President’s Message

Tere! Sometimes everything just goes your way. To be sharing the dedication, energy and comradery of an organization that appears to be hitting its stride is a real pleasure and a testament to the success of my predecessors! I would like to express our appreciation to Bob Tipman for his stewardship over the last two years.

A very successful Jaanipäev 2007, participation and membership in the West Coast Estonian Days in Los Angeles, our addition to the Heritage Community Foundation website, the DVD production and another great edition of AjaKaja. We have had quite a year so far, and it’s not over yet! All of this has helped define who we are. This is my spin on it.

I am not the first person to be elected to the position of President nor am I the first person to be elected as President of an Estonian organization, but I am probably the first President of an Estonian organization in Canada….who does not speak Estonian! That in itself is a message.

Our pioneer ancestors, who established the first permanent Estonian settlements in Canada, established social organizations to help ease their transition into the new world. In a land dominated by the English language, some of the stress of pioneer life was eased by the opportunity to socialize in their mother tongue.

After the pioneer era, World War II forced many Estonians to leave their homeland. Those who came to Canada naturally sought out Estonian organizations for support. Existing Estonian pioneer organizations and newly-established ones were logical groups to join. As the pioneers aged and their numbers diminished, the newer immigrants replaced them. The transition from the older pioneers to new enthusiastic members maintained several strong Estonian associations in Alberta for many years.

In the early days of the Pioneer Estonian Societies, members took advantage of opportunities in their new homeland, and the most important element in that quest was education. The early pioneers promoted integration and built schools with English instruction. Not surprisingly, the young Estonian children quickly adapted to English. For the newly educated children of the pioneers, English became their primary language while Estonian was left at home.

As the pioneer descendants moved away from the homesteads to the major centers they found new interests, met new friends and married into non-Estonian families. Some years later, the children of the WWII immigrants followed a familiar pattern as here too the Estonian language was loosing ground. With an ageing membership, Estonian society numbers diminished and, at the beginning of the 21 st century, all but one Alberta society had disbanded. The AEHS is the result of a convergence of past society members throughout Alberta and a rethink in direction.

The emergence of the AEHS is what I would call a ‘third generation’ transition. It is the recognition that a small minority culture will inevitably loose its ability to function as a group if it persists in operating in the original language. I suppose it's difficult for any group, which has significant numbers of first or second-generation members, to imagine how quickly and subtly integration changes the balance . Canada recognizes two official languages, and while most people applaud the benefits of multilingualism, generations of cultural blending extract a toll on minority languages and traditions. We have an ever-increasing number of Estonian descendants and we must continually search for ways to attract these new generations. Without inclusion, our valuable cultural ties will be lost. Not unlike the pioneers, we must adjust to changing environments. We have fifth and sixth-generation pioneer descendants attending our functions now. That is really quite remarkable!

While we were making our DVD, we recognized at the onset that our ancestors were our starting point. Once into it, we realized that our Alberta story would not have come to fruition without the enthusiastic involvement and progressive thinking of the later immigrants. Further to that, it required some re-writes within the script to make the point that with our multi- generational background and the emergence of the AEHS, we have made a transition from ‘Estonians living in Canada’ to ‘Canadians with a proud Estonian heritage’.

So, what is the future of small cultural organizations like ours? The pioneers are gone. Their descendants have assimilated and don’t need it. Estonia’s independence has and will continue to minimize immigration and the small number of new Estonians to our province will not be significant.

Why continue? Cultural curiosity. The urge we have to understand our roots. The word “HERITAGE” becomes significant. With the common use of the web and easy travel, our heritage provides us with contacts to our living roots. Many of us have made the journey back. The reconnection is educational, personal, and very rewarding!

And if the conversation at your next social function should need a little boost, let it slip that you are of Estonian descent. That will invariably get some response! Our pioneer heritage is a success story and our Baltic cousins are citizens of ‘the little country that could’. Grist for ‘the rest of the story’! Distinctions we can be proud of.

So, let’s celebrate our ancestors! Let’s recognize the uniqueness we have inherited. Let’s appreciate our fellowship here and abroad. Let’s learn a few more phrases of Estonian. Let’s cheer the spirit that keeps our community alive!

Tervitades,

Bob Kingsep