V.  THE DOUKHOBORS: 1930s - 1950s

The Doukhobor tenure in the Okanagan stretched from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. Due to their pacifist orientation, Doukhobors were not involved in World War II and became a much needed source of labour in the Okanagan from 1939 to 1945. Tarasoff (1969, p. 151) estimated that only 5% of Doukhobors joined the armed forces in that war.

Other Anabaptists, such as the Hutterites and Mennonites were also mentioned as sources of labour during World War II but they were used only sparingly in the Okanagan. In the 1940s, a squad of 1,000 Mennonites was assigned to forestry service in B.C. and these Mennonites were cited as a potential source of agricultural labour in the Okanagan by the Royal Commission Session on Marketing held in Kelowna ("Growers' Executive To Urge," 1942). The B.C. Fruit Growers' Association president in June of 1942 stated that conscientious objectors, apart from the Doukhobors, were mainly Mennonites and Hutterites from the Prairies, and that application had been made for the service of 500 of them because they were used to agricultural labour ("Outlook for Orchard," 1942).

The Doukhobors have their origin in southern Russia as peasant rural communities who parted from the Orthodox Church. They had strong anti-military beliefs which led to confrontations with the Tsar. They were exiled to Siberia and, in 1899, many emigrated to Saskatchewan and later British Columbia (Tarasoff, 1969, back cover). They valued pacifism and the search for universal brotherhood. As Tarasoff (1982, p. 8) states: "To go to war, to carry arms, and to take oaths - is forbidden. Regarding war as a forbidden thing, they have set themselves a rule not to carry arms". After researching which country would suit their needs the Doukhobors chose Canada. The recommendation came from the anarchist leader Peter Kropotkin, who earlier had visited Mennonite settlements in the Canadian Northwest. On their first trip, 7,500 Doukhobors crossed this vast new land and settled in what is now Manitoba and Saskatchewan (Tarasoff, 1982, p. 32, 46). They also settled in the Kootenays, constructing a sawmill, a brick factory, a packinghouse and a jam factory where they could process the fruit produced in their orchards (Tarasoff, 1969, p. 124, 125). Doukhobors were then working 3,467 acres of orchards. Fruit was sold to two Doukhobor packinghouses in Brilliant and West Grand Forks and processed at a jam factory in Brilliant. Packinghouse receipts from the sale of apples amounted to $37,000 in 1928, $14,000 in 1929, and $9,500 in 1930 (Snesarev, 1931, p. 79).

As conscientious objectors, most of the Doukhobors spoke out against war and violence, which, during the second World War, further strained their already awkward position in the community. This lead to many crisis situations. Tarasoff (1982) explains the strained relations between the Doukhobors and English speaking residents in B.C.:

There was greater resentment against Doukhobors because their young and able-bodied men were exempt from military service, while "our boys were overseas"....Also local people were angry because the Doukhobors were available for the labour market and as a result were free to earn more money and spend more as well....During wartime Doukhobors became easy scapegoats for society's ills. (p. 158)

The community's perception of Doukhobors as religious radicals was due to the bombing actions of the "Sons of Freedom" sect. This public misconception that all Doukhobors were radicals contributed to the ethnic discrimination of the day. Doukhobors were blamed en bloc and the stereotypes of them influenced many of the local community's young people, whose prejudice against the Doukhobors increased (Tarasoff, 1982, p. 158). Krauter & Davis (1971, p. 80) note that, in B.C., anti-Doukhobor sentiments existed as early as 1912, when open hostility towards Doukhobors forced the B.C. Government to appoint the "Royal Commission on Matters Relating to the Sect of Doukhobors in the Province of British Columbia, 1912". There was a general distrust by early British immigrants of the Doukhobor's cultural beliefs and practices (Krauter & Davis, 1971, p. 79). Locally, Cumine (1983, p. 135-136) cited the case of a Doukhobor in Osoyoos who received the same violent treatment as a Chinese person did in the early post World War I era:

My knowledge of Doukhobors was nil. One day I hired a young man to help me with the crop. After a week he failed to show up for work so I went to his cabin and I could see that there had been a scuffle. A few days afterwards I received a scribbled note to the effect that he had met the same fate as the Chinaman. However, during the next years we depended entirely on Doukhobors for orchard help.

