Doukhobor women's choir

This photo is from albums of pictorial history of Yorkton and vicinity that were compiled by Howard Jackson, retired city clerk in the early 1960s. In the albums, there are also photos of a few communities in the region. The one shown here has this caption: Peter Veregin, Leader of the Doukhobor often brought a women's choir when he came to town. The choir would walk along on the sidewalk singing in beautiful harmony. The exact location of the photo is not cited, nor the date when it is taken, but likely it is between 1902 and 1908.

Peter Vasilevich Verigin (known as the Lordly) born in 1859 married Evdokia Gregoryevna Verigina Katelnikova around 1882 in Russia. He came to the Yorkton region in 1902, lived in a Doukhobor village near Kamsack called Otradnoye, moving to the Veregin village in 1904, when the rail line went through. He returned to Russia in 1906, then came back to Canada to Veregin, which became the headquarters of the Doukhobor religious sect who lived communally in the areas around Kamsack, Buchanan, Veregin, Pelly, Arran, and Canora. In 1908, he then led 6000 members to new settlements in British Colombia. (Note - two spellings of the name Verigin (surname) and Veregin (village) are correct.)
We are always seeking photos and documents of early Yorkton history and surrounding areas.

Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton, Box 400
37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]