No. 9 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2012 11 Ukrainian folklore in Kazakhstan by Natalie Kononenko

PART I Pavlodar is on the other side of the earth – quite literally. There is a 12-hour time dif- ference between Edmonton, Alberta, where I live, and Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, where I spent a month of my summer. Thus, when it is 6 a.m. in Edmonton, it is 6 p.m. in Pavlodar. Getting to Pavlodar takes a full day. I left on the evening of June 15 and, had I made all my connections, I would have arrived on the morning of June 17. Coming home, my travel time, with plane changes, was 23 hours and 45 minutes. So why go to Pavlodar? Part of it is the adventure of it all. But it is not just the risk- taking side of my nature that took me to Pavlodar. There were many other reasons. The personal ones revolve around a desire to see Central Asia, to compare the Kazakh steppe to the Ukrainian one and to the Natalie Kononenko Canadian prairies, to learn more about the Greeting folklorists in Krasilivka. Liubov Yosipivna Loban holds the bread she Bayterek, the observation tower in Turkic world. baked. Next to her is Vira Afanasivna Shpyrt. Astana. Like many Ukrainians born outside of going to Pavlodar. Many of the villages to ology dictated a certain interpretation of ry department who were documenting the their home country, I had an imagined the north and east of Pavlodar, villages with folklore and allowed collection of only sacred heritage of the Canadian prairies, Ukraine – a constructed and romanticized names like Khmelnitskye, were settled by those genres that supported a Soviet- photographing rural churches that had fall- picture of my homeland that I had formed Ukrainians at about the same time that approved world view. Thus, genres that en into disuse and might soon disappear. in my mind and that begged to be com- Ukrainians came to Canada. Studying folk- might be construed to extol Ukrainian Working with this group I asked the histor- pared to the real thing. I have been able to lore in these villages would do a great deal nationalism, such as historical poems or ical questions that they wanted answered satisfy my desire to see the real Ukraine, towards helping me understand Ukrainian dumy, were taboo, and I felt that it was my and, for the folklore component, I asked having done extensive fieldwork there folklore in Canada. I had learned over my duty to write about these poems and other about rituals. I asked about holidays such since a few years after Ukrainian long academic career that comparative historical genres and about the profession- as Christmas and Easter. I gathered infor- Independence and having travelled to work is enormously rewarding. If one can al minstrels who performed them, which I mation about weddings and funerals and many regions of the country. look at a phenomenon such as adaptation did. baptisms. I also did some documentation of Unlike many Ukrainians, however, I also to a new setting from more than one per- The Second All-Russia Folklore Congress material culture, namely embroideries and had an imagined Central Asia. I am not sure spective, then the insights one gains are was not all-Russian by any means. In fact, other textiles, and interviewed collectors of how I acquired this image. Perhaps it was multiplied many-fold. there were many colleagues from Ukraine Ukrainian folk art. my work on Ukrainian “dumy,” epics in So, when the opportunity to do field- and other nation-states that had once been My work in Ukrainian Canada was most which Turkic warriors come charging from work in Kazakhstan presented itself, I part of the Soviet Union. The papers these enjoyable and rewarding, but I knew it the steppe. Perhaps it was the time that I accepted. I will not pretend that I did not folklorists, and those from Russia itself, could be better still with a comparative spent in Turkey working on my doctoral hesitate. I knew that the trip would be diffi- presented were very good. Listening to dimension. Here too the Second All-Russia dissertation. Whatever the cause, I had cult and that the circumstances under them I got no sense that something was Folklore Congress came into play, for it was acquired my imagined Central Asia – and I which I would work would be trying. Later, being left unexplored or that scholars were there that I met Alevtina Cvetkova, a folk- had never seen the real thing. Thus, my when things went wrong and a money forcing an interpretation onto their data. lorist from Pavlodar Toraygyrov State curiosity was great. transfer I sent was not accepted, when Their folklore work was of the highest University. She invited me to join her on a There were also academic reasons for e-mail failed to function, when I was unable quality. field trip to the Ukrainian villages of to reach any of my contacts by phone, my At the same time it became painfully Kazakhstan. For her, inviting me was an Natalie Kononenko is professor and Kule doubts about the wisdom of my decision to clear that similarly good folklore work was opportunity to learn about Western Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography at the travel mounted. But I went nonetheless. not being done in Canada. People would approaches. She perhaps also saw a chance University of Alberta. She received her Ph.D. The catalyst for the trip was the Second ask me about the study of Ukrainian and to advance her own position at her univer- from Harvard University in Slavic and All-Russia Folklore Congress in Moscow, other Slavic traditions in Canada and I had sity and to push for more attention to the Turkic folklore under the direction of held in February 2010. A friend talked me to admit that much of the collecting work study of Slavic folklore in a political atmo- Omeljan Pritsak and Albert B. Lord, and into going – then cancelled her trip so that I here was done by students. The sort of sphere that promoted all things Kazakh at taught for 30 years at the University of ended up being the only person from North detailed and systematic research that was the expense of other nationalities. For me it Virginia before coming to Canada. She is the America at the