{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/dj58c9rz17/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Interview with Helen Letkemann"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/128/original/UA_Logo_WHT_RGB_%281%29.png?1725471982","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003ca href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\"\u003eAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)\u003c/a\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Kule Folklore Centre (Creator)","Letkemann, Helen (Interviewee)","Kampen, Christine (Interviewer)","Thiessen, Angela (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2005-05-30 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["3 audio files; wav; 1:30:48","audio/x-wav"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["47429b16t (avalonid)","LC195 (other)","2005-091-4752 (local)","2005-091-4753 (local)","2005-091-4754 (local)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Subject"]},"value":{"en":["oral histories (topical)","immigration (topical)","farm life (topical)","religion (topical)","education (topical)","dance (topical)","Winkler, Manitoba, Canada (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Interview"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date First Ingested"]},"value":{"en":["2021-02-03"]}},{"label":{"en":["Note"]},"value":{"en":["Interviewee: Letkemann, Helen (creation/production)","Interviewer: Kampen, Christine (creation/production)","Interviewer: Thiessen, Angela (creation/production)"]}}],"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003ca href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\"\u003eAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)\u003c/a\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["University of Alberta Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["University of Alberta Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/128/original/UA_Logo_WHT_RGB_%281%29.png?1725471982","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/133/114/small/audio-default.png?1640639252","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 3 - 2005-091-4752.wav"]},"duration":1870.97107,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/133/114/small/audio-default.png?1640639252","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-ualberta.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/133/114/original/2005-091-4752.wav?1660937305","type":"Audio","format":"audio/wav","duration":1870.97107,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Part 1 [Index]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Family background, immigration to Canada, voyage","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=3.0,390.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"(Helen Letkemann was born on August 1, 1923, in Lechfeld, Bavaria, Germany.)\nThe interviewer introduces the interview and says she is interviewing \"Mrs. Helen Letkemann\". Letkemann corrects her: \"Miss\" (she is unmarried). Then she states that \"just Helen Letkemann is fine\".\nLetkemann explains that her parents lived in Southern Russia. The first immigration took place in the 19s, \"through the encouragement maybe or whatever you want to say of their family members\". One of her father's brother-in-laws walked for many kilometres to ask whether her father thought of immigrating to Canada. Her father had not thought about it. The brother-in-law explained to her parents that times were difficult and Canada was opening its doors to immigrants. Letkemann's parents started to think about it and started to make small payments. It was not necessarily money, sometimes also some butter. They started to do so a long time before \"finally the agreement was there and they had the papers\". Her father had become frustrated and had thought about stopping the process \"because we are not getting anywhere\" but people told them that they had \"nothing to lose\". Her father could be convinced to go once more to a meeting of potential immigrants to Canada. They finally sold a \"nice cup and saucer\" which Letkemann's mother would have liked to keep, to make another payment. In June 1923, Letkemann's parents left Southern Russia. They arrived in England first and later came to Germany \"because of eye problems. Nobody was allowed to continue until that was cleared up.\" \"I came along in Germany, it was in Lechfeld, Deutschland (Germany)\" where Letkemann was born. She believes that her parents were living in barracks then. She was born there, and \"mother and I were hauled to the hospital the next morning\". She was born on August 1, 1923. Letkemann had to wait in Germany. Their eyes were healed but they had to go through \"quite a stressful time\" because they used a blue stone to treat their trachoma. They rolled their eye lids with that \"which caused bleeding and very severe burning\", and it didn't help at all. They also had to treat Letkemann's two-year-old sister and her three-year-old cousin but then her mother and her aunt decided that they would not take them to the treatment, and nothing happened. Letkemann recalls a story told by her mother several times: A doctor came from England would scrap away the little pimples, and he used some ointment, and the eyes were healed. In November 1923, her parents could leave with a ship called \"Empress of France\". It was a rough ride because the seas were very turbulent in late fall. The passengers were all very sea-sick, including Letkemann's mother and herself who was three and a half months old. Her two-year-old sister \"liked to see things and wasn't that sick\". Her father was sea-sick too. According to her mother, the ship would go up and down \"as high as a house\" during a storm. Letkemann recalls that it would have been easier to travel earlier in summer. Her uncle said that the \"sea was so calm\" in summer. In addition to that, those who came in earlier summer during threshing time, could earn money right away. But when Letkemann's parents came at the end of November, it was cold, and they had no mittens or gloves. The people who picked them up bought them a pair. They stayed in Winnipeg and were taken to their home in Greenland near Ste. Anne, Manitoba. Letkemann's parents spent the first winter with the people that had taken them up. