Aha, more information on my immigrant grandparents. One of my relatives told me when I was a child that I was White Russian on my fathers side, whatever that meant. After scanning the immigration documents earlier today, I saw that Ukraina kept coming up - and sure enough, it became Belfield, North Dakota. My grandmother and grandfather are both buried in this church graveyard that is mentioned in this article. I did a quick internet search, and found this. BELFIELD, N.D. - A policeman from Dodge City, N.D., (population: 86) stopped us for speeding. Were lost, I said, looking for sympathy. Can you tell us the way to St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church? I didnt really think he would know, but I thought that, maybe, if we seemed like nice religious girls who had never gone 40 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone before, he might let us off the hook. It didnt work - the officer gave us detailed directions, and a ticket. Many friends told me that North Dakota would be boring, but they were wrong. North Dakota is flat and sparse, but very beautiful. There are herds of cattle and farms everywhere along the roadside, and among them sits St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church - the first Ukrainian church in North Dakota. Originally located in a town called Ukraina, the church was moved to Belfield in 1949. Like many churches, it also serves as a community center. As we drove up, a group of women had just finished making about 800 varenyky to sell as a fund-raiser for a dance program. In 1996, North Dakota Ukrainians will celebrate the 100th anniversary of their arrival. Many Ukrainians, especially those from western Ukraine, settled in the area near St. Demetrius, in western North Dakota. Agnes Palanuk, founder of the Ukrainian Cultural Institute and member of the North Dakota State Historical Board, explained that the free land parceled out to settlers by the Homestead Act was claimed from east to west. Ukrainians, being in one of the last waves of settlers, got the land that was farthest west, in the Badlands. This is where our people settled, said Mrs. Palanuk, in the worst land of North Dakota. (Ironically, some Ukrainian Americans became millionaires during the OPEC oil crisis in the mid-1970s because of oil found on their bad land.) The community stayed intact in large part because in many cases the land stayed in one family, ... because they were tied to the land, said Mrs. Palanuk. These Ukrainians, however, called themselves Russians, possibly because the name Ukraine was not common until after their ancestors emigrated. Dr. Bohdan Hordinsky, who lived near the community of Ukrainians who considered themselves Russian, took it upon himself to enlighten them. More at link! ukrweekly/old/archive/1993/049324.shtml
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 02:20:33 +0000
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