meeting. But the adventures being done in the post-Soviet world was was that chance to go to Central Asia. author of “Ukrainian Minstrels: And the of that meeting are the topic of another sadly lacking in Canada. It was this realiza- Academically, the Kazakhstan project Blind Shall Sing” and “Slavic Folklore: A story. tion that led me to commit myself to was to be similar to my work in Canada: it Handbook” and has edited books on Prior to that Congress I had felt that one Ukrainian Canadian folklore research. was to be the collection of ritual informa- Ukrainian dumy and “The Magic Egg and of my tasks as a scholar was to present the I started on Ukrainian Canadian field- tion. The comparative part was to include Other Tales from Ukraine.” Her trip to folklore of the Slavic world, specifically work in the summer of that same year. I both Canada and Ukraine, because my Kazakhstan was sponsored by the Kule Ukraine, in a manner that my Soviet headed out to the Peace country of north- many trips to Ukraine had also produced Endowment. Ukrainian colleagues could not. Soviet ide- ern Alberta with colleagues from the histo- extensive documentation of ritual. I must thank Ms. Cvetkova for giving me my Kazakh opportunity and I must also com- mend her for having the courage to invite a woman she had barely met to come and live with her for a month. I learned a great deal in Kazakhstan. I learned about ritual processes and adapta- tion to a new environment, the academic purpose of my trip. I also learned about possible reactions to the post-Soviet world and variation in the creation of new nation- states from old Soviet fabric. I learned about ethnic tensions. I learned about the role that folklore plays in the lives of people no matter who or where they are. My trip began with official duties. Bureaucracy and proper procedure are very important in Kazakhstan, perhaps as much as they were the Soviet Union, and this was brought home to me time and Alevtina Cvetkova in Pavlodar. She is a again. My flight into Kazakhstan was Peschanoye was once a Kozak outpost on the River Irtysh. Shown are the remnants of a professor at Pavlodar Toraygyrov State Kozak grave marker. University. (Continued on page 17) No. 9 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2012 17

was a foreigner and decided to kidnap me and hold me for Ukrainian folklore... ransom. I faced no such dangers in Kazakhstan. In addition to the bureaucracy and the close monitoring (Continued from page 11) of my activities, there were many other things in plagued with problems from delayed take-offs to missed Kazakhstan that reminded me of my times in the Soviet connections and lost luggage. Union. One was the lack of consumer goods, especially When I finally arrived in Pavlodar I was allowed to rest Western ones. There are no McDonalds in Pavlodar, or briefly and then sent to perform bureaucratic chores. I was even in the capital, Astana. You cannot buy a Coke, though told I had to register my residence, something I have not Ukrainian juices and horilka were available, and the local had to do in Ukraine since Soviet times. After standing in beer was quite good. There are some imported goods, like line for a long time to learn that Canadians did not need a clothing and appliances, but most are from neighboring residency permit, my hostess and I went to Pavlodar China or the Middle East, with a few things from Europe Toraygyrov State University, where I had to pay my and nothing from the United States. respects to myriad officials. We went in reverse order, first The official reason for lack of consumer goods is a policy the various lesser officials and then the higher-level digni- of isolationism, keeping out foreign products that might taries. compete with Kazakh-produced merchandise. There may After that I went to pay my fees, a process that was in also be some attempt to keep the local population from itself a bureaucratic nightmare. I could not simply sign an knowing about life in the West, much as there was in the agreement saying that I would pay a certain price for my Soviet Union. I cannot speak to this because this was not transportation and lodging; before I left Canada I had to mentioned by anyone, but I can say that most television send a letter from my university, complete with an official shows featured local or Russian programs. Foreign films signature and a stamp. Since stamps are not part of dubbed into Russian seemed more scarce than in Russia Canadian bureaucracy, as onerous as it may be, finding itself. something that would pass as a stamp proved to be a chal- While people in Kazakhstan got little chance to learn Mykhail Serfiiovych Paripsa, the head of the Ukrainian about life in the West, they could potentially see economic lenge. Once stamped, this letter had to go to Kazakhstan in organization in Pavlodar and all Kazakhstan. prosperity rivalling that of any Western city right in their hard copy; a fax would not do and, since registered mail is own capital. There is a stark contrast between the country- seldom sent between Edmonton and Pavlodar, this official side and the opulence of Astana. Many villages lack roads, letter (in three copies) took almost a month to reach its and one simply drives across the steppe to get to where destination, something that made both me and my hosts one is going. Electricity was available in all locations that I very nervous. But the letter did arrive shortly before I did visited, but there was no gas except that sold in canisters, and I paid the agreed-upon fees. and there was no plumbing expect in a few houses where The pressure to follow protocol did not end with my day the owners had installed water pumps. of bureaucratic formalities at the university. In every vil- Meanwhile, Astana has gorgeous and literally shining lage we visited I had to check in with the local “akim,” or buildings, coated with colored glass to reflect the sun. government head, and I had to pay my respects to every There are stunning flower beds with flowers planted to district akim as well. If the akim was not there on the day look like Kazakh decorative motifs. There are recreation of my arrival, I had to