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=3.0,390.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Starting farming, transportation debt","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=390.0,672.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann's father worked for a farmer. The pay was 50 cents a day. He did \"whatever needed to be done, hauling straw\". In summer, her parents moved away to stay on their own even though it was a granary. The families had been very good to them. Her father worked but her mother felt that she was not needed because there were older girls in the family, and whenever she wanted to help, they told her that she should take care of her children. Her mother \"felt like a burden\". So in summertime, her parents moved to a granary that was cleaned out. Her parents stayed there until April 1927. Her parents had decided that they would rent or buy land and start farming. The first crop was beautiful, her parents just walked around and looked at it. But then there was a big hail storm, and most of their crop was destroyed. \"It was another setback, and they were very poor\". Her parents had a debt to pay, and not much income, and children to take care of. Asked to whom her parents were indebted, Letkemann replies: \"To the CPR company\". Her parents had had to pay their way until they would get out of Russia, until the had passed the \"Red Gate\". J. P. Thiessen vouched for all Mennonites coming to Canada, that they would pay their debt. Letkemann is not sure if the Mennonites also had to pay for their fare to Quebec, and from Quebec across Canada. She knows that it was a large debt for her parents at that time. Her parents were faithful to paying their debt to the CPR once they could. She is not sure when her parents finished to pay their debt. Letkemann recalls that many teenage girls immediately had to go to work to support their families. They worked in Winnipeg as domestic servants \"for the more wealthy people, they did house cleaning and so on. They gave almost every penny to their parents so that they could pay that debt.\"\n\n","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=390.0,672.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Moving to Roseisle, Manitoba","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=672.0,883.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Two of Letkemann's uncles also immigrated in 1923, and went on to Saskatchewan. On Christmas 1924 (maybe even later), they came to visit. Her father and uncle went searching for land a little farther west. On of her father's brothers was already living at Stephenfield, Manitoba. Her father and uncle came to a place called Roseisle, Manitoba, where her parents decided to move to. Letkemann doesn't remember too much from their time in Greenland, Manitoba. It was a positive experience to be picked up by people they didn't know.\nHer father bought a house at Roseisle, the down payment was one dollar. The people living there would not move out. In addition to her parents and siblings, they went they with Letkemann's aunt, a young widow with one girl. The first stop was at her other uncle's place in Stephenfield. They stayed there until they could finally move on to Roseisle. They just moved in, and the other people moved out. Her uncle in Stephenfield, Peter and his wife Anna, had already at least two children, and her parents had three children then. When they moved into the new house, her mother and aunt started washing the walls. They discovered that there was a colour at the walls, not just smoke and dirt. That was their home for 11 years, and Letkemann has many good memories, it was a \"poor but a happy time\". Her father played with the children and told them stories, and did lots of things with the children. They didn't know they were poor, they had their \"daily bread\". \n","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=672.0,883.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"School, religious services","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=883.0,946.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann started school at Roseisle and learned English. They didn't have a church to go to at that time. They sang and read bible stories at home. Whenever possible, a minister from Winnipeg or from another place visited them. The minister came by train and would stay overnight. The services were held in the various homes. Letkemann still remembers some of the ministers who came to visit them, telling them stories and even giving them candy occasionally. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=883.0,946.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Farm life, picking berries","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=946.0,1203.