Krestova is a unincorporated community of about 150 people in the

Kootenay Kootenay, Kootenai, and Kutenai may refer to: Ethnic groups *The Kutenai, also known as the Ktunaxa, Kootenai, or Kootenay, an indigenous people of the United States and Canada **Kutenai language, the traditional language of the Kutenai **Ktunaxa ...

region of

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. The community was established by members of the

Doukhobor The Doukhobours or Dukhobors (russian: духоборы / духоборцы, dukhobory / dukhobortsy; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are one of many non-Orthodox ethno-confessional faiths in Russia a ...

religious group, who originally immigrated from

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and

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, in 1911-12. The name comes from the Russian "Dolina Krestova (Долина Крестова)", meaning "valley of the cross". The area is still home to the " Sons of Freedom" movement, which split from the Doukhobor community in the early 1900s.

Geography

The town is located northwest of the confluence of the Slocan and

rivers, in the southern region of the province of British Columbia. It is part of the Electoral Area H of the Regional District of Central Kootenay. The nearest large towns are Castlegar to the southwest, and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

to the east.

History

Krestova was the centre of decades of conflict between the Sons of Freedom, and the

British Columbia government The Executive Council of British Columbia (the Cabinet) is the Cabinet of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Almost always composed of members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, the Cabinet is similar in structure and ro ...

, the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(RCMP), and moderate Doukhobors. The Sons of Freedom, also known as "Freedomites", had moved to Krestova in 1929{{Cite book , last=Tarasoff , first=Koozma J. , url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50403000 , title=Spirit wrestlers : Doukhobor pioneers' strategies for living , date=2002 , publisher=LEGAS , year=2002 , isbn=1-896031-12-9 , location=Ottawa , pages=12, 429 , oclc=50403000 and were opposed to many government requirements, especially compulsory public education. Members burned down schools, public buildings, and their own homes - in the summer of 1953, 400 homes in the Krestova area were destroyed. Freedomites staged protests against government actions, often in the nude. In the 1950s, Freedomite children in Krestova were forcibly relocated by the RCMP to a residential school in New Denver, B.C. The provincial government issued a "statement of regret" for these actions in 2004.

References

Populated places in the Regional District of Central Kootenay Ukrainian diaspora in Canada