go back and pay my respects at a and amusement areas with such frivolous attractions as an later date, even if it interfered with my work, but not fol- indoor wave pool and miniature replicas of world heritage lowing proper procedure was not a option. When my trip monuments such as the Statue of Liberty. And there is an was over, I had to return to the university for a round of observation tower from which one could survey the whole An interesting embroidery in Krasilovka, The words formal farewells, something that I found quite burdensome glittering panorama. read: “Ukraine is our dear mother. Kazakhstan is our since I was trying to pack and to make copies of all of my People did not seem to resent the Astana/village con- father.” data. trast. Rather, they seemed to take pride in what had been can be cooked for the midday meal and reheated for the The formalities were time-consuming. I also got the accomplished in Astana and to feel that improvements evening meal and for breakfast. But it is a very monoto- uncomfortable feeling that I was constantly under surveil- would eventually come to villages. nous diet and I had no idea how tasty something like corn lance, that my every move was being watched. This too Man-made factors are not the only thing that deter- or broccoli would seem until I had spent a month in reminded me of Soviet times. mines life in Kazakhstan. Climate and topography are very Kazakhstan. But as unpleasant as the formalities may have been, important. The land is harsh. The area where I was is flat There was also a lack of fruits. Villagers did have berries they did have their benefits. Because the whole trip was and gets little rain. Lakes or ponds are few, and many of the such as strawberries and raspberries in their gardens, but I quite formal and official, there was always a place for us to ones that do exist are salt lakes and not potable; little seemed to be one of the few people interested in eating stay. Sometimes there was transportation to the next vil- grows around them. In the summer, the temperature can them raw. Most people saw them as suitable for conversion lage. People were ready for us, and we did not have to reach 100 degrees; in the winter, it can be minus 40. into jam which would be eaten with the enormous quanti- spend several hours explaining what we were doing. Often Winds blow with no impediments and are strong ties of tea with milk that everyone drank. local officials had identified several people for us to inter- enough to virtually knock you off your feet. A particularly Kazakhstan is a very large country – the ninth largest in view. If I compare this to my field experiences in Ukraine fierce storm is the winter “buran,” a white-out snow storm the world – but it is sparsely populated. It has mineral where everything was quite free-wheeling and where my characterized by horizontally blowing snow. Trees grow resources and oil and gas, but it is just not that wealthy. field partners and I would arrive in a village with no notice, only on river banks and in villages where they get some Kazakhstan’s low population density and its flat landscape, no contacts and no certainty that we would find a place to shelter from the wind. Attempts to plant rows of trees as probably along with its remoteness from Moscow and its stay for the night, I can see that the formality of my windbreaks, something that was done successfully on the non-European indigenous population, prompted the Soviet Kazakhstan arrangements did have its advantages. Ukrainian steppe, has, on the Kazakh steppe, produced government to select it as the site for its atomic bomb test- Even being constantly tracked and monitored had its rows of blackened tree stumps. ing program. The area around Semipalatinsk, not that far plus side. In Ukraine I had been taught not to let people It is difficult to convey the overwhelming feeling of iso- from Pavlodar, was the location of some 460 nuclear explo- know that I was a foreigner. I was told not to register or lation that one gets in the wide open spaces of Kazakhstan. sions between 1949 and 1989. Nuclear testing has check in with village officials because that might make the The horizons are endless and the land featureless. But the stopped, but its legacy lingers. people whom I wanted to interview nervous, and I got very strongest impression was the feeling of falling off the edge Kazakhstan is still an area where pollution is tolerated. good at blending in and virtually disappearing. This almost of the world that I got when I reached the end of a village. In Pavlodar itself there is an aluminum plant with three led to a real disappearance on one occasion when a couple Inside a village one is surrounded by houses and vegeta- enormous smoke stacks that constantly spew toxins over of thugs in a particularly poor village did discover that I tion. There are streets and animals and people. But when the city. Concerns about its health effects surface constant- you come to the end of a street, as I did while walking ly, and time and again the choice between the population’s around villages looking for the homes of people I had been health and economic prosperity is resolved in favor of the told to interview, you are confronted with nothing. The vil- latter. lage ends; the street ends – and there is steppe, just steppe, As I drove around Kazakhstan, I saw other factories an endless expanse of brownish, sunburnt grass stretching with smokestacks touching the clouds and adding a brown as far as the eye can see. There are no houses, no trees, no streak to them. I could not help but notice the general ill animals – nothing. Sometimes far, far in the distance I health of the population, the high blood pressure, the aches could see a black mass – the village cattle herd. Sometimes and pains, the mobility problems. Was this caused by pol- closer by there would be the lone silhouette of a horse on lution? It is almost impossible to tell without a systematic the horizon – a beautiful picture, but one that emphasized study. What I saw could also be the result of lack of health the isolation of the steppe. care: medical services, especially in villages, are difficult