AEHS Legacy project - History of Alberta Estonians
Dave Kiil
The majority of all Alberta Estonians arrived here during the half-century starting in 1899. Many of the early pioneers came directly from Estonia, whereas others left their homes in Nurmekunde and Crimea. The hopelessness of serfdom, pressure to be conscripted into the Russian military, the onset of the Russian Revolution, and much later, the forceful occupation of Estonia by Russia during WWII were the main reasons behind the influx of hundreds of Estonians to Alberta.
The story of Alberta Estonians is certainly unique in Canada and, in fact, all of North America. Estonian pioneers established agricultural communities in several mid-western and western States, including Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, and Montana, during the 1890s and early 1900s, but only the pioneers who settled in Alberta established and maintained several relatively large communities. Most post-WWII immigrants settled in Calgary and Edmonton, but also in some smaller communities. In some instances, they were sponsored by existing Estonian communities to fulfill immigration requirements and later moved to larger cities where job and career opportunities were greater.
Understandably, the makeup of the main Estonian communities such as Medicine Valley and Sylvan Lake, Stettler and Big Valley, Barons, and Peace River has changed since WWII, but there is nevertheless a sense of continuity in the province’s Estonian presence.
The memory of Estonian pioneer communities in Alberta was marked by major centennial celebrations in Stettler in 1999, in Medicine Valley-Gilby-Eckville in 2001, and in Barons in 2004. These events attracted about 1,000 participants and served to highlight the life and times of the pioneers as well as later arrivals. The enthusiasm generated by these celebrations, reinforced periodically by other events here and in Estonia, provided the motivation for a new project, the “History of Alberta Estonians”.
The project was triggered by an invitation from the organizers of the West Coast Estonian Days to be held in Los Angeles in August, 2007, for us to present the story about Alberta Estonians. We accepted the invitation to present a 1 ½-hr program at this major event and decided to develop a multi-media presentation, with a documentary-type DVD highlighting the history of Alberta Estonians and a Reader’s Theatre program with live actors. Introductory and closing comments, including a Question and Answer session, would round out the program.
Collection of materials, including photos, video footage, oral interviews, articles, storyboards from previous celebrations of our heritage, and other objects is progressing nicely. Guidelines for the collection of materials were mailed to all Society members and others with an interest in their heritage.
Readers with family history materials are encouraged to contact Dave Kiil ( Edmonton) or Helgi Leesment ( Calgary) to assemble the broadest possible range of materials for the DVD and the proposed website. Subject to available funding, we visualize the development of an Estonian website to proceed in collaboration with the Heritage Community Foundation, the custodian of The Alberta On-line Encyclopedia and www.albertasource.ca.
At the time of writing, one of our grant applications has been approved (see below) and we expect to be informed about the outcome of two other grant applications before Christmas.
