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Around 200 people were at Saskatoon’s River Landing on Sunday to take part in a Stand With Ukraine rally, to welcome newcomers to the city from Ukraine and to recognize International Vyshyvanka Day.
Laurianne Gabruch is a board member of the Saskatoon branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. She said the rally was a community building event as the war in Ukraine continues.
“(The goal was) kind of to boost the spirits of the Ukrainian population just seeing what’s going on with the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and we also want to celebrate Ukrainian vyshyvanka,” she said.
The vyshyvanka, she explained, is the unique embroidered shirt that’s worn and is considered to be a talisman, or symbol of good luck.
“Some of the soldiers even in 2014 with the war in the Donbas would wear vyshyvanka under their soldiers’ uniforms just as that added protection,” Gabruch said.
“There are a lot of songs about vyshyvanka. It’s a very significant part of our culture. It follows us from birth to death, basically.”
She explained many of the shirts reflect either the landscape or region where a family may live, and the different colours also have a meaning.
“For example, my vyshyvanka is black with white embroidery. So black would generally be a mourning colour to wear,” she said.
Diane Boyko was at Sunday’s rally wearing her embroidered shirt. She said wearing it was a source of pride.
“It’s evident when everyone is putting on their Ukrainian shirts to show their solidarity, but also it represents our culture to us in an important way,” Boyko said.
Her sister, Karen Oleksyn, wore a blue and black vyshyvanka she bought at a festival.
“I liked the blue colour,” Oleksyn said. “It’s a symbol of the sky in Ukraine.”
Next to Olekysn, Senya Gabrush wore her own blouse symbolic of the region where her parents came from in Ukraine.
“This one is a little more special to me. I have a whole collection,” she added.
A “human vyshyvanka” was formed near the end of the event, complete with a “Stand With Ukraine” sign that was recorded by a drone flying above the crowd.
International Vyshyvanka Day is to be marked Thursday.