Dorothy andrusiak BIO

Date and Place of Birth: Chateauguay, PQ, Aug. 8, 1988

Father: Roman Andrusiak, born in Toronto. ON, Mar. 31, 1966

Mother: Valerie Inukpuk born in Inukpuk, Montreal. PQ, Mar. 31, 1977

INTERVIEW EXCERPT

Date and place of interview: July 15, 2025, Montreal
Length of interview: 1 hour 15 minutes
Interviewer: Ariadna Ochrymowych
Language: English

Interviewer: And when people ask you, if you're Ukrainian, or Ukrainian-Canadian what what do you say?

Dorothy: I would say Ukrainian Canadian, just because  that's the order of involvement that I experienced, and I guess also the prominence but more and more in my adult life I feel like Inuit culture is a part of my own culture.

When I 1st started working for Air Inuit, I lived up north 2 out of 4 weeks, so most of the time and being Inuit myself, it was very grounding to live in a village up north and so I think I've I've reconnected to those roots of mine. But up until then I would have said Ukrainian - Canadian, and now they're sort of on par with each other. I think.

Interviewer: And do you speak Inuit?

Dorothy: Wish. No, I know a couple words enough to know what a conversation might be about.

Interviewer: What do you like about the Ukrainian Canadian community.

Dorothy: I like that. There's every type of activity., you can be involved in the Ukrainian Canadian community in some way, there’s something for everyone. There's a religious aspect. There's a camping aspect. And in the camping world there are so many options there's Plast*, there’s Sum**, in Montreal there's Camp Ukraina. There are a lot of different camp options, and some are extracurriculars.

And then there's history and education for those who want to go to Ukrainian school. There's Malanka*** for those who don't even speak Ukrainian, and just want to celebrate a Ukrainian New Year's. I think that it's it's very versatile in what it offers.

Interviewer: So is there anything you'd like to see? Different.

Dorothy: I think there is. I think that, I’ll try to put it as best as I can into words. I think that I would like to see a broadening of our definition of what it is to be Ukrainian, because for example, my experience and my Ukrainian, or my kind of Ukrainian that I speak is the Ukrainian that was brought over by my Baba and Dido, and preserved and passed on and protect and I cherish that Ukrainian language that we have very, very much. And Ukrainians keep coming from Ukraine to Canada, and especially when I was younger. Things have changed a little bit. But there was sort of this looking down on Ukrainian Canadians version of Ukrainian because it was so “silske” **** and had these kind of negative connotation to them, which I think is ridiculous, because, if anything, I think it deserves a pat on the back for having been so well preserved, and that is what our our grandparents came over here with: there was nothing else to go off of, andI think I kind of grew up with this chip on my shoulder so, as an example, saying aeroport instead of “letovyshche”, for me it was like, Well, why wouldn't we use a word that we already have. Why are we using Anglicisms? And I think people in both groups need a bit more empathy towards each other.

I think all of those are Ukrainian, and I don't think we need to be drawing lines in the sand about which one is more Ukrainian. So that's what I would like to see change.

* Ukrainian Scouting Organization

** Ukrainian Youth Organization

*** Ukrainian folk holiday

**** Rural