In 1952, after several previous government investigations, the Hawthorn Research Committee, directed by anthropologist H. B. Hawthorn, recommended several changes in social policy and legislation that eventually lessened the tension between Doukhobors and the rest of B.C. society (Hawthorn, 1955, p. 247-251).

Ethnic Discrimination in the Okanagan

The Okanagan Valley was attractive to Doukhobors in the late 1920s as some farm workers were earning 45 cents an hour compared to 10 cents an hour in Grand Forks. Pete Horkoff of Grand Forks was one of those who heard of the Valley's wages. He states: "I thought it was real good money" (Horkoff, personal communication, June 22, 1983). The Grand Forks Gazette newspaper indicated that large numbers of Doukhobors started working in the Okanagan around 1929 or 1930 ("Okanagan Valley Menaced," 1932). In September 1931, the Penticton Herald reported "many orchard employees (for the picking of soft fruits) are Doukhobors, a few are Orientals and others are from various nations of Europe" (McDougall, 1931). Moreover, a Penticton Herald reader complained: "As you go along the roads among the orchards (...) you will find in the majority of places that the Doukhobor has the job you hoped to get" ("Correspondence," 1931). While Doukhobors had developed their land and supporting industrial activity in Grand Forks since their arrival in 1908, there were not enough jobs for everyone during the 1930s ( Horkoff, personal communication, June 22, 1983). This situation occurred at a time when fruit growers reacted to poor returns for their crops by organizing road blockades. Faced with severe economic conditions, farmers were trying to save on labour costs by hiring Doukhobors because, the farmers said, they worked at "a rate of pay considerably less than the recognized rate paid to the English-speaking workers" ("Most Emphatic," 1932).

Eli Popoff, a Doukhobor migrant to the Okanagan who worked in Kaleden orchards in 1943 and 1944, relates: "Everywhere you look, Helen Horkoff, who first worked in orchards in Kaleden in 1945, also relates: "Maybe 75 per cent of the Doukhobors in Grand Forks went to the Okanagan to work" (personal communication, June 22, 1983). While Doukhobors worked on orchards stretching from Osoyoos to Kelowna they preferred the Oliver-Osoyoos, Keremeos and Kaleden regions. Some Doukhobors worked in Penticton because they could take the Kettle Valley Railway from Grand Forks to Penticton.

By the early 1940s, the interior valleys of B.C. were so short of labour that Doukhobor labour became a vital part in keeping local economies alive (Woodcock & Avakumovic, 1977, p. 321). The paradox of necessary but unwanted labour rose again, this time for the Doukhobors during World War II, much like it was for the Chinese during World War I.

The 1931 apple harvest saw a major influx of Doukhobors in Penticton, and they received a cold welcome from city officials. In February 1932, Penticton City Council issued a preliminary notice of warfare against what they perceived as the "Doukhobor menace". The issue was raised by James Sinclair, who said every spring a Doukhobor contractor was making arrangements with local fruit growers, and wondered if the labour contractor had a trade licence ("Doukhobor Labor Resented," 1932). The matter of contracted labour was also raised by Sam Clarke, who reported that Doukhobors had contracted labour for the local cannery named Canadian Canners (Western) Ltd. ("Doukhobor Labor Resented," 1932). Following that meeting, on February 8 Clarke wrote a letter to the editor of the Penticton Herald:

Much of the distress that exists here today is a direct result of the employment last fall of Doukhobors from the communistic settlement at Brilliant. The more honest and candid of the farmers who employ them say that they work more cheaply, oblivious of the fact that all of the farmers of this district must share, eventually, the cost of relieving distress among the local workers thus ousted from work. When you point out to these myopic farmers that there is a vast difference between the Doukhobor standard of living and ours, they shrug their shoulders and remark, 'in that case, Canadian workers must be content with a lower standard.' ("Letter," 1932)

Consequently Penticton City Council urged local employers, including fruit growers, to provide work for unemployed married men who lived in Penticton. A circular to that effect was sent to every employer by council ("Employers Asked To Provide", 1932). Penticton's Reeve said he "regretted" that outside labour was employed when there was "an ample local supply available" ("Doukhobor Labor Resented," 1932).

