Service Honouring All Pioneers

Join us on Sunday, September 20 at 3:30 PM for a service honouring all pioneers at the Trembowla Cross of Freedom Site. Everyone is welcome!

For more information, call 204-638-9641 or 204-638-5495.

Please Note

The Trembowla Cross of Freedom Historical Site & Museum is currently affected by flooding in the Dauphin area. The drifting river has overflowed its banks, and we are working to assess the impact and determine what is needed for cleanup.

Trembowla Cross of Freedom Historical Site and Museum

The Trembowla Cross of Freedom Historical Site & Museum was established to celebrate the era of the early Ukrainian Pioneers who Settled in the community.

Many visitors which include schools, senior centres, a variety of agencies and groups attend the site throughout the summer to admire the original Church, School, House and several other buildings that have been preserved and relocated to the site to celebrate the Ukrainian heritage. Many of these visitors and groups request in advance a traditional meal to be served during the visit. Local volunteers prepared the meal and serve the visitors all on site.

Throughout the summer we continue to have visitors attend from all over the world who are in the area visiting family. Often, many people of Ukrainian heritage in Canada review our website and stop when passing through the Provinces as a point of interest to visit and sign our guest books and look for family names that have contributed to the site through volunteering in a variety of capacities throughout the years.

We have employed many students over the years and many of the students have grown now and also have families of their own who return to celebrate their heritage and pass on the memories and pride in maintaining the site and carrying on our traditions.

Trembowla Cross of Freedom

Source: Gordon Goldsborough (May 2012)

The first Ukrainian settlement in the Dauphin area was established in 1896, in the Trembowla area along the Drifting River, in the Rural Municipality of Dauphin. The following spring, Reverend Nestor Dmytriw arrived from Pennsylvania to celebrate the first Ukrainian Catholic Liturgy on Canadian soil for the pioneers. To commemorate the occasion, the settlers erected a large Cross of Freedom representing freedom in a new land. Later that year, on 12 September 1897, the settlers of Volkiwtsi, known as Mink River, were also visited by Reverend Dmytriw, who consecrated their cemetery and advised them to build a church. The following year, the settlers erected a small chapel of logs and later built an addition to the permanent Church. It was consecrated in 1902 as St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church and served the Parish of Mink River until 1960. The church was relocated to the Cross of Freedom Historic Site in 1967 where it is preserved to this day as the first and oldest Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. Commemorative markers were erected at the site by the Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba.

Nearby is the Trembowla Cross of Freedom Museum, comprising several buildings including St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church. Constructed of logs in 1898, it is the oldest surviving Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. Originally situated at SE14-28-21W in the Mink River area, it was moved to this site in 1967. A commemorative marker was placed beside it in 2000 by the Manitoba Heritage Council, and a nearby fieldstone monument erected in 1981 recognizes Ukrainian settlers who arrived in this area in 1896: P. Bashchak, M. Gadzosa, P. Huska, I. Lozynsky, I. Nizalowsky, P. Perchaluk, I. Sytnyk, P. Cherwinsky, I. Geryluk, W. Ksionzyk, I. Nimetz, J. Pawlicky, H. Staranchuk, and M. Yasinchuk.

Other buildings on the site include a reconstruction of a Ukrainian pioneer home (donated by Mrs. Mary Demchuk), Riverbend School No. 1176 (which served as Trembowla School No. 1040 from 1960 to 1965), and several log buildings including a granary / workshop and the Wasyl Ksionzyk home (moved here from its original site in 1987 and donated by the Slobodzian family).

Learn More About Our History

View Land Location

Annual Festival

During the August long-weekend the Trembowla Cross of Freedom Historical Site celebrates along with Canada's National Ukrainian Festival that is held in the area. Once the service is complete, traditional music, dancing and a wonderful meal is served to all who attend. The celebration is concluded with a tour of the site and fellowship.

Learn More About the Festival