Boian is an unincorporated community in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. It is located in the floodplain of the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventual ...

, 6 km east of Willingdon, in

County of Two Hills No. 21 The County of Two Hills No. 21 is a municipal district in east-central Alberta, Canada. Located in Census Division No. 10, its municipal office is located in the Town of Two Hills. History The County of Two Hills No. 21 was formed in 1963 ...

. It is the oldest

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

settlement in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

The community was named for Boian, a Romanian village in

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

, from where the settlers originated. In the fall of 1903, the community began building a

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...

, named by locals after one in their homeland, ''St Mary Orthodox Church''. It was completed in the summer of 1905. By the year 1909, the need for a local school became more immediate, so a small building was constructed in 1910; later a three room school was built from stone which was the largest rural school in Alberta. The Romanians of Boian did not have enough farmland to further homestead, so many of the first generation went on to form new Romanian communities in Pierceland, Saskatchewan and

Manning Manning (a.k.a. Mannion, Manning) is a family name. Origin and meaning Manning is from an old Norse word — manningi — meaning a brave or valiant man; and one of the first forms of the name was Mannin; another cartography was Mannyg ...

, Alberta. Today, the former Boian Mare school is the Boian Community center and has a small museum showcasing Romanian

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Alberta, photos of the first Romanian settlers in the area and the typical Romanian farmer's life in

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

Canada. As well, the house of the local Yurko family was moved to the

Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village ( uk, Село спадщини української культури, Selo spadshchyny ukrains’koi kul’tury) is an open-air museum that uses costumed historical interpreters to recreate pioneer set ...

where it portrays the similarities and differences between

Ukrainian Canadian Ukrainian Canadians ( uk, Українські канадці, Україноканадці, translit=Ukrayins'ki kanadtsi, Ukrayinokanadtsi; french: Canadiens d'origine ukrainienne) are Canadians, Canadian citizens of Ukrainians, Ukrainian desce ...

and

Romanian Canadian Romanian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Romanian descent or Romania-born people who reside in Canada. According to the Canadian Census data of 2021, there are 215,885 Romanian-Canadians. Some sources estimates that this number might be as ...

culture. In 1982, the Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian, Alberta was opened. It features a restored pioneer house built in the Bukovinian peasant style, as were about 100 such houses built by Romanian pioneers in the area. This modern museum relates the life of Romanian pioneers from 1898 through to 1935.

Notes

External links

The Canadian Romanian Society of AlbertaHistory of Boian, Alberta with virtual cemeteryRomanians in Alberta 1898-1998History of Boian, BukovinaShort history of BoianPhoto gallery
{{coord, 53, 49, 59, N, 112, 00, 30, W, scale:50000, display=title Localities in the County of Two Hills No. 21 Romanian-Canadian history Romanian diaspora