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Her parents had half a section of land in Roseisle. It was poor, sandy land, and it had leafy spurge which is very hard to get rid of. Her parents started with cattle and sold the cream. They also had chickens for eggs and meat, and pigs. They had a big vegetable garden. Sometimes, it was very dry, and they would have to water it. They bought very few groceries. They had some very nice neighbours living close to them, they didn't have any children, so they would get an orange from them once in a while. They would stand at the neighbours' fence but they didn't have the permission to go there. In the summertime, they would drive to the Pembina Hills for fruit, with horse and buggy, taking their cream cans, pails and straw heads. They took their lunch with them. Her mother, aunt and the children would pick Saskatoons (Saskatoon berries). Later on, they would pick pin-cherries, chokecherries, and plums. They also found cranberries, gooseberries and a few strawberries (not enough to do anything with).\nAt haying time, everybody had to help: They had to put the hay onto the hayrack, and then to the barn loft. Letkemann recalls an implement but she can't remember how it was called: They had to put the hay onto it and then it could be lifted up. Later on, they would use a grain auger. She shows a picture, and the interviewers are identifying a pitchfork in it that was used to lift up the hay. Letkemann explains that they used the pitchfork first but later on they had a device pulled by horses. They talk about the person in the picture: One of them is Letkemann's father, and they had a hired help but probably the other person in the picture is her brother. The picture was taken between 1927 and 1938. Letkemann recalls the dust when they moved the hay, \"it wasn't one of my favourites at all\".\n\n\n\n ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=946.0,1203.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Loading grain","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1203.0,1237.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann shows a picture of loading grain by auger, which they used later. It had a little engine. This was already in Graysville, Manitoba.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1203.0,1237.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Threshing","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1237.0,1277.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann recalls that her brothers slept in the hayloft when it was threshing time because there wasn't enough room. The neighbours would get together and go from one farmer to another. The threshers would stay over night. The women had to prepare lots of food. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1237.0,1277.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Attitudes on dancing","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1277.0,1317.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Asked whether they had dances at the barn, Letkemann recalls that she \"didn't even think of it\". Asked if dancing wasn't allowed, Letkemann explains that they thought that dancing wasn't very Christian, so they never danced. The hayloft was used for hay and also for grain because they had so few granaries at that time: \"No, no barn dances or anything like that\". ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1277.0,1317.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Farm and house chores","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1317.0,1590.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann recalls that she and her siblings had to bring in the wood, \"and also snow for melting\" so that they would have soft water. That was when they were younger. The wood was burned in a range for baking and cooking, and there was a box that had to be filled or replenished. There was bush around the farm, and they collected dry branches for firewood. They took armloads of it home, and the three children helped each other to fill two arms, whereas the third one would have only one arm of wood because nobody was left to help.\nThey also had to feed the chickens and gather the eggs. As soon as they were able to, Letkemann and her siblings had to milk the cows. She milked \"many, many cows, I mean, over the years, eh?\" She also had to help clean out the chicken barn. In summer, she had to weed the garden. There was always something to do. Inside the house, she had to help her mother, sometimes also with the laundry. They couldn't put the wash in and have it washed, they had to stand there and move the wash. By then they had a hand-operated washing machine, but at the beginning her mother used a tub and a wash board. They hung the laundry outdoors, in winter it would freeze stiff. Later on, they had a machine but had to stand and work the machine, and to wring the laundry dry. \nLetkemann had one older sister and three younger brothers. Her brothers had to do farm work too when they were old enough. They didn't have to do as much milking as she and her sister but more outdoor-chores like haying which Letkemann didn't have to do so much. However, she and her sister helped raking the hay. It was always good when her father was there and not the hired man to move the hay onto the rack. Her father wouldn't just throw the hay onto the rack but lay it on for them: \"It made a difference\". Later, they did a lot of stooking. They had to cut the grain with a binder in sheaves. They had to put seven sheaves together to one stook, and make rows. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1317.0,1590.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Farm house, making jam","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1590.0,1686.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Asked about what the house in Roseisle, Manitoba, looked like, Letkemann recalls that they had an outdoor kitchen (summer kitchen), and from there, they went into the living room. That was also their dining room, all in one. Her parents had a bedroom downstairs. She is not sure if they had only two rooms or three rooms. They also had some bedrooms upstairs. When they would come home with their loads of berries, they would have to sort them, and her mother and aunt worked in the kitchen and made preserves and jams. Her cousin, her sister and Letkemann \"had the privilege\" to sit in the living room where it was a little bit cooler, the summer kitchen door was closed. At Graysville, they didn't go to the Pembina Hills that often anymore. