Parading around naked, though, was a "nudist strike," a form of creative political expression, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia:
***** The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001. Dukhobors
or Doukhobors (both: d´kbôrz) (KEY) [Russ.,=spirit wrestlers], religious group, prominent in Russia from the 18th to the 19th cent. The name was coined by the Orthodox opponents of the Dukhobors, who had originally called themselves Christians of the Universal Brotherhood. They were in doctrine somewhat like the Quakers, rejecting completely priesthood, the sacraments, and the other outward symbols of Christianity. The members came from the lower level of society, primarily farmers; the Dukhobors promoted a communal, absolutely democratic attitude and preached equality. Because they rejected the authority of both state and church, they were persecuted under Catherine II. Alexander I persuaded them to settle near the Sea of Azov. There they built up flourishing agricultural communities. When they did not agree to military conscription, considering it sinful, the government in 1840 forcibly ejected them from their lands and moved them farther east. Again they built thriving communities. In 1887 military conscription was again extended to them and again was resisted. Severe persecution followed and their leader, Peter Veregin, was exiled to Siberia.
Leo Tolstoy befriended the Dukhobors and helped enable them to go to Canada. Over 7,000 of them moved (1898-99) to what is now Saskatchewan. Veregin later joined them. Once more their abilities produced flourishing communities, and they spread after 1908 to British Columbia. Frugal, industrious, and abstemious, the Dukhobors built their own roads and their own irrigation projects. Orchards and farms flourished. The group was small but important in the development of W Canada.
There were internal divisions, however, primarily over the question of communal ownership of land. The Sons of Freedom stressed ascetic practices, most notably nudism. The Dukhobors in later days had much trouble with the government and with their non-Dukhobor neighbors; this occasionally burst into violence but was usually expressed in passive resistance. One of the more remarkable forms was the so-called nudist strikes, in which the Dukhobors stripped off their clothing and marched in revolt against governmental decisions.
The elder Peter Veregin was killed by a time bomb in 1924, and his son, Peter Veregin, came from Russia to lead the group. He died in 1939, recommending that the Dukhobors abandon communal life and adjust themselves to Canadian ways. In 1945 the Union of the Dukhobors of Canada was founded, but immediately afterward the Sons of Freedom made themselves a separate organization. There are a small number of adherents remaining in British Columbia and Russia.
See G. Woodcock and I. Avakumovic, The Doukhobors (1968).
<http://www.bartleby.com/65/du/Dukhobor.html> *****
The burning of houses appears to have originated in political splits among the Dukhobors, the splits caused by the Canadian Government's repression of the Dukhobors, especially the imposition of individual land entries and confiscation of many homesteads beginning in 1906:
***** First years in Canada
...The federal Ministry of the Interior, under Clifford Sifton, was initially sympathetic to the Doukhobors. The government provided each adult male with a quarter section homestead (160 acres) as "free" land. In lieu of cash, the settlers had to satisfy several homesteading requirements: they had to register their homestead, pay a $10 entry fee, fulfill residence and cultivation duties (including living on the homestead for 6 months of the year), and break and crop a certain area of land. After these duties were completed, the settler would apply for inspection, and, if he passed, apply for a patent on the land.
The government provided three reserves for the Doukhobors who came to Canada in 1899, and enacted a "Hamlet Clause" so they could live communally (the Doukhobors did not believe in individual land ownership). The government also allowed Peter Verigin and two other men to make entry on behalf of the Doukhobors, so that they would not have to make individual land entry.
Land Loss in Saskatchewan
This period of agreement ended in 1906 when Frank Oliver, the new Minister of the Interior, introduced changes to the homesteading regulations that aimed to force the Doukhobors to take out separate homesteads. Individuals were required to claim title and to pledge an oath of allegiance to the Crown. The government cancelled the reserves and threatened eviction if the Doukhobors did not make individual land entries. Doukhobors were also required to become naturalized citizens, and to swear allegiance to the Crown, which most Doukhobors thought would lead to the end of their exemption from military service. The regulations were enforced in 1907, and 2,500 homesteads were cancelled.
