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

Rainy, Flood Weather Cancels Event

Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Assumption
amk2013

Amid the emergencies declared today, the surging rivers, heavy flooding waters threatening lives and property in southern Alberta, the Opening Ceremonies of the New "Enemy Aliens" Exhibit in honor of Canada's First World War Internment Operations at the Banff Cave and Basin site were cancelled.

A flurry of phone messages, conflicting emails, and an hour later the Ukrainian community gathered together here, and it seems (although not confirmed) another equally unstoppable Ukrainian community gathered there, in Banff- hopefully in safety.  So on short notice, and with no assurance it was even happening, many Calgarians and guests weathered the rains to attend this commemorative event. 

Assumption Choir loft with Axios Choir
amk2013

At 2 PM this afternoon a Service honoring the memory of those taken by the Canadian government as "enemy aliens" during WW1 was served at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Assumption. Metropolitan Lawrence of the Ukrainian Catholic Church welcomed the steadily growing congregation. Prayers were lifted by clergy of local Ukrainian Catholic Churches, Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Croation Roman Catholic Churches, the service responses sung by Axios Ukrainian Choir of Edmonton (led by Boris Derow, supplemented by the voices of the Edmonton Ukrainian Male Chorus). The gathered congregation heard comments from the President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Paul Grod, and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, Vadym Prystaiko, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Canada, Veselko Grubišić. And then Canadian Minister for Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, The Honorable Jason Kenney spoke on behalf of Canada.

 

Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Paul Grod welcomed the assembled with a message about Canada's illplaced WW1 wartime xenophobia toward Eastern Europeans.  Canadians are applying the lessons in civil society to our nation, and the Cave and Basin will be a teaching tool for our collective future. Ambassador Prystaiko (left) indicated his respect for the lessons Ukraine can learn from Canada in aid of its developing civil society, that is, speaking truth to the world.  Ambassador  Grubišić (right) recognized how large Canada is, and how large democracies can grow and go forward by such events as today.  Canadian Minister of Immigration Kenney spoke about there being no legitimate national, military or security rationale in the development of the WW1 Internment Operations.  The truth of the matter, he indicated, was that the "Internment Operations" were motivated by a misguided, unjust xenophobic attitude toward Eastern Europeans.  The British Crown was, in fact, aware that Eastern Europeans were declaring their loyalty by their numbered participation in the war effort.  In Kenney's eyes, in historical perspective, it seems the "forced labour" of the Internees, may have added a terrible, shadowy dimension. Nonetheless, it is with honor we remember those affected by this sad time in Canadian history.  Their contributions to a greater Canada will always be remembered. 

A small reception including a short program of music from Axios Choir, and guests from Vinnytsia, Ukraine "Darmohray" continued in the parish hall.   After all these years, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association of Canada and the Government of Canada have come to a comfortable agreement with regards to this sad time in Canadian history.  Much to thank the Ukrainian Canadian Congress for as well!  May we continue to be proactive in honoring these truths through the educational programs in Canada's public schools and in our publicly funded Canadian Museums. 

To those who already arrived at the Banff site prior to the declared states of emergency, thanks for being there.  We, in Calgary, knew it was an event too important to cancel, and adapted to the situation.  Heartfelt concern for those evacuated or in peril due to the widespread infrastructure damage by natural causes in the Banff mountain pass areas and local states of emergency declared in Southern Alberta. 

 

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.

amk2013

     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. 

amk2013

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.   

amk2013

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.  

amk2013

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/