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1590.0,1686.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Toys and plays, Christmas concerts","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1686.0,1870.97107"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114/index/52065/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann recalls that \"of course\" they had their times for playing, they played \"whatever\". They didn't have many toys but they found little pieces of glass (that was their dishes), they found seeds of weed (that went into their dishes). Letkemann had very few toys: Little metal dishes, and she got a doll from one of her uncles. That was a big treasure later on. Occasionally, they got a new doll. Her mother would use little patches, left-overs from sewing, and make a beautiful little doll blanket. Her father would make a little cradle, a little doll bed. Her father also made a little table and chairs (she is not sure about the chairs), and also a little cabinet, they could put their dishes in there. They used whatever there was, sometimes even cardboard.\nThey slid down the snowbanks, and had some kind of a stick, and something they used for puck, and played ice hockey. Letkemann doesn't know \"whether it was hockey or not but we played on the ice\". They didn't have skates. Her brother got a pair of skates. She herself never learned to skate. They couldn't easily go to school where the skating rink was because that was three and a half miles away. They were picked up to go to school, and once they were at home, they wouldn't go back. Occasionally, they would go to the Christmas program. They would stay at school or with friends, and her father would come and pick them up, always with horses and wagon. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133114#t=1686.0,1870.97107"}]}]},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 3 - 2005-091-4753.wav"]},"duration":1783.29252,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/133/115/small/audio-default.png?1640639375","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-ualberta.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/133/115/original/2005-091-4753.wav?1660937326","type":"Audio","format":"audio/wav","duration":1783.29252,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Part 2 [Index]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Skating","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=0.0,37.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann continues to talk about activities at school. Her brother who was the only one in the family who had skates learned to skate. She is not sure whether her other brother used the same skates. She has to ask them. It was the same with the bicycle, they didn't have one at Roseisle, Manitoba, yet. Letkemann asks is she could now talk about her time in Graysville, Manitoba.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=0.0,37.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Farming at Graysville, Manitoba","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=37.0,452.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"After 11 years in Roseisle, Manitoba, the farmyard was sold. Actually it was sold beforehand, and her father started to look for a new place but didn't find anything for a long time. It was the last month before the family had to move out that her father found this place at Graysville, Manitoba. It had a big house and a big yard, and a barn that was \"fairly old\" (Letkemann shows a picture that was taken later). There were no granaries but a chicken barn, and another one that could be used for chickens or pigs. The house had been empty for two summers, and the weeds were high, all over the yard. There were holes in the walls. People had made them to take the honey from the bees that had been inside the house. For years they had trouble with bees coming in after the had fixed the holes from the inside. There was a well, 160 feet deep. 100 feet were dug, another 60 were drilled (or it was the opposite). They had to pump 100 times before they got any water. The well was dry because it wasn't used. There was a cistern in the house which used the rain water (for washing). Later, they would always melt ice and snow for washing. They would haul drinking water from two miles away. Lektemann shows a picture depicting watering the cattle. There was a big tank, and her brothers had to go and haul water everyday during the week, not on weekends. They hauled it with four horses from 1 mile away. They emptied the water into the well and pumped it for the cattle. The also had two dugouts (an old one and a shallow one which they enlarged), and they used machines to make a \"great water pool\" out of them. All the water running off from the fields, and rain, collects there, and that was the drinking water for the cattle in summer. In winter, they had to haul in the water. They got their own drinking water from other neighbours. They could also drink the water they had in the well (it gave them more water after a while) but when they first moved there, it was only one pail a day. Later they cleaned the well and they got more water, but it was very hard water with lots of minerals, \"it was not a good-tasting water\". At Roseisle, they had had good water but at Graysville they had to be very careful how they used water, and they had a lot of cattle by then.