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The Doukhobors In Canada

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The Doukhobors are Russian pacifists, who came to Canada to escape persecution. The name Doukhobor means “Wrestlers For and With the Spirit.” Currently, there’s about 20 000 people of Doukhobor descent residing in Canada, and about 1/3 of them practice their religion. Although Canada was supposed to a safe haven, after some years, the Doukhobors once again found their beliefs and rights threatened. In Russia, they dealt with compulsory military service. The pull factor of Canada was exemption from this service, and with help from Leo Tolstoy, a Russian novelist, and Russian anarchists, the Doukhobors settled in British Columbia. In 1899, more than 7500 Doukhobors migrated to Canada. Peter Verigin and 500 other Doukhobors joined them in 1902. Verigin was the leader of the Doukhobors at the time, but he was arrested in Russia after being appointed to his position. Things seem to have went downhill from here as the Doukhobors lost land, faced discrimination and jail time for their culture, and found their children forced to attend non-Doukhobor schools. …show more content…

In addition to this, many people of Doukhobor descent rediscovered their culture in the 1970s and 1980s. Lastly, some survivors of the forced schooling grouped as the New Denver Survivors, and filed a class-action lawsuit in the 1990s over alleged physical, psychological and sexual abuse at the

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