Some Penticton residents, such as Matthew H. Parrott, came to the defence of Doukhobors:

In my fifty years west of Winnipeg I have worked side by side with emigrants from many nations and I have found the Doukhobor as white, all through, as any of them. Let him educate his children, he will. His son's son will march with our son's son in the same uniform and under the same flag in the defence of our national rights. There is room for all in this undeveloped big country or ours. Then why worry? ("Correspondence," 1932a)

Other residents such as George Taylor countered:

Don't make me laugh, I have a split lip. Community Doukhobors do not obey the laws, neither will they go to war and wear the same uniform as the rest of us immigrants, which fact was evidence in the last war.("Correspondence," 1932b)

The Penticton branch of the Canadian Legion also became involved in this issue when its members unanimously approved the following resolution on March 14, 1932:

Moved that this branch of the Canadian Legion, through the provincial and Dominion commands, urgently requests the Dominion (federal) government at this session to pass the necessary legislation absolutely to prohibit all Doukhobors from becoming registered owners of any property outside those areas already set aside for their use. ("Legion Members Favor," 1932)

After the Doukhobors started working in local orchards there was concerted effort by Penticton's City Council, Board of Trade and local newspaper to keep them out of town. For example, in 1935, City Council met with the Board of Trade to draft a 'Buy in Penticton - Employ Penticton People' campaign ("Employ Local Help," 1935).

In 1939, the most blatant anti-Doukhobor sentiment was expressed by the Penticton Board of Trade. The Board took out a large advertisement entitled "What About the Doukhobors?" of which the following is an excerpt:

WHAT ABOUT THE DOUKHOBORS? The Penticton Board of Trade asks your consideration of the following aspects of the Doukhobor employment situation in the Okanagan:

WHERE DOES THEIR MONEY GO? Almost every year there are more than 100 Doukhobors in the Penticton- Kaleden-Naramata district. Their money is being sent weekly back to Grand Forks, Thrums and Shoreacres, B.C. Practically none remains here.

WHAT IS THE RESULT OF MONEY DEPARTURE? The funds the Doukhobors send away from the Okanagan are not spent here and the valley loses the benefit of circulation. Local men, who would otherwise be employed, have to go on relief because the Doukhobors have their jobs.

AND THEN WHAT? With larger relief bill due to local unemployment, the taxpayers' burden increases. That affects you directly. The tax collector reaches into your pocket for money to support people who cannot get work because the Doukhobors took the labor at a lower wage. What a fruit grower might save on the low rate paid for Doukhobor labor he loses again in higher taxation for relief costs.

THE FUTURE? Do you want a Doukhobor for your neighbor? Would you like the Okanagan to become a district such as Grand Forks and parts of the Kootenay? Do you want land values to go down because of undesirable residents and undesirable conditions? Are you willing to accept a Doukhobor invasion like the penetration of Orientals, who in many parts of the province have taken complete control and have made living conditions for whites utterly impossible?

THE ANSWER: The reply is simple. No reasonably-minded orchardist in the Okanagan wants to bring in low-priced help of Doukhobor or Oriental type. But he may say that he cannot get local workers to fill the bill. Perhaps he is willing to take the risk of future loss in property values and living conditions caused through encouraging the Douks. He takes this chance for some present benefit he thinks he can see. But it is actually possible to get good white help at reasonable wages. Get in touch with the provincial government employment office at Penticton.

Don't Ruin the Future of the Okanagan For Your Children by Giving Employment to the Doukhobors.