\nAt Graysville, they had a section of land (much more than before), and it was of better quality, not as sandy as at the previous place. It was not really clay but better, and gave a better yield. The horses couldn't do all the work, it was too slow to work all the land. It was bush there too. So her father bought his first tractor, a John Deer-second hand tractor. It was \"very pleasing\" for Letkemann's brothers to drive a tractor. The family had moved to Graysville in September 1938, and they got the tractor maybe in 1939 or 1940. Letkemann also drove the tractor but didn't like it as much as her sister, as Letkemann was \"more fearful\".\n\n","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=37.0,452.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Harvest time, adventures with watermelons","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=452.0,863.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann recalls that she did \"whatever chores had to be done\". There was also \"inside work\", and a lot of garden work. During harvest time, stooking was her and her sister's job. Her older brother would drive the tractor, the youngest would help them stooking the sheaves but it was hard for him. An implement to cut the grain was pulled by the tractor (Letkemann can't recall the term). It was a binder but not a self-propelled binder. They had to go swathe by swathe around the field. Her sister was driving the tractor, and sometimes, she had to stop but couldn't hear their father calling with all the noise, and she didn't want to make mistakes. In a way, it was easier doing the stooking. After a long day on the field, they still had to do the milking, feed the chickens and pigs. When the men came home from the field, they had a late supper, and then they had to wash the dishes. By the time they went to sleep, they had dreams about stooking and picking berries.\nThey did a lot of canning. At Roseisle as well as at Graysville, they had a lot of watermelons in their garden. They hauled them home \"with a trailer you might say\", with a wagon and horses: \"Lots of people got some of our good-tasting watermelons\". They also pickled them. They had a big barrel in the basement, with whole watermelons, and they would scoop them out. They preserved them with salt water, dill and horse reddish. It was pickled watermelons. They also made syrup out of watermelons. They boiled the juice, and the sweeter the watermelons, the nicer the syrup, or it would be faster to make the syrup and yield more. They had a big cauldron, and they cooked the syrup outdoors. They called the cauldron M... (inaudible). It was a big pot, it stood on a frame, and underneath was the fire. They poured the juice into the pot and cooked it until it became syrup. The smell \"wasn't all that good\" but would drift away in the evening. They had neighbours not very far from them, and they must have felt that smell, \"and they thought that dad was making home-brew\". Letkemann thinks that the neighbours were familiar with that. \"One day the police came into the yard, and they wanted to search.\" Letkemann's father was \"quite open and free, they could search whatever they wanted.\" The police even went to the straw stack in case they had anything hidden there. Her father had to explain to the police about the barrel with the pickled watermelons. The police found no home-brew. The policeman didn't reveal \"who had mentioned their name that they should be checked out. We figured, probably it was our neighbours, who else?\" Letkemann's father could understand some English, her mother very little at that time. Her aunt burst out laughing when she was told why the police had come. Asked whether the neighbours were also Mennonites, Letkemann says that they were Ukrainians: \"I guess they were more familiar with maybe making their own, I don't know.\" (The interviewers are laughing.)","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=452.0,863.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Family life","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=863.0,1021.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann is asked about her aunt. It was her father's sister, she was a young widow. She came from Russia and didn't have her own home, \"it was much more common in those days that families were living together\" in Russia or Southern Ukraine where they came from. Since her aunt was a widow and had one child, her father said that she could live with them. A brother of her father also lived with them for a while: \"They just took each other in.\" It wasn't possible to just rent an apartment. Her aunt worked as a housekeeper for a couple, \"an elderly couple, we thought they were elderly at that time\". They had some grandchildren. Letkemann's cousin heard them calling grandpa and grandma, so she would call them grandpa and grandma too. They became their \"grandparents\" as they didn't have any others, none of them came to Canada. They would visit them once or twice a year at Roseisle, they had a car. Her aunt and her daughter lived with that couple for several years, working for them. Letkemann grew up with her cousin just like if they were sisters. When the children were still younger, Letkemann's father needed a hired man. One brother was born at Greenland, the other one at Roseisle, and the third brother also at Roseisle. Then they were six children (five plus their cousin). \n","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=863.0,1021.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mennonite religious life","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=1021.0,1626.