to Needless to say, this is not an easy place to grow any- obtain. thing. All garden plants such as tomatoes are surrounded What was striking was that people had an almost by little dams meant to trap the precious few drops of macho approach to the situation. Pollution was one of the water. The most successful farm products are wheat, cattle many adversities that the harshness of life in Kazakhstan and sheep. The latter are consumed primarily by Kazakhs; presented and the country’s residents took a certain pride the Slavs prefer beef to mutton or lamb. The diet consists in facing adversity. The climate was a challenge and pollu- of various dough products and meat, which may not sound tion was another aspect of the environment that needed to bad until one has eaten meat, often fatty meat, with vari- be dealt with and overcome. The attitude toward pollution ous forms of boiled dough and virtually no vegetables for a was analogous to the attitude toward the economy. There Map of Kazakhstan indicating the location of its capital month. This is a very practical diet. The “manty” and “pil- was optimism that, now that Kazakhstan was independent, and Pavlodar. meni,” two forms of dumplings filled with chopped meat, the problems would be solved. No. 10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012 11 Ukrainian folklore in Kazakhstan by Natalie Kononenko

CONCLUSION Ukrainian villages The specific villages that I went to are called Ukrainian villages. They were founded by Ukrainians more than 100 years ago as a result of the Stolypin Reforms. Pyotr Stolypin, Russia’s agricultural minister and later prime minister, opened up lands such as those located around Pavlodar and encouraged the settlement of peasants by granting private ownership of land. This measure, he hoped, would make capitalists out of farmers and lead them to support tsarist rule. It was the Stolypin Reforms that first brought peasants from Ukraine to Kazakhstan. The stories about the early settlers were tales of cour- age. I heard about groups of men coming to an essentially barren land and building sod houses, then bringing their families to join them. The names of the founders were known in most villages and current residents took pride in being descended from them. There were also interesting legends about Stolypin him- The Ukrainian club in Rozhdestvenka. self. A number of people claimed that he had actually visit- charge of their lives. mals such as cows to small ones such as fowl. Still, there ed their villages once they were officially founded, usually One woman I interviewed in Sherbakty had been the were people who kept literally hundreds of geese and around 1908-1909, and that he had approved of what he head of a Ukrainian workers’ brigade sent to build the grain chickens, which they sold for meat. They also had at least a saw. Krasilovka, a village whose name derives from elevator. She met her future husband and stayed, and she few head of cattle and sold sour cream and butter, the “krasa,” a word that means beauty, boasted that the name was proud of her life and her contribution to the village. dairy products that keep well. Most villagers, however, did of the village was bestowed by Stolypin himself. The downside to the frontier mentality of the local pop- not prosper under privatization unless at least one mem- Later migrations of Ukrainians came in the 1930s in ber had a job outside the family farm, such as in the village response to the Holodomor. Kazakhstan itself experienced ulation is the willingness to tolerate pollution. Otherwise their positive outlook is most heartening. administration or the village school. a famine at that time, but land was more plentiful and req- I learned a great deal in Kazakhstan and not just about uisitioning efforts were not as severe. Russians also came The villages have experienced new challenges in recent times. When the Soviet Union collapsed, many ethnic keeping chickens, and separating milk, and making little to Kazakhstan, though there does not seem to be a specific dams to concentrate water on tomato plant roots. I learned period of Russian immigration. A big influx of population Germans left for Germany. Right now, large portions of some villages are deserted with collapsed houses or com- about folklore and culture and, comparing what I saw to came during the second world war. As Kazakhstan was what I had seen in Canada and Ukraine, I was able to gain pletely empty lots because of German outmigration. Farms, used for dangerous nuclear tests, so it was also used for the insights into cultural adaptation that I had sought. grain elevators and factories sit idle. people who were deemed dangerous by the Soviet regime, I think that one of the most important things that I As I worked in the various villages to the east and north namely ethnic Germans, specifically those who had been learned is that each geographical region develops its own of Pavlodar, there would be stark contrasts from village to living along the Volga. Ukrainian villages were among the culture and folklore. The culture and lore cannot be fully village. The Soviet Union had produced a relatively efficient recipients of exiled Germans. explained by the region in which a particular group finds system of working the land. Family plots were small, and the The last big influx of new settlers came with the Virgin itself though the nature of the region is important and that Lands program in the late 1950s and early ’60s. In villagers worked in large collectives, seeding huge tracks of is why I have given the description above. But climate, response to Nikita Khrushchev’s plan to turn the Kazakh land with wheat, barley, buckwheat and even corn. geography and contact cultures cannot fully explain what steppe into a major grain-producing area, people came Collectives owned literally thousands of heads of cattle. is going on and neither is there a uniform process that from Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere in the Soviet Union. Land was privatized when Kazakhstan became an inde- occurs whenever a culture moves outside its home. Rather, The first assumption that I encounter from people in pendent