Interview with John Woronuk 1.1

Segment Synopsis: John (Ivan) Woronuk was born in Rycroft, AB in November 1928. He grew up in Rycroft until the last year of high school wchich he took in Edmonton. Then he spent another couple of years in Rycroft and then he went to University in the USA.
John's mother came to Canada in 1893, the father came in 1896. They were part of the large immigration wave from Ukraine. He explains the political circumstances of his family's immigration. His father was born in Onut (out of Chernivtsi) and his mother was born in Tovtry which also is not far from Chernivtsi. Villages were close to the Dnister on the Romanian border. Both little villages are there.
Mother was just five years old when she came to Canada, the father was about seventeen.
John's father was originally settled in Stuartburn, Manitoba but he was searching for better land. Land in Manitoba was rocky and unsuitable for anything in agriculture except for pasture. In 1913 his father moved to the Rycroft area where the land was much better. They also considered Florida but his mother did not tolerate heat.
John's wife is from Portland.

Segment Synopsis: John tells about the book where his parents' immigration is well documented. It is history of Rycroft area and is titled "Green fields and wild flowers". There were no schools in Stuartburn, MB, and his mother had never been inside of a school room in her life. She did not have education. His father got three years of education in Austro-Hungary. He spoke a little bit of German and had "rudimentary command of English."
Their move from Manitoba to Alberta was a hard time. It was a small trip of 300 miles but they went through "unbelievable hardship." They left in September and did not arrive to their location until November. They spent their first year in a cave, in ground. Though, over time they became very successful farmers.

Segment Synopsis: John is telling a long story about his family's relocation. All the horses died. Only oxen were able to make it through. Even the milk cow that they had died. Mother had a one-year-old son. They had to borrow a cow for milk for the children. They ate only wild meat before they were able to purchase some livestock. His mother borrowed a setting hen from a metis family. And then the hen was taken back and the mother strapped the eggs to her abdomen to keep them warm and hatch the eggs this way.

Segment Synopsis: Poverty, lack of land, and lack of education were among the main reasons why John's parents decided to emigrate.
John tells a sad story about how his father missed the ship to Canada and his father's mother passed away before he arrived in Canada.
His father did not want to go back to Ukraine even for a visit. Canada was his country.