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"They lived at Graysville for 22 years. They did farm work and helped with the neighbours. All the children attended bible school which was very important for her parents. Letkemann's sister and her went to the First Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. It was a church in the basement, the bible school teachers were John Enns and Jacob Schulz. It was \"wonderful times\". She, her sister and her cousin from Oak Lake, Manitoba, lived with \"Ältester Klassen\" for one winter. They had one room there. Letkemann and her sister had a number of winters of bible school. Later, it dissolved, there was not very many students. Letkemann's brothers went to the Elim Bible School in Altona, Manitoba.\nThe family belonged to the First Mennonite Church in Winnipeg. They were visited by a minister once in a while. At Graysville, they were still part of that church. There was a church building only a quarter of a mile away (\"you could easily walk there\"), and many Mennonite people living in the area would gather at that church. The men would take turns reading from a bible story book. They would sing and pray together, \"it was fellowshipping together\". Eventually, they had ministers from four different congregations: the First Mennonite Church, Schönwieser, the Rudnerweide, and the MB (Mennonite Brethren). Every month, there would be four services from these four different churches. The younger people wanted to sing in a choir but they had no choir leader but one of the men was willing to do that job. Later on, his son, Orlando Sawatzky, started to be their \"choir director\". It was lots of fun, \"the highlight of the week\", \"the only thing we had as young people\".\nThey also had what they called \"Jugendverein\" (\"Young people's endeavour\"). They met once a month, they had planned programs, and everybody was involved. In summer, they had a \"Kinderfest\" (activities for children). They started to have Sunday schools too, Letkemann and her sister taught there.\nAsked whether there were any frictions among the different Mennonite congregations, Letkemann states that she can't remember any. Finally, they got a minister who was not ordained but \"felt called of God to speak\". He lived at Rosebank, Manitoba, which was several miles away, he would come by horse and buggy, \"very faithfully\". Later, he joined the MB church.\nThere was a time when they thought it would be good to have one congregation, belong to one church, but which one would it be? Letkemann thinks that the Bergthaler congregation was the fourth one, that was the one they joined later. Some ministers would come from Morden, Manitoba. Somebody from Morden would also teach catechism. The year Letkemann and her sister were baptized, they took classes in Morden. They got together with their neighbours and drove there. Her sister and her were baptized in Winnipeg in the First Mennonite Church because her parents were still members there. Her classmates were baptized in Morden in the Bergthaler Church. Eventually, they joined the Bergthaler Church, and the ministers in the area would meet monthly and had one organization. At that time, they had only one \"Ältester\" (elder), David Schulz. Later, they ordained referent Jacob Pauls. \nLetkemann was baptized at the age of 18. In the late 1940s, they joined the Bergthaler Church. It was not a hard decision. They had been members of the First Mennonite Church because of their parents but the church was \"so far removed\", they couldn't go there every Sunday. Some of the others who were members of different Mennonite churches also joined the Bergthaler Church. Those who did not join could still come to church there (near Graysville).","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=1021.0,1626.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sharing a church: the Graysville Mennonite Bergthaler Church","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=1626.0,1783.29252"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115/index/52064/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann's siblings left home to start their own families, and her parents finally moved away from Graysville, Manitoba, in 1960. By then, the church belonged to the neighbours who were United Church members. They used it in the afternoon, because their pastor had several parishes. The Mennonites rented the church from them to use it in the mornings. The English-speaking people and the Mennonites cleaned the church together. Eventually, the Mennonites bought the church because few other people had been left. They had wonderful neighbours. Their neighbours, Mr. Baker, suggested that the rent the Mennonites had paid could already be a downpayment. In the early 1950s, the church was moved to a new place on the main road from Carman, Manitoba, to Graysville, and farther west. It was closer to the highway, and it was easier for the people to gather. At the new church, the building has a basement, and it was also enlarged. It is still in use.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133115#t=1626.0,1783.29252"}]}]},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 3 of 3 - 2005-091-4754.wav"]},"duration":1795.52943,"width":640,"height":40,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/133/116/small/audio-default.png?1640639498","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/content/3/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-ualberta.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/133/116/original/2005-091-4754.wav?1660937347","type":"Audio","format":"audio/wav","duration":1795.52943,"width":640,"height":40},"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Part 3 [Index]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Butchering pigs, processing the meat","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=11.0,1002.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann talks about pig butchering on the farm: \"That was always a big event.