nation. If people took their individual allotments, culture seems to be an entity that takes on a life of its own the diaspora who hear about my trip is that the Ukrainians and especially if there was a loss of population due to the and develops much like a living organism. in Kazakhstan were victims, exiled there by Soviet authori- departure of Germans, then the villages struggled. If, how- The Ukrainians in Kazakhstan have developed a unique ties. The people in the villages around Pavlodar were any- ever, the collective stayed together, then the villages pros- culture. This culture varies from village to village, but thing but that. They saw themselves as brave pioneers, pered. there is enough consistency to make it clear that there is a conquerors of a wild frontier. They were people who took This was the case in Orlovka, where the village head north Kazakhstan Ukrainian culture. The people speak a under the Soviet system, a descendant of the original turn- language that they call “khokhliatsky,” a term derived from Natalie Kononenko is professor and Kule Chair of of-the-century Ukrainian settlers named Poliakov, kept the “khokhol,” the derogatory Russian slang word for Ukrainian Ethnography at the University of Alberta. She village together as a corporation in which each resident “Ukrainian.” This is a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian, received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in Slavic and held a share. In Orlovka the streets are clean and in good but it is not the “surzhyk” Ukrainian-Russian mix found in Turkic folklore under the direction of Omeljan Pritsak and repair. The fields are green and not fallow. The village owns Ukraine itself. Albert B. Lord, and taught for 30 years at the University of 8,000 head of cattle, some beef and some dairy, and has Rituals like weddings also have a mix of Ukrainian and Virginia before coming to Canada. She is the author of worked out an interesting system of letting the herd stay in Russian elements, but, like the language, the mix is differ- “Ukrainian Minstrels: And the Blind Shall Sing” and “Slavic the steppe and trucking the milkmaids and milking equip- ent from what I had seen elsewhere. The consistency of Folklore: A Handbook” and has edited books on Ukrainian ment out to the cows. Needless to say, no one left a place the mix from village to village made it clear that this was a dumy and “The Magic Egg and Other Tales from Ukraine.” like Orlovka and there are no empty houses. regional tradition, with variants, of course, but still enough Her trip to Kazakhstan was sponsored by the Kule In villages that did not follow Orlovka’s example, some common features to make it identifiable as a local type. Endowment. people did relatively well. There was a shift from large ani- As in Canada, practical considerations play an impor- tant role in shaping local ritual. In Canada, where one rural priest serves 10 to 15 churches, the Christmas Eve service can be on Christmas Eve, or on Christmas Day, or several days before or after Christmas, depending on when the priest can visit a particular location. The “Khram,” or “Praznyk,” the special celebration which takes place on the feast day of the saint after whom a church is named, is often moved to the summer if the particular saint’s day falls in winter, when country roads make travelintraveling difficult. “Provody,” the remembrance day for ancestors that should take place a week after Easter, can take place then or well into the summer, many weeks after Easter and sometimes as late as after Pentecost. This tends to be the day when people who have moved away from a village return to visit family gravesites and reconnect with their place of origin. Because this is such a big event, it is often combined with khram or Natalie Kononenko praznyk, and baptisms and weddings are often scheduled Lylia Yakovlivna Ivolha in the village of Sosnovka. If for the same day. About the only things that cannot be you don’t have a bandura, a guitar will do. The green scheduled to coincide with Provody are funerals. paint was a way to repair the cracks in the guitar and Being taught about local plants in Orlovka. improve the sound. (Continued on page 15) No. 10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012 15

go out to the well on the eve of Epiphany Ukrainian folklore... and draw water which they sincerely believe has magical properties. Any num- (Continued from page 11) ber of people, both villagers and urban The dominance of practical consider- dwellers, swore that the water was special ations is understandable in Canada where and had magical and healing powers. As there is an absence of magical world view evidence they pointed out that Epiphany and rituals are more a matter of social con- water, unlike regular water, would not vention than an attempt to influence the spoil: there was never any trace of sedi- future. ment or algae. In Kazakhstan a magical world view per- Some people said that simply drawing sists and may be even stronger than in water on the eve of January 19 was not Ukraine, perhaps because of the harsh liv- enough and that special actions needed to ing conditions. But rituals are governed by be taken. These included drawing water at practical considerations nonetheless. While a certain time, usually midnight, though 4 Malanka, the New Year’s Eve celebration, a.m. and 6 a.m. were also mentioned. Some has flourished in urban Canada, perhaps people said that the water needed to be left because it offers one more party to add to outside for several hours so that the light of the holiday season, in Kazakhstan the big the moon and the stars could shine on it social event is Maslenytsia, the Shrove cele- and confer the power of the heavens. A bration before Great Lent. very few said that water either needed to The choice of Maslenytsia is not motivat- be drawn at the time that a church service ed by the importance of Lent to the local would normally take place or that it need- ed to be set out at that time. Natalie Kononenko examinines embroideries in Sherbakty with Tetiana Dmytriivna population. In fact, Lent is largely ignored, Tataryntseva. probably