Page 12 - XperienceAlberta-EDA-2025

EXPERIENCE
ALBERTA’S RICH
UKRAINIAN HERITAGE
Photos: Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Government of Alberta
FEATURE
12
Living museum invites
visitors to step back in time
BY BREANNA MROCZEK
A lberta is a province where diversity thrives. One of the most
significant cultural influences is Ukrainian heritage, which
has shaped the province’s history for over a century. Today, locals
and visitors are drawn to the province’s rich Ukrainian roots, eager
to explore its history and experience the traditions that continue
to define this unique corner of Canada.
Alberta’s Ukrainian history can be traced to 1891 when two of
the first Ukrainian immigrants to Canada, Iwan Pylypow and Wasyl
Eleniak, settled in Edna-Star — an area that is now part of Lamont
County, approximately an hour east of Edmonton, Alberta’s capital city.
“They went back home and actually told families and friends
about the vast amount of land and opportunities available, and
more and more Ukrainian people came to Alberta — today, one in
five people in Alberta are actually of Ukrainian heritage,” says Shane
Olson, Manager of Economic Development for Lamont County.
“Lamont County is the cradle of Ukrainian settlement, and we
are very proud of that connection to those very first Ukrainians
XPERIENCE ALBERTA 2 0 2 5 EDAAlberta.ca
who came to Canada in the first wave of immigration between
1891 to 1914, and the many Ukrainians that came to Canada
afterwards,” says David Makowsky, Director of the Ukrainian
Cultural Heritage Village in Lamont County. “For the many
Ukrainians who came to Canada, this was an opportunity to
establish a new life for themselves and for their children, and
the connection to the land is very important for Ukrainians.”
Since 1971, the region where Pylypow and Eleniak first
settled has been the location of the Ukrainian Cultural
Heritage Village, an outdoor living history museum that
depicts Ukrainian immigration to Alberta through interactive
displays and demonstrations of authentic structures, food,
furnishings and handicrafts by the Village’s costumed
interpreters. Visitors discover the Village’s operational grain
elevator, observe pioneer life on the Village’s farmsteads,
and enjoy traditional Ukrainian food. More than 35 historic
buildings from nearby communities have been moved to the
Village’s site and restored.
To keep this history alive, the Friends of the Ukrainian
Village Society — which just celebrated its 40th anniversary in
2024 — support and steward the use of the Ukrainian Cultural
Heritage Village.