Nestor Dmytriw

The priest who has charge of the spiritual interests of the Ruthenian settlers, commonly called Galicians, Rev. Nestor Dmytrow, has returned from a visit to the settlers in Alberta. They are located fifty miles northeast of Edmonton in the vicinity of Limestone and Beaver lakes, Edna being their post office centre. They number 120 families. Rev. Mr. Dmytrow states that some of them have been working in that district four years, others three years, and some two years, besides the twenty-five families who arrived last spring. Those who have been the longest in the country he finds to be very well off, having as many as twenty-five head of cattle, forty acres under cultivation, good farm buildings and everything in splendid order. One man is erecting a large storage house worth $2000. The settlers who are now in the second year of their residence, now being some twenty families, who came out through the efforts of Prof. Oleskow, have this year reaped their first crop; they are also doing very well. Rev. Mr. Dmytrow does not, however, report so favorably of the condition of those who came last spring from Bukowina. They were not provided with means; and he hopes that the government will come to their assistance to enable them to get through their first winter in the country; indeed he says it is absolutely necessary that this should be done. They number over twenty-five families. The people are seriously hampered by their distance from market and lack means of communication with the outside world. The mail is carried to Edna only once in two weeks; and the rev. gentleman urges very strongly that at least a weekly service be granted. He thinks it would be a great advantage to the settlers if – he could, as was done in the case of Dauphin, induce one of their fellow countrymen able to speak English, to come from Pennsylvania and open a grocery store in the colony. But for the drawbacks indicated he thinks that the colony in question would be the best of all the Ruthenian colonies; taking things as they are, however, he earnestly advises that no more destitute families be sent to that part. The remoteness of the locality and the lack of means of communication render it impossible for poor people to find employment by which they can earn a little money. A priest is expected to come from Galicia this coming winter to take charge of the Alberta colony under the Roman Catholic bishop of St. Albert.[8]

Dmytriw’s records showed 15 families, with children, 78 persons, were settled in Trembowla, the oldest Ukrainian settlement in the vicinity of Dauphin in 1897. In Winnipeg, the population was 200, some spending their winter in the Immigration Hall,[9] waiting to leave for their homesteads in spring, while others had decided to stay in the city and were looking for employment.[10] As the first Ukrainian priest to visit the prairies, Dmytriw began organizing the first Ukrainian religious groups in the area.[11]

While in Alberta in 1897, Dmytriw was informed by Bishop Legal that, “It would be impossible to have two Catholic churches in Canada.” Dmytriw advised the Ukrainian immigrants to be wary of the French clergy, when Legal “secured land for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Edna-Star, then tried to have it registered with his episcopal corporation without consulting the settlers.” [12]

When living in Canada, Dmytriw worked at the immigration bureau in Winnipeg. This helped him in his religious endeavors, giving him the funds to travel throughout the western provinces. The Ukrainian settlers were poor and could not help him in this respect.[13]