because there are no legumes or The belief in the magical properties of other vegetables to substitute for the meat Epiphany water was remarkably wide- is quite different from the situation that I ritual process. Lack of consistency did not and milk protein that constitutes such an spread. I found it among religious people found in Ukraine where magic practices, bother anyone and even some destructive important part of the diet. Rather, and those who were not religious but had charms and magical actions among them, behavior such as stealing chickens and Maslenytsia has come to the fore and the magical world view we often associate abounded, but were hidden from view. scratching up the walls of the groom’s become an event celebrated, not just in the with the folk, especially those living in vil- People were reluctant to admit to knowl- house was tolerated. home but in the village center, with offi- lages. I also found it in the city. A very edge of magic in Ukraine, but not in Comic and destructive elements are cials, schoolchildren, in fact most of the vil- sophisticated person, one of the organizers Kazakhstan. This is possibly the result of found not only in weddings but also in cal- lage in attendance, because it comes close of my trip and an avowed atheist, also more extensive persecution of behavior endar rituals such as Christmas and to coinciding with Navriz, the holiday of the swore by the power of Epiphany water and that would be deemed superstitious and Maslenytsia/Shrove. People even talked New Year celebrated by the Kazakh popula- gave me a number of other instances thus un-Soviet in Ukraine, a country closer about the necessity of joking at funerals to tion. With the emphasis on Kazakh culture where he had observed the intervention of to the Soviet heartland than the remote entertain the deceased and stated that this that has come with independence and the the supernatural into his life. We cannot areas around Pavlodar. was especially important while washing new, Kazakh-led regime, celebrating a make neat categories and state that a magi- The contrast between Ukraine and the body. A serious approach to ritual does Ukrainian holiday that can be combined cal world view is characteristic of unedu- Kazakhstan is also quite curious and needs not preclude levity. with one that is part of the dominant cul- cated people only. further investigation since people in Throughout my professional career I ture is a good way to promote one’s own. A similar combination of the practical Kazakhstan attributed the source of their have sought to understand why folklore and the magical can be found in the area of Kazakhstan does not have the practice magical knowledge to Ukraine and, indeed, persists. Travelling through a number of folk medicine. Folk medicine includes, in of assigning one priest to serve a circuit of the notebooks they showed me with villages fairly quickly as I did on this trip, it addition to holy water, various herbs and churches and, as a result, many villages charms and instructions for performing became obvious that folklore is necessary tinctures made from them. Physical manip- have no church and no clergy. The practical magical curative acts were in Ukrainian, for well-being. Perhaps the benefits of folk- ulation, bone-setting included, falls in this solution to this situation is for villagers to not “khokhliatsky.” lore stood out with special clarity against category. There is also widespread use of perform various rites themselves, including People took magic seriously in the harsh natural and political environ- charms and magic actions such as rinsing important religious ones such as baptism. Kazakhstan and they fully believed in the ment of Kazakhstan, but they were impos- the face of a colicky baby with dirty dish- Weddings can be performed with no clergy efficacy of ritual acts. At the same time, sible to ignore. Those villages in which peo- water and wiping it with the inside of one’s present. They are then officially registered they viewed rituals as fun occasions, a ple actively engage in various forms of folk- apron or skirt. to meet bureaucratic demands. Registration chance to have a good time. lore are much more cheerful and friendly. Some of these charms or actions need to can occur before the wedding, as in The ritual elements that are most con- In some villages no one does embroi- be performed by a specialist, but many do Ukraine, or it can occur after the wedding, sistent among Ukraine, Canada and dery and the only embroidered objects not. In fact, in the absence of specialists, sometimes long after the wedding. It does Kazakhstan are not the solemn ones, the were heirlooms made by mothers or people write down charms and instructions not seem to matter as long as the ritual ones that seal the bond of matrimony, for grandmothers. When I asked about for performing actions and say the charms example. Instead what people remember itself, the folk aspect of the wedding, is per- embroidery, people said that it was a thing and perform the magical actions them- and what persists from country to country formed. of the past and that the old items, many of Perhaps the most striking practical per- selves. Cures are used to relieve human suf- are carnivalesque elements such as cross- which were indeed treasured, did not really formance of a ritual act comes at Jordan, or fering and are also widely applied to farm dressing at weddings. In all three places the fit in the home any more. As a result, they Kreshchenie, usually called Epiphany in the animals, especially cattle, which is quite solemn part of the wedding is followed by a gave them to local museums. West. Water is blessed in church on this understandable considering the impor- mock wedding with a humorous mock In Rozhdestvenka, inspired by an elderly day and people take it home to use for ill- tance of cattle to the local economy. bride and groom. Who gets dressed up as and locally born resident named Klavdia ness. They use it to bless the house and the In Kazakhstan, people were not reluc- the fake and funny couple varies, but some Tereshyna and a woman who had moved to cattle, and keep it for any situation where