USCC Ladies Cultural Interpretive Society

Since its birth in 2000, the Cultural Interpretive Society has grown to encompass many ideals and beliefs of the Doukhobor culture. Not only do we reflect on our historical lifestyle by preserving our traditional fiber art skills, such as shawl embroidery, blanket quilting, knitting, weaving, etc., we recognize a need to start documenting existing fabric artifacts so that information about our rich culture can be shared with generations which follow.

Our guiding principles are to preserve Doukhobor culture through heritage arts and crafts and to maintain a humanitarian focus to make a positive difference in lives, locally and globally. Our activities include volunteer work supporting local charities such as People Loving People in Trail, BC, facilitating activities with Twin Rivers Elementary School Russian Bilingual classes (in Castlegar, BC) as they explore the life skills of Doukhobor pioneers, and coordinating general classes for sewing weaving, quilting and crafts.

Through the generosity of the community, through donations of fabrics and other related materials, our volunteers reuse and recycle, and thus give new life to items that would have ended up in our landfills. We reach out to the community to promote environmental consciousness. By creating new quilts and pillows which we donate to the less fortunate, both locally and globally (eg. third world countries), we share the charitable nature of our Doukhobor soul. In the larger global community, our "friendship" quilts adorn the walls of Kosovo Maternity Hospital and our recent project, a "Peace" wall hanging, will be added to the John Denver Peace Cloth that is seen by millions of individual who strive for peace. Locally, an artistic quilt, created by several of our talented members, hangs in the Family Conference Room at the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail, BC.

We are proud to be supporters of the Selkirk College-Guatemala International Nursing Experience as the students explore the links between community development and health and reach a greater understanding of community empowerment, poverty and globalization. We also collect and/or sew children's clothing and bed linens which will be distributed in an orphanage in Bolivia by Castlegar Rotary Interac. The Cultural Interpretive Society at the USCC Arts and Crafts Training and Exhibition Centre at Brilliant often serves as a community collection depot for clothing, towels, bed linens, etc. which are distributed by local groups to countries such as Romania and Mexico. We also partner with local community organizations such as Kootenay Family Place and Community Services.

Our ultimate goal is to promote peace and friendship as we embrace members from the larger Castlegar community, regardless of ethnic origin or spiritual affiliation. We all strive toward a common goal