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/

Lest We Forget - The Ukrainian Holodomor

What a wonderful Calgary summer weekend for a walk beside the Bow River! 

While trimming the hedge in my front yard this afternoon, my Italian neighbor Vic stopped to chat.  He's not used to walking, nor stopping to chat, but today he was just so excited to tell me about his day!  Leaving his car for repairs downtown, he spent the day marvelling at the beautiful restorations of our Calgary downtown.  His favorite view today was the tree lined road that has such an interesting story to tell!  Welcome to Memorial Drive!

We were amazed to find parking right on Memorial Drive, where there were lots of people cycling or walking east or west. City crews are busy completing the landscaping, and beyond the blooming yellow daylilies you can see the old caragana bushes, century old sentinels and new oak trees between yourself, the glacial fed waters of the Bow River and Calgary's Prince's Island.

Walking in Calgary's Sunnyside community, along Memorial Drive is actually steppng into a living testament honoring Canadian citizens who died for Queen and Country in World War 1. With the passage of time, the service duty of those original trees called for release and retirement - so in 2004 the "Landscape of Memory" Project began its important work revitalizing the nine kilometre road vista. 

Hearing Vic's enthusiasm, taking the time to walk the Calgary Memorial Drive, seeing fellow Calgarians, it also makes me so very proud of our common Canadian citizenship!  That Canadian communities work together to protect the weak, to stand on guard against tyranny, violence and inhumanity, and choose to make "beautiful"  happen, just makes my heart swell. Many Canadians have emigrated here bearing the scars and ancestral memory of horrible deeds done against their people, their culture, and language. Acting together as one free and principled nation, our citizens have the right to memorialize, and bear witness, lead by example and teach the world to do better.

An example of this teaching work is hidden at the east end of Memorial Drive near Edmonton Trail, where there is a small park hosting the Holodomor Monument. Memorializing the unprecidented peace time genocidal restriction of food by the Soviet Regime in Ukraine during 1932-33, this monument to the Holodomor (killing by starvation) actually serves as a point in contrast with Calgary's goodwill - the shelter for homeless people, just across the Edmonton Trail Bridge. Where Calgarians share their goodwill (food, clothing and shelter) the Holodomor memorial ceremonies in late November provide a glimpse into the horrific conditions underwhich millions of people starved in Ukraine - a famine inspired "meal" of thin broth and dry bread.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) and the Memorial in Commemoration of Famines' Victims in Ukraine earlier in July 2012 signed a memorandum of understanding that will see organizational collaboration to promote human rights through education and example.  (KYIV, UKRAINE, Jul 04, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX)

"The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will strive to enhance understanding of human rights issues, not only in Canada, but internationally. Working with excellent institutions like the Memorial is one way for us to meet this noble mandate," said Stuart Murray. "By raising awareness of the Holodomor, the genocide-famine created by the Soviet Union in Ukraine in 1932-33, we hope to remind people the importance of breaking the silence on human rights issues. Denial and suppression only compound the violations that occur. This partnership will help bring the story of the Holodomor to a wider audience, to the benefit of generations to come."

Victor Didenko of the Memorial said, "During the famine of 1932-1933, Ukraine lost at least 4 million people. This number is shocking. The reasons of those events, the scale, and the consequences should be thoroughly investigated, studied, analyzed and reported to the world. The international community should realize that famine is the most terrible and powerful weapon of mass destruction. By means of hunger and the lack of food, tyrants conquered millions of people in the past; they suppressed their freedom and dignity and turned them into slaves. International cooperation with the CMHR will facilitate the comprehensive and objective study of famine as a phenomenon that will prevent such tragedies in the future." http://www.marketwatch.com/story/canadian-museum-for-human-rights-establishes-formal-partnership-with-the-memorial-in-commemoration-of-famines-victims-in-ukraine-2012-07-04

If you have the time, take a moment to hear the words of Gareth Jones, the Holodomor Exposer on BBC Documentary Tonight.  The words of an eyewitness who couldn't bear to hide the truth!

 http://www.ukrcdn.com/2012/07/05/gareth-jones-holodomor-exposer-on-bbc-documentary-tonight

I hope you take the time to walk Memorial Drive soon!  This impressive "Landscape of Memory" is also accessible from downtown via the new Peace Bridge (designed by Santiago Calatrava) across the Bow River which gives you a vista of the impressive Memorial Drive beautification project bordering Sunnyside Community. Calgary is indeed exploring new and traditional ideas about memorializing within the context of an urban setting.