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Place Names of Early Doukhobor Settlements in Saskatchewan,
1899-1907
by
Jonathan J. Kalmakoff
The
following is an abstract of the paper "Place Names of Early Doukhobor Settlement
in Saskatchewan, 1899-1907" presented by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff at the Toponyny
Session of the
76th Annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences,
held at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on May 26 to
June 2, 2007. It examines the Saskatchewan Doukhobor village names from this
period and classifies them according to their meanings and mechanisms of origin.
The map of Canada is a rich tapestry of place names. These names
reflect the diverse history and heritage of the nation. They embody stories
about the people and places to which they are attached and give us valuable
insights into history and provide clues about the country's cultural and social
development. In this regard, a study of the origin and meaning of the early
Doukhobor village names in Saskatchewan reveals the astonishing diversity and
depth of the Doukhobor contribution to Canada’s historic cultural geography.
The Saskatchewan Doukhobor village names from this period can be classified into
eight basic categories based on their mechanism of origin: commemorative,
commendatory, connotative, transfer, descriptive, incident, possessive and
language transfer names.
Many of the village names arose from the desire to preserve a memory or do
honour to someone or something and are said to be “commemorative”. Some paid
homage to revered Doukhobor leaders: Kapustino (Savely Kapustin),
Kalmakovka (Kalmykov dynasty) and Verigino (Peter “Lordly” Verigin).
Others memorialized the names of village founders, elders and historic figures:
Nikolayevka (Nikolai), Alexeyevka (Alexei), Kirilovka (Kirill),
Semenovka (Semyon),
Rodionovka (Rodion), Efremovka (Efrem). Many celebrated saint’s days and other
religious festivals observed by the Doukhobors: Mikhailovka (Michaelmas),
Pavlovo (St. Paul’s day), Pokrovka (Intercession), Uspeniye (Assumption),
Vosneseniye (Ascension), Petrovka (St. Peter’s day), Troitskoye (Trinity) and
Voskriseniye (Resurrection day). Still others extolled religious virtues, values
and ideals cherished by the Doukhobors: Vera, Verovka (faith), Blagodarnoye
(thanksgiving), Smireniye (humility), Nadezhda (hope), Sovetnoye (counsel),
Terpeniye (patience), Truzhdeniye (industry), Pozirayevka (vigilance),
Ubezhdeniye
(conviction) and Trudolyubovo (love of work).
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| Doukhobor village
near Veregin, Saskatchewan, c. 1911. Library and Archives Canada
PA-038515. |
A number of the village names can be classified as “commendatory” in that they
ascribed some pleasant, appealing or providential quality to a particular place
or location: Bogomdannoye (God-given), Lyubomirnoye (lovely and peaceful),
Khlebodarnoye (gifted with grain), Tikhomirnoye (quite and peaceful),
Slavnoye
(nice, splendid), Blagosklonnoye (benevolent, favourable), Osvobozhdeniye
(deliverance) and Utesheniye (consolation). Names of this type were intended to
praise or recommend a place or location; they did not actually describe the
place physically.
A related category of village names are those which ascribed some quality or
characteristic to the people of a place - rather than to the place itself. Such
names are said to be “connotative”. Some carried a positive or complimentary
connotation about the people of a village: Vernoye (faithful), Lyubovnoye (loving)
or Khristianovka (Christian). Others carried a negative or pejorative
connotation about the people of a village: Nedokhvatnoye (insufficient),
Prokuratovo (deceitful) or Razbegalovka (running off in all directions). Still
others described the spiritual and emotional state of the villagers: Stradayevka
(suffering), Vossianiye (spiritually shining forth), Poterpevshiye (having
suffered/endured) or Otradnoye (joyful).
Many of the village names were “transfer names”, names which were borrowed and
reused from one location to another. The Doukhobors used this method of naming
extensively in Saskatchewan, borrowing names from their former villages in the
Caucasus which, in turn, had been borrowed from the Molochnaya. Most were reused
repeatedly in different locations: Spasskoye/Spasovka (5 times), Goreloye/Gorelovka
(4 times), Troitskoye (4 times), Pokrovka (4 times), Kirilovka (4 times),
Terpeniye (3 times), Bogdanovka (3 times), Tambovka (2 times),
Slavyanka (2
times) and Rodionovka (2 times). Through transference, the Doukhobors in
Saskatchewan preserved and perpetuated cherished, symbolic place names which had
been firmly etched in the Doukhobor consciousness for generations.
Several village names were “descriptive” in that they identified and
distinguished a place by noting some characteristic that separated it from other
places. Some directly described the place: Khutor (farmstead). Others described
the surrounding topography: Vozvysheniye (elevation, rise).
A special class of names described places in relative terms. Many described
relative age: Novoye (new), Novo-Petrovo (New Petrovo), Staro-Goreloye (Old
Goreloye), Staro-Bogdanovka (Old Bogdanovka), etc. Some described relative size:
Bolshaya Gorelovka (Large Gorelovka), Malaya Gorelovka (Small Gorelovka). Others
described relative location: Verkhnaya Kirilovka (Upper Kirilovka), Serednaya
Kirilovka (Middle Kirilovka) and Nizhnaya Kirilovka (Lower Kirilovka). Still
others described relative origin: Petrovo Orlovsky (Petrovo of the Orlovka
Doukhobors) and Terpeniye Karskoi (Terpeniye of the Kars Doukhobors).
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|
Village of Mikhailovka,
North Colony, c. 1908. Library and Archives Canada
PA-021116. |
A few village names were “incident” names which referred to unusual incidents
and historical events that occurred at that place. For example, Besednoye
(conversational) was so named because the villagers frequently engaged in
lively, spirited discussions. Perekhodnoye (transitional) was so named because
the villagers had made a spiritual and spatial transition to a more
communal-based lifestyle.
Several village names indicated the presence of a large, prominent family at
that place and are said to be “possessive” names: Usachevka (place of the
Usachev family) and Holubovo (place of the Holubov family). Names of this type
were not used by the Doukhobors to indicate ownership, but rather occupation.
Finally, several village names were Russian translations of existing English
place names. Through the process of “linguistic transfer” these names were
transferred from the original language, English into the receiving language,
Russian: Gromovoye (thunder – from nearby Thunder Hill), Kamenka (stony – from
nearby Stony Creek) and Lebedevo (swan – from nearby Swan River). Occasionally,
non-Russian words were Russianized in form and spelling to produce village
names: Burtsevo (Wurtz’s Farm).
Based on the above, it can be concluded that the early Doukhobor village names
in Saskatchewan were intended to do considerably more than merely “distinguish
one place from another”. They were deliberately and systematically named in
order to reinforce group values, religious belief and philosophy and a common
world-view. They were also intended to establish a Dukhoboria in Canada, a
veritable “Land of the Doukhobors” within which everything – including place
names – had its own distinctly Doukhobor place, meaning and purpose.
This article
was reproduced by permission in the following journals and periodicals:
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ISKRA
No.1996 (Grand Forks: USCC, 2007).
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The DOVE No. 76 (Saskatoon,
DCSS, 2007).
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The Bulletin Vol. 38, No.
3 (Regina, SGS, 2007).
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