Saskatchewan man celebrates, shares his Doukhobor heritage

A new documentary and display at the Western Development Museum showcasing the Doukhobor community are being unveiled in Saskatoon.

The Doukhobors are the descendants of a group of Orthodox Russian dissenters who fled to Canada in the late 1890s.

Now, Ryan Androsoff wants to spread the word about their culture and history. He told 650 CKOM’s Brent Loucks about the Saskatchewan Doukhobor Living Book Project.

“I really felt a calling… to take the opportunity to document some of those (cultural) practices, to capture some of that oral history, and some of those spiritual traditions so that we can preserve it and have it live on for future generations,” he said.

The project is made up of two parts: a display at the Western Development Museum which opened Friday, and a documentary that premiers at the Broadway Theatre at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Androsoff called the project a creative and engaging way to spread the word about his roots.

“This is an opportunity to give people a bit of a different perspective and a bit more of an immersive look at what the Doukhobors are and where they’re going, and perhaps even dispel some misconceptions about them.”

He said the Doukhobor lifestyle isn’t as widespread as it once was.

“There’s still a community here in Saskatchewan that’s trying to keep those practices and those cultural traditions alive, but it certainly has been declining in numbers.”

Androsoff has been working on this project since 2016.