\" They would have breakfast early in the morning, several neighbours would get together. They would move with sleighs, they had leather blankets, made from tanned hides of horses or cattle.  The men would go out, and the women would get the hot water ready. The pigs were shot with a gun, and somebody would have to slit the throat to get the blood flowing in order to cleanse the animal. They used a big trough with hot water and put the pig in there, rolled it over and scraped all the hair off. The head was off and the pig was shaved. Then they slit it open and removed the insides. (The interviewers are obviously disgusted.) Letkemann continues: \"Oh yes, we used almost every part of the pig!\" The English-speaking neighbours would say: \"When the Mennonites kill a pig, all that is lost is the squeal.\" (The interviewers laugh.) The head would be made into head cheese, Parts of the legs and feet were also pickled. Sometimes you can still buy that at the store. They made their own liver sausage; her father's liver sausage was the best she ever tasted. They also smoked their own sausages, they had their own little smoke house (Letkemann is not sure about that term). The ham was also smoked there. They had to be very careful to heat the ham enough but not too long. They didn't have deep freezers, so they had to make sure that the meat was good for all winter and a part of the summer, if possible. The ham was salted first, and smoked after several days. The sausage was smoked right away.\nThey used the same cauldron they used for making syrup from watermelons to render the lard, as it was called. The fat was first cut in slices and scraped off, then cut into pieces and put through the grinder. They cooked it together with lean meat and had to keep stirring it. They also put some of the ribs in there. Crackles and brown lard all came from this. They put it into containers, and had their white and brown lard with settle. Crackles would be separate. Meals would be made, and the ladies had to prepare the dinner. As neighbours were helping each other, they took a fresh liver sausage, and the short ribs were ready by then.\nThe lean meat that was left on the lard was cooked with the lard to produce the crackles.\nThey had to make their own casings for the sausage, nobody liked doing that (the interviewer laughs). Usually, the mothers did that, and the daughters had to stand beside and pour the water. First, the intestines had to be cleaned out. They would use bran or salt to rub them hard. They also had to scrape the intestine, to have only a thin part of it, the other was all scraped out. They treated the large intestines with salt and used them for the liver sausage whereas the other intestines were used for the regular sausage. Now you can buy casings or use plastic casings. \"That was the worst part with helping butchering pigs.\" \"It was a greasy job\".\nApart from helping with the intestines, Letkemann also helped with the preparation of meals, and clean up, on butchering day. Men and women worked together. Usually, they would butcher one big pig, sometimes two, in that case more neighbours would help. The non-Mennonite neighbours \"would appreciate if we butchered for them\". Letkemann thinks that they paid them but she doesn't remember exactly. Asked whether they made farmer sausage, Letkemann explains that it was exactly that sausage they used the casings for. Now they have it sometimes in plastic casings. Butchering day smelled greasy. Letkemann asks the interviewers if they know the smell of raw meat. She recalls that they cleaned a lot of chickens too. They canned chickens. \nThe interviewer asks Letkemann if she found these tasks disgusting as a child. Letkemann replies that she turned her face away if possible when she cleaned the casings: \"It didn't enjoy that, no\" but \"whatever there was, you had to do it.\" Asked again about the casings, Letkemann asks the interviewers if she should get a book and show them how intestines (and human intestines) look like. The interviewers say no. Letkemann explains that the \"inside lining\" of the intestine would be scraped away. They did it not with the sharp but the dull end of the knife so that they would not cut it. They put this \"junk\" out. The lining of the intestine that absorbs the food would be slimy.\nThey look at a picture of a hanging pig after butchering. In the picture is also Letkemann's father with a saw in his hand. Her father would first use the knife and then inside a saw to cut the rib cage. They put all the insides out. The heart was eaten too. The stomach wasn't used: \"Many some people did but we didn't because you have to clean that out too. But we never did.\" The spleen wasn't used, Letkemann is not sure whether some people used it or not. Kidneys were not used either but they even cleaned the tongue. It tasted good but she didn't like to eat it because she thought of the tongue.\nThe picture was taken at Graysville, in the 1940s or 1950s but maybe it was in the 1940s. Henry, their hired man, worked for them earlier but maybe not everyday, as he also worked for the neighbours.\nThe interviewer states that she is happy she has not to do that (butchering), and Letkemann says she is also happy that she doesn't have to do it anymore.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=11.0,1002.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"A snapshot at Graysville, Manitoba, 1938","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=1002.0,1254.