Tanshi moon naamii/hello my friends!
Like most of the world, our attention is focused on Ukraine right now. We thought it would be a fitting topic to make our first post about Ukraine, and their ties to Indigenous culture.
In the late 19th century, some of the first Ukrainians began immigrating to Canada. They often faced discrimination from the dominantly Protestant and English-speaking settler community. They settled in the prairies and soon developed relationships with the local Indigenous and Métis people, as they saw that they shared similar struggles.
Through these friendships, trade started happening. Ukrainians would trade their stitch work for Indigenous beadwork, food and recipes were exchanged – our community gatherings often still include cabbage rolls and perogies!
Today, the colourful floral scarves, known as Kokom scarves or Granny hankies (Kokom means Grandmother in the Cree language) are a symbol of hard work, cultural exchanges, and commonalities between the two communities. They are used in powwow dancing, incorporated into jewellery, accessories and garments, and lately they show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
In the spirit of bartering with our neighbours, Melani traded her Big Leaf Maple Syrup she tapped this winter, for some honey from her neighbours at Ruskin Apiaries.
We decided to try a Ukrainian-Canadian recipe using the local honey when we came across this recipe for Medivnyk (Ukrainian Honey Cake) from The Prairie Table by Karlynn Johnston.
This was an easy recipe to follow, and the cake was a perfect afternoon refreshment with a cup of fireweed tea. The recipe can be found on our blog.
Ukrainian Honey Cake