a tant to talk about resorting to various mag- sort of costuming, complete with feasting, the village from Ukraine named Evheniia little divine help in necessary. ical practices; they showed me their books often on stolen food, is a regular feature. Bikotserkivets, everyone embroiders. They With no village church, there is no place of charms and let me photograph them. To People felt that weddings were important do some embroidery of the traditional type to get water blessed on Epiphany. The solu- them, this was just something that was and solemn occasions, but they did not feel on ritual cloths called “rushnyky” and some tion to this problem is very simple: People done and not really anything special. This that they had to be solemn throughout the on a more recent modification, namely the pillow cushion. But they also do embroi- dered pictures with scenes reflecting life in Ukraine, or Ukrainian life as they imagine it to be, but most pictures have modern and area-specific motifs such as local flowers and even a mosque. The women in Rozhdestvenka are also remarkably cheerful. Their village is not super-prosperous like Orlovka, and neither is it run-down like Krasilovka. But the women are noticeably happier than women who do not engage in crafts. I should note that, in northern Alberta, women with a similar disposition are also embroiderers or weavers, or people who enjoy some other craft such as crochet and the embroiders also make pictures often featuring Canadian scenes. Embroidery is only one of the folklore Lydia Danylivna Filicheva (maiden name forms that leads to spiritual and physical Boyko) and her husband Petro Natalie Kononenko Fedorovych, village of Orlovka. Their Borys Ivanovych Radchanko and his wife, Kateryna Mykolayivna, with their well-being. In several villages there are house was filled with Ukrainian embroi- Kazakh neighbors. The little girl plays at the Radchenkos’ house and calls them deries done by Lydia. “baba” and “dido.” (Continued on page 18) 18 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012 No. 10

wreaths, complete with ribbons. The wed- Ukrainian folklore... dings had taken place in Kovalevka and “Shevchenko on the Bowery” the family, while maintaining its German (Continued from page 15) identity, saw no problem with adopting to be featured on March 10 Ukrainian wedding wreaths. There are ethnic tensions in NEW YORK – Poetry by Taras “We purposely chose a variety of transla- Kazakhstan. While this country was under Shevchenko will be featured in New York tions of Shevchenko’s poetry,” noted Prof. City’s prestigious Bowery Poetry Club on Motyl, Mr. Makhno’s collaborator on the Soviet domination, everyone resented the Saturday, March 10, in 90-minute event project. “We wanted the audience to hear Russians because it was they who got the titled “Shevchenko on the Bowery.” different voices with different nuances and best jobs, the best schooling, the nicest liv- “As the 200th year anniversary of different approaches.” ing quarters. Now that Shevchenko’s birth approaches, we wanted “Shevchenko’s poetry looks simple,” Kazakhstan is independent to expose New Yorkers to Shevchenko the explained Mr. Makhno, “but the reality is and ruled by an ethnic great Romantic poet,” said Vasyl Makhno, a that it is profoundly complex, and translat- Kazakh, albeit one who Ukrainian-language poet and one of the ing it while remaining true to the original’s was Communist Party head event’s co-organizers. “The audience will sound, structure, and meaning is almost prior to independence, hear poems about love, fate, hope, despair, impossible.” everyone who is not a freedom, and a host of other topics that “Shevchenko on the Bowery” will start at Kazakh resents the Kazakhs. have traditionally concerned poets around 8 p.m. on the dot and conclude at 9:30 p.m. Virtually every village akim the world.” The Bowery Poetry Club is located at 308 and all district akims were Most of the poetry will be read in English Bowery, New York, NY 10012, just north of Kazakhs. The police are translation (by Peter Fedynsky, George Houston Street; telephone, 212-614-0505. Kazakh. The officials at the Grabowicz, Alexander Motyl , Vera Rich and “The Bowery has traditionally been home border when I flew in were Roman Turovsky), with only some in the to outsiders and outcasts,” said Prof. Motyl, all Kazakhs. Ukrainian original. Readings will be per- “and, although we know that Shevchenko In the village of Krasilovka, Halyna But resentment against any nationality formed by Mr. Fedynsky, Prof. Grabowicz, Bob was a genius, we often forget that he was Ivanivna Lybid holds her wedding icon exists in the abstract only. Just as Kazakhs with the wedding wreath inside. Holman, Svitlana Makhno, Mr. Makhno, Prof. also the quintessential Ukrainian outsider helped Ukrainians when they first came to Motyl and Mr. Turovsky. Bandurist Julian and outcast. What better place to hear his groups that get together to sing. Some of settle in this land, so now individual Kytasty will offer two musical interludes. poetry?” these groups are formally organized by a Kazakhs and Ukrainians and Russians and local official such as the Dom Kultury Germans are on the best of terms. In (House of Culture) worker. The formal Uspenka a Ukrainian family whom I inter- groups get together to sing for personal viewed had Kazakh neighbors and the lit- enjoyment. They also perform at various tle Kazakh child living next door not only University of Alberta off ers holidays and other community events played at the home of the Ukrainian cou- where they not only sing, but showcase ple, but called them “baba” and “dido.” I travel-study course in Lviv crafts and foods, and engage in competi- stayed with Kazakh families as well as EDMONTON, Alberta – The Ukrainian instruction is in Ukrainian. The course tions akin to bake-offs. Some groups get with Ukrainian ones. Culture, Language and Literature Program dates are: May 18-June 15. together informally. There are legends about the past which at the University of Alberta has announced This course is open to all residents of In Khmelnitskoye, a group of widows blame the Kazakhs for plugging up springs the 