Natalie Ostryzniuk

Blossoming of a Ukrainian Canadian: Savella Stechishin Natalie Ostryzniuk

This biography of Savella Stechishin tells the story of a woman with a vision and the determination to fulfil it. She came as a child from Ukraine in 1913 with her family and settled in Saskatchewan. Her parents sent her to a student residence, Petro Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon, to obtain a high school education. Still in her teens, she formulated her goals to help uplift Ukrainian immigrant and Canadian born women of Ukrainian descent to meet Canadian standards. She married at the tender age of 17 and became a mother within the year of marriage. This did not deter her determination to become an educated woman and she continued her schooling, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan, being the first woman of Ukrainian descent to do so. She went on to teach Home Economics to women in the Ukrainian bloc settlements of Saskatchewan. Along with other young like minded women in Saskatoon, her goal of uniting women of Ukrainian descent was achieved by founding the national Ukrainian Women?s Association of Canada. Savella played an important role in the preservation and sharing of Ukrainian folk art and cuisine.