Upcoming event

The Indigenous Ukrainian Relationship Building Initiative, a joint project of the Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre and the Kule Folklore Centre, in collaboration with kihêw
waciston Indigenous Centre and the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies

PRESENT

Carving Lost Family History:
Ukrainian and Indigenous Cultural Revival
in the Face of Colonialism

November 6, 2025
5–6 p.m. Food sharing
6–7:15 p.m. Carving Lost Family film screening and discussion
Location: kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre, MacEwan University

Join Heiltsuk-Ukrainian master carver Ivan Rosypskye and historian Keith Thor Carlson for a conversation about identity, memory, and reconciliation. Through carving and research, Rosypskye explores his Ukrainian refugee father’s long-buried story alongside his mother’s Heiltsuk traditions of cultural resistance. This project brings together art, history, and storytelling to show how identities suppressed by colonialism can be revived and honoured, offering pathways toward reconciliation. A documentary on the carving process will open the event.

Ivan Rosypskye is a First Nations master carver of Heiltsuk and Ukrainian heritage. He has been carving since 2001, as learned from local artists in his home town of Powell River, British Columbia.

Keith Thor Carlson is a professor of history at the University of the Fraser Valley and a Tier One Canada Research Chair in Indigenous and Community-Engaged History.

Moderated by Shelby LaFramboise, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts and Communications, kihêw waciston, MacEwan University.

The ‘Carving Lost Family History’ project was awarded a @CIUS Grant for the Study of Indigenous-Ukrainian Relations in Canada, offered in affiliation with the Indigenous Ukrainian Relationship Building Initiative, a joint initiative of the Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre at MacEwan University and the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta.

Click here to see the event poster as PDF.

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Current Projects

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Call for Research Participants

We are currently looking for people to participate in an interview and focus group who have stories about Indigenous peoples and Ukrainians in East Central Alberta.

Requirements:

• Do you know a story about Cree and/or Métis peoples and Ukrainians?
• Does the story take place in East Central Alberta?
• Are you willing to devote 2-4 hours to the research study?
• Are you willing to share your story?
• Are you 18 yers or age or older?

If you answered yes, please consider participating. To register, contact Leah Hrycun, Principal Investigator, or click here for more information or fill out this form.

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Visiting Neighbors, Learning from the Land

Visiting Neighbors, Learning from the Land is a participatory research project of the Indigenous Ukrainian Relationship Initiative. The core of the project was a two-day event on the land that took place in the summer of 2023 for a group of 25 participants. The visiting happened at two historic sites located in east central Alberta – the area east of Edmonton with historically large Indigenous and Ukrainian populations – Métis Crossing and the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village.

Throughout 2024, Maryna Chernyavska and Larysa Hayduk have interviewed many of the project participants and are currently working on analyzing the interviews and compiling a project report to be shared with the participants for feedback.

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Learn more about our past projects and events on the Projects & Events page.