Community split
This loss caused splits into three distinct groups. The largest group, the Community or Orthodox Doukhobors, followed Peter Verigin to British Columbia. The "edinolichniki" or "Independents" wanted to live more materialistic lives, and chose to comply with the Homestead requirements in order to maintain their homesteads in Saskatchewan. The "svobodniki" or "Sons of Freedom" also went to B.C. with Verigin, but, unlike the Community Doukhobors, the zealots were willing to use both civil disobedience and violence to achieve a return to more traditional values....
<http://edocs.lib.sfu.ca/projects/Doukhobor-Collection/history.html> *****
***** Quakers and Doukhobors: Common Ground and Crossing Paths
... The AFSC and the Doukhobors came into contact in 1918 when the AFSC was one year old and was asked to administer relief, to be collected by the Doukhobors in Canada, for war-torn Russia. It soon became apparent that Doukhobor settlements were still suffering from past persecution and forced migration. Plus, a new generation was pushing for education and assimilation, while the older generation wished to maintain their cultural and religious heritage. By the mid-1930s, the community began to break into factions.
One large group tried to remain true to pacifism and communal living and slowly assimilate into Canadian life, paying their taxes, and sending their children to school. Another group called themselves the Independents and broke away to assimilate more rapidly, living as individuals, and owning private property. A small remaining group called themselves the Sons of Freedom and felt the others were heretics. They became noisy and rebellious, refused to send their children to school, and resisted paying taxes.
In the 1940s, the Sons of Freedom burned the homes of those they wished to convert, as well as their own, to demonstrate the fragility of the material world and send a warning to other Doukhobors. When the government stepped in, they burned government buildings and bombed railways. To demonstrate the "naked truth" and purity of their position, they disrobed before groups of government officials or in other public forums, stopping all communication and getting arrested. The prisons swelled with Sons of Freedom dissidents serving terms for terrorist activities and public nudity. More peaceful communities of Doukhobors were stigmatized and suffered heavy-handed government policies to quell such rebellious activities.
The Canadian government, remembering the connection between Quakers and Doukhobors, asked the AFSC for assistance. Emmett Gulley, director of AFSC's Pacific Northwest Regional Office, visited the Doukhobor communities and reported that the AFSC might be able to mediate and help the Sons of Freedom see value in educating their children and existing peacefully with their government and each other. In June 1950, he was assigned to carry out this work, and he spent two years in Canada on behalf of the AFSC.
Unfortunately, in 1953 the Canadian government pressed the issue of compulsory education, removing children from noncompliant families from their homes and sending them to boarding schools. The resulting furor set off protests by the Sons of Freedom, as well as by Canadian and U.S. Friends, who received flyers pleading for assistance. This was fueled by reports about runaway children being tracked with dogs and of undernourished, shabbily dressed children housed in cold living quarters. Despite the outcries of abuse, later proved unfounded, nearly 175 children of the Sons of Freedom were educated. Thereafter, many resisters voluntarily sent their children to school.
Meanwhile, the government improved its treatment of Doukhobors, restoring their vote, legalizing their marriages, and enacting legislation that enabled them to recover much of their land. The Doukhobors' relations with their neighbors improved, and all but a small number of their children received educations. These "about faces" by the Canadian government policies may not have taken place were it not for Friends. The Quakers, due to their own history of persecution, resistance, and the stigma they carried of being "peculiar," perhaps understood better than anyone the heart and conviction behind the practices and actions of this small religious community.
Researched and written by Joan Lowe, Assistant Archivist of the American Friends Service Committee
<http://www.afsc.org/hist/2002/doukhobor.htm> *****
Here's some information about post-independence Gerogia's pesecution of "non-Georgians," including the Dukhobors: <http://www.ca-c.org/journal/eng01_2000/07.darchiash.shtml>. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>