Tribalism

By Volodymyr Kish

Several months ago, the Durham Region branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC/KYK) decided to cease its operations. In its latest reincarnation (revived in 2009 after being dormant for over a decade), it had strived for the past four years to foster co-operation and community building amongst the half dozen Ukrainian organizations still active in the greater Oshawa area. It met with, at best, limited success and in the end, the half dozen or so activists that had kept it going decided that there was insufficient support and interest to justify its continued existence.

It was a sad occasion for me personally, as I had been intimately involved in the rebirth of the UCC branch in 2009, and served as its first President. In the intervening years, a committed and hardworking executive ventured to organize events and programs that would bring the Ukrainians in this region together, and try and build a strong, unified Ukrainian community. Regrettably, these hopes were not realized. The only initiative that was consistently broadly supported was the annual Holodomor commemoration held every November. Attendance and participation in other events and initiatives proved to be exercises in disappointment.

There are, of course, lessons to be learned whenever any endeavor fails, and I would like to offer my own thoughts and observations on why the UCC branch here failed to take root.

First and foremost, although there were individuals within each constituent Ukrainian organization that we worked with, that were supportive and made the effort, by and large, their general membership were largely indifferent towards the idea of a strong umbrella Ukrainian organization. The majority of local Ukrainians did not identify or see themselves as part of a larger “Ukrainian community”, but rather, they were primarily members of the Ukrainian Catholic parish, or the Ukrainian Orthodox parish, or the Liga/SUM organization, etc., and their support and involvement was focused almost entirely on their own individual organization’s activities. What happened beyond those virtual walls was of secondary interest or concern. There was no real dedication or support for a broader based Ukrainian community identity.

Of course, there is nothing new in any of this. It seems that Ukrainians have been divided along religious, political, regional and cultural lines since time immemorial, and the diaspora experience does not appear to have alleviated this propensity towards tribalism in all its many flavors. I sometimes wonder whether there will ever come a day when the majority of the Ukrainians here in Canada will see themselves as being a Ukrainian first, and a _____________ (pick any one and fill in the blank: SUM-ivets, UNF-er, Plast-un, Lemko, Ukrainian Catholic, 4^th Waver, etc. etc.) as second in terms of their involvement in Ukrainian life in this country. Ukrainians have had a tough time learning that progress and unity only comes through cooperation, compromise, building bridges and flexibility. In this, we have a long way to go.

The second major cause for the demise of the UCC branch was the lack of members willing to dedicate the time and effort required to make the organization relevant, dynamic and successful. Bottom line, it takes a lot of work, particularly at the leadership level. In Oshawa, like in most comparable urban centres in Canada, there are probably no more than a dozen people that are responsible for organizing and running much of what happens in the Ukrainian community. These people are stretched thin, in that they are usually involved in multiple organizations at both the local as well as possibly the provincial and national levels.

The constant demands and stresses of such positions of responsibility inevitably take their toll and, there being little in terms of “bench strength”, organizational leadership ranks eventually suffer and become depleted. There are too many followers and consumers, and too few leaders and organizers. Oshawa has reached that stage, and it is not only the UCC, but most of the Ukrainian organizations here are feeling the same pinch as well. In a word, there are not enough Ukrainians here dedicated enough to devote sufficient time, effort and energy to the cause.

And so we saw repeated in Oshawa what has happened in many other places over the past few decades. Although saddened by the demise of the UCC Branch, I will continue my own involvement in all things Ukrainian wherever I think I may do some good and wherever there is hope in keeping the Ukrainian identity and culture alive and moving forward. The one thing that Ukrainians have always had is hope.