PENTICTON BOARD OF TRADE ("What About the Doukhobors?," 1939)

The Penticton Herald editorial had the following supporting statements: DOUKHOBOR PROBLEM

General procedure is for them to come here in the early summer from Grand Forks. Very little of their money is spent here, the majority being sent back to their own community. For this reason the money is virtually a dead loss to the Okanagan....They are a people many of whom do not appear to be suited to our customs and laws. During the war they refused to bear arms in the defence of the country and their leaders have stated they will do so again...There are, undoubtedly, many honest and upright Doukhobors. Some of them are good Canadian citizens. But the result of having a number of them settle in a district such as this should give every local fruit grower, businessman and householder pause to think before employing Doukhobor labor. ("Doukhobor Problem," 1939)

Working Conditions

While the wider English community was antagonistic toward Doukhobor agricultural workers, many of the local farmers were cordial and appreciative. Peter J. Soloveoff, who worked in the 1940s and 1950s in orchards and later became publisher of the Iskra newspaper in Grand Forks, said many farmers asked specifically if those applying for work were Doukhobors because they were perceived to be hard workers (personal communication, June 22, 1983). Pete Horkoff agreed that Doukhobors were "known for hard work" (Horkoff, personal communication, June 22, 1983). William E. Kootnekoff, a Doukhobor farm worker in the 1940s, noted that they were among the first thinners to do contract work and their farmer, happy with their work, hired them for many years. Moreover, the farmer's wife once said her husband was always relieved when he saw the Doukhobors returning at the beginning of the summer. "Farmers were good with us because they needed us" says Kootnekoff (personal communication, June 22, 1983). He relates the story when his Penticton farmer drove three or four Doukhobors all the way back to Grand Forks at the end of one season in the 1940s. Eli Popoff adds: "Some growers did our laundry and our meals so we could concentrate on picking the fruit." When she worked in the Oliver area in 1944, her farmer bragged he had top-notch pickers: "He gave me a raise I wasn't expecting and at the end of the season, he recommended me to his brother who owned a cannery"(Popoff, personal communication, June 22, 1983).

Joe Harris, who also served as the curator for the Penticton Museum, operated an orchard between 1935 and 1957 and he had many Doukhobors from Grand Forks working for him during the Second World War. He still considers them the best pickers he had along with the Bulgarians and Czechoslovakians (Harris, personal communication, November 4, 1983).

One important problem for Doukhobor migrant workers was accommodation. Kootnekoff states: "It was no good then. Sometimes, we only had the chicken coop. We were frank, we told them straight forward" (Kootnekoff, personal communication, June 22, 1983). In Cawston, many lived in cabins while others lived in a large, long building, which was originally constructed by the government for horses and located near the packinghouse (Dennis & Beecroft, personal communication, March 29 & 30, 1983). A number of cabins were built in Oliver in the 1940s to accommodate groups of Doukhobors who came from Grand Forks and other Kootenay towns ("Orchards Have Modernized," 1981). Don Corbishley, an Oliver farmer, states: "My first crew, really, were Doukhobors. They came from the Kootenays. There wasn't the work over there in those days like there is today and they would come over for the summer work. They built two cabins for me. And later on, as my crop increased, I got - I now got four cabins, plus a very good cookhouse" (Walker, 1985).

In the 1940s the migration of Doukhobor agricultural workers to the Okanagan Valley gradually started to diminish. In 1941, the Vernon News hinted about possible labour problems at harvest, saying that "many of the Doukhobors who usually come to the Okanagan will be working at home." This occurred at a time when many men were away at the war ("Outlook For Orchard," 1942). Even though their numbers decreased in the 1950s and 1960s, there was still a small but steady flow. In 1959, a report from the Orchard Labour Committee discussed the importance of Doukhobor labour: "It should be noted that in the event of a mass movement of Doukhobors from the country the orchardists will lose a considerable number of skilled workers" (Orchard Labour Committee, 1959).

In summary, there was recognition by Okanagan fruit growers that the Doukhobors were necessary labour for the Valley, particularly during war time, and hence indispensable despite community concerns and the ethnic prejudice and discrimination directed toward them. This was the same paradox that existed with Chinese agricultural workers earlier.

The Japanese were the other important migrant group particularly for the NorthOkanagan during World War II.

ETHNIC AGRICULTURAL LABOUR
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