11th annual travel-study course in Lviv: Canada as well as all international students. gathers to sing and chat. We joined them with felt and thus depriving the area of “Ukrainian through Its Living Culture I & II” Individuals who attend institutions other than for a birthday celebration that featured water. But the legends voice precisely the (UKR 300/400), which will be conducted the University of Alberta should apply for food, drink and plenty of singing. Both for- general and abstract hostility that people by Prof. Alla Nedashkivska. admission to Open Studies before contacting mal and informal groups tend to be multi- feel. Concrete individuals are honored and This is an intensive course designed to the Department of Modern Languages and ethnic. In the case of services provided by a cherished, regardless of nationality. enhance practical language skills through a Cultural Studies for registration. village official, multiculturalism is a govern- And this report would not be complete direct experience of current life in Ukraine. Open Studies may be contacted by phone, ment mandate. But informal groups are without the mention of at least a few of The course employs contemporary popular 780-492-4601. For more information, read- also inclusive. The one in Khmelnitskoye is the many moving individual stories that I culture and media, taking maximum advan- ers may visit the course site: http://www. predominantly Ukrainian, but also has two heard. I talked to a couple, both of whom tage of the urban Lviv environment to arts.ualberta.ca/%7Eukraina/study_in_ Russian members and a Kazakh. The songs had tragically lost their spouses and expand vocabulary and comprehension. All ukraine/ukrainian_through_its_liv/. they sing are also predominantly descended into depression, but then found Ukrainian, though all members know and each other, and experienced recovery and perform Russian and Kazakh songs as well. happiness. I talked to several couples who Maintaining ethnic purity, so frequently had been together all their long lives and Alleged plot... causing a lot of confusion,” he said. a concern in Ukrainian diaspora groups shared their enthusiasm for Ukrainian both in Canada and the United States is just song and other folk arts. There was a man With Interfax, ITAR-TASS, AFP, and AP (Continued from page 2) not a concern here. In fact, it was not a con- who had become an alcoholic and whose reporting. cern in rural Alberta and people made or wife and children left him. He had recov- comedy theater, the sports palace, the Copyright 2012, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted sang what appealed to them, regardless of ered with the help of his mother and Athena shopping center. So they seemed with the permission of Radio Free Europe/ its ethnic origin. Ethnic purity, like main- music, and now kept his mother’s house, to be suggesting that these comrades were Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, taining solemnity during rituals or differ- which was immaculate, and played the preparing an explosion in the city, at some Washington DC 20036 (see http://www. entiating the magical from the scientific is accordion while his mother played guitar. big gathering point. And all these theories rferl.org/content/report_plot_to_kill_putin_ not important. I am truly lucky that people would seemed to change at the speed of sound, foiled/24497127.html). That being said, Ukrainian culture did allow me into their lives and talk to me dominate in many ways. Alevtina Cvetkova, and share their arts. When we went to an ethnic Russian herself, said that it was Uspenka, the otherwise careful planning The Board of Governors of the because Ukrainians prize their culture of my various trips failed and we were not more than other ethnic groups. Other rea- expected when we arrived. At first the vil- Ukrainian American Bar Association sons might be that Ukrainians outnumber lage akim, one of the few officials who was other nationalities in the villages that I vis- an ethnic Ukrainian, was quite hostile. But is pleased to announce ited or that they, as village founders, have when I started interviewing some of the the establishment of the established their culture more firmly. local residents, the akim and the other vil- In any case, there are more Ukrainian lagers whom he had summoned decided clubs in various villages, more singing that what we were doing was actually groups that dress in Ukrainian costume (or quite interesting – they were able to learn what they think is Ukrainian costume) about themselves as well as help me learn. UABA INTERNSHIP PROGRAM when they perform. Perhaps the most As a result, the akim offered to have us striking attestation of this fact were old move into his home and drove us all over photographs of weddings that I asked to everywhere, actually not giving me as for Ukrainian American law students, recent law graduates see and photograph whenever I could. much of an opportunity to stretch my legs and young attorneys interested in the UABA and its mission In Kovalevka we were interviewing an as I would have liked. elderly Ukrainian woman whose daughter Again, I am most fortunate that I have an statement. had married one of the local Germans and occupation that is useful to others. It allows moved to Germany when the Soviet Union me to travel and to learn. And incidents like Deadline for applying for the spring, 2012 internship position is collapsed. The younger couple had come the one in Uspenka reassure me that I am back from Germany to visit. I asked about not just getting something from the people March 21, 2012 weddings, and the man who now lived in I talk to, but giving something back. This Germany spoke German, and had the very essay is just the first of what I hope will be a For more details, please visit HTTP://WWW.UABA.ORG German name of Jacob Blok showed the number of pieces about Kazakhstan. I hope wedding photographs of his older sisters. that the people I talked to, as well as the or you may email [email protected] They were wearing white dresses, but on readers of these words, benefit from my their heads were very Ukrainian-looking observations and my work.