Basin First World War Internment Exhibit

Ukrainians of Southern Alberta will have the first opportunity to visit the new, to be unveiled Cave and Basin First World War Internment Exhibit in Banff National Park this June 20, 2013. Especially poignant for the descendants of those who were taken into custody during the First World War, it has to be a "mark on your calendar" event.

The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association has worked long and hard to establish such excellent relations with the representatives of Canadians in various arms of government. Their decades long advocacy on behalf of the Ukrainian idea in Canada is something for which I am personally thankful.

As a descendant of the early pioneers, I can say without question that the War Internment affected my family. Tenaciously holding to their Ukrainian identity over the generations hasn't always been easy. In fact, like many families, the assimilation process is strong. But as a Canadian, I take great pride in the manner in which my government has owned and tried to right the wrong that was done by establishing yet another First World War Internment Exhibit - this time in Banff National Park. Teaching the general public about the errors in judgement human beings can make, and then leading by example in correcting a historic wrong, this special exhibit will serve a greater good, for a more honorable way forward. We can only hope the world around us will emulate this trend.

It will be a special Thursday afternoon, an excellent opportunity to reach out to family and friends to take a driving trip to Banff. Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Paul Grod is among the esteemed guests who will make the trip across Canada to mark the event on behalf of the many who cannot. Perhaps you could represent your group, and take photos for your local media outlet?

The Official Opening of the Cave & Basin First World War Internment Exhibit will take place on June 20, 2013 at 2:00 pm at the Cave & Basin National Historic Site in Banff, Alberta.

http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/03/pavilion-at-cave-and-basin-in-banff.html

Pavilion at Cave and Basin in Banff

While in Banff National Park, enjoying the amazing vistas of Canada's jewel of public parks, it is not difficult to lose oneself completely.  Pristine glacial fed rivers, forests full of wilderness, and the serene sense of peace not to mention the mind opening scent of that many pine trees - Banff is truly Canada's gift to the future. Many of us head to Banff for a sense of healing, for a hike, to experience the beauty.

Banff is just over 100 years old.  Recalling the past, the Banff experience is also an opportunity to recall Canada's first national internment operation of 1914-1920.  On Thursday, June 20, 2013, Parks Canada Agency, National Historical Recognition Project (Banff) is hosting an opening event for a pavilion at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site.  Project Lead Steve Malins has graciously extended the invitation to ukrainiancalgary readers to join in the opening events.  Thanks to the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association for helping to extend the invitation far and wide. 

For more information contact www.uccla.ca


http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/01/castle-mountain.html
http://ukrainiancalgary.blogspot.ca/2013/02/national-internment-art-mural-project.html

Castle Mountain

amk2013- At the base of Castle Mountain, January 3, 2013

     In 1912, Calgary Stampede Champion organizer, Guy Weadick arranged for the Canadian Pacific railway company to transport interested Stampede visitors from across the prairies for a reduced return fare. It was a coup of marketing that ensured many visitors to the Stampede, among them the thousands of new Ukrainian speaking Canadian settlers. Then, in 1912, they gathered in Calgary as a community, and consecrated the first Ukrainian church in Calgary.

The same railway company, just a couple of years later, participated in something less festive and savory. Starting in 1914 and through 1917 the railway served as a delivery system to move "enemy aliens", those who held Austrian papers, therefore "technically" enemies of the Canadian state during World War 1, from freedom to enjoy Canada's economic opportunities, to forced labour and prison in Canada's First World War Internment Camps.

We recently hiked to the waterfalls in Johnson Canyon, located in Canada's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary. Other hardy visitors also enjoyed the walk, on a cold winter day, made beautiful by the sparkling snow and icy rivers. The water gushing from under the ice and snow, rushing into the frigid river that steamed before it froze was a sight to behold.

Then we decided to check on the Castle Mountain Internment Camp.

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     Castle Mountain Internment Camp was an ideal place to confine "enemy aliens" and "suspected enemy sympathizers" during Canada's World War 1 efforts.  In true fact, these people were among the thousands who craved the kind of freedom Canada could provide - and many of their fellow immigrants would prove this point by joining the war effort in Canada's military service to defend these freedoms. 

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Located at the foot of Castle Mountain, prisoners called the tent camps home for the duration of the war.  Grim, totally isolated, confinement really wasn't much necessary for most because of the exhausting forced labour and severe Rocky Mountain terrain and climate.  Today valued tourists and visitors to Banff National Park have scant clue that much of the infrastructure of Banff National Park took shaped during those forced labour years.   

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To get there take the Castle Mountain turnoff from highway 1, that's Highway 93.  You make a right and then a left onto 1A.  Continue west towards Lake Louise. The memorial is on the right, and the Internment Camp is somewhere on the left, but there are no markings, probably because this is a historical site that should be preserved.

The memorial was placed in the summer of 1995.  PLAST Ukrainian Scouts had a summer camp out there, (my husband as a helper), and searched to find the actual site of the Internment Camp.  They found traces in a bit of a clearing,  because the trees cut down in those internment camp years hadn't grown back yet.  The PLAST Ukrainian Scouts group found barbed wire still laying on the ground and there were other signs that people had been there, deep in the mountain wilderness.  Mounds of earth caused the young people to become somber in the erroneous belief that they might have been graves.  

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The site is not far from the railway line, which runs parallel with the river.  It is important to note that general wisdom has it, the internment camp is situated somewhere between the river and the highway, on the opposite side from the actual monument. Clearly Parks Canada doesn't want any persons interfering in the natural processes of history. Now there is a convenient parking spot close to the monument which can be used by guests visiting the general area.  

amk2013 - The crystal clear blue waters of the Bow, that flows through the city of Calgary - in front of Castle Mountain near the Internment Camp.  

http://myrockymountainwindow.com/category/national-mountain-parks/banff-national-park/castle-mountain/