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann talks about a picture taken at Roseisle, Manitoba. They had lots of roses and bushes in the back of the house. There is also a bicycle, and a dog. Letkemann recalls that they always had a dog, and cats. In the picture are Letkemann, her cousin Elizabeth (in the middle) and her sister Tina (left). They had one single bicycle, it was big, and her older brother got to ride it. He learned how to ride it one Sunday afternoon. Letkemann also tried hard to learn how to ride a bicycle, but the bicycle was too big for her. She would roll a little bit and fall over. She leaned against the house and tried to ride but she never learned it properly. The roads were dirt roads and not drivable for a bicycle. Letkemann reads the dedication at the back side of the photograph: \"To Mable (a friend from school,) from Liza Bergen (her cousin Elizabeth), Graysville, Man., 1938.\" Letkemann realizes that the photograph was taken at Graysville. Letkemann asks the interviewers to send them their \"snapshot\" (obviously, they took a picture of her). Letkemann recalls that she later got the picture back from Elizabeth, she sent it for Christmas. Elizabeth's mother later married a widower, changed her name to Enns and moved to Saskatchewan. Elizabeth eventually also changed her name to be part of the family.\nThey didn't take many pictures then, later on, Letkemann's sister liked to take snapshots. She doesn't know who took the picture they are talking about. Her cousin loved dogs and cats, cats especially. Asked if she liked animals too, Letkemann replies: \"In the barn.\" (The interviewers laugh.) ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=1002.0,1254.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Chores, pastime activities","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=1254.0,1529.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Letkemann recalls that she played together with her sister and cousin. Occasionally, they had to do homework. They had a Sunday school book, and her aunt or mother would tell them that they should read a lesson. Her sister and cousin would read, and she would listen. Letkemann was the youngest of the three girls. They brought in the wood, the snow and the ice for melting. They also had to do milking, washing the dishes, and sewing when they were older. The whole family went to the \"Jugendverein\" (Youth Endeavour): It was a family thing, her parents also went there. The events took place on Sunday evening. There was a program in church, and the whole family was there. The program was planned by a committee consisting of young people. They sang together, recited poems, had duets. One little boy was only three or four, and his mother got him to recite poems: \"He did a very good job\". (The interviewers laugh.) They are still friends, the boy is living in Winkler, Manitoba, now too.\nThey return to the picture of 1938. Letkemann thinks that she was wearing Sunday clothes in the picture. In those days, pictures were taken very seldom, not many people had cameras. The picture was taken behind the house, there were shrubs and rose bushes. They would pick flowers from the garden and put them inside. In the garden, they had phlox flowers. Once, her sister brought her a vase of freshly-picked flowers for her birthday. Letkemann points at her sister's pictures (obviously at the wall). She passed away over five years ago: \"She lived just two doors down\" (in Winkler, Manitoba). Her sister was a nurse. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=1254.0,1529.0"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Identity, visiting Europe, Mennonite activities","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=1529.0,1795.52943"},{"id":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116/index/52063/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Asked about her cultural identity, Letkemann asks \"what is included to that\". Letkemann is not sure if she understood the question. The interviewer explains to her that she is interested in what role plays Letkemann's heritage to her, the fact that she was born in Germany or that she is a Mennonite. Letkemann states that being Mennonite is important, but Canadian also. Letkemann explains that she does not feel as German, \"not the country Germany\". However, it was important to her that she visited later the area where she was born. Her sister and her also had a chance to go back to Ukraine. In 1997, they went with the Mennonite heritage cruise, and it was very important to her to see where her father had lived and her mother had gone to school. She saw the Dnipro river her father had talked so much about, where he had done so much fishing.\nLetkemann recalls that her parents were always concerned about their children's \"spiritual welfare\", even though she did not have a chance to go to Sunday school when she was young. Activities with her family at the church (in the choir) was also very important to her. They got together with other communities: Wingham, Carman, Graysville, and Homewood (all in Manitoba). These four communities had a \"Sängerfest\" (song festival) together. In summer, she worked with children. Before Letkemann went into teaching, she taught at lot at summer bible schools. Working for neighbours was sometimes very good too.\nLetkemann recalls that she enjoyed being together as a family, for many more years than usually now. People now don't have that chance, they have to go to work and are not living at home anymore. Letkemann is \"very, very thankful\" that she grew up on a farm together with her family. Letkemann didn't not have all these opportunities young people have now but they also had their events at school, they had school picnics together with other schools. Later on, they could do things together as neighbours. ","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Synopsis"]}}],"target":"https://ualberta.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1776/collection_resources/58752/file/133116#t=1529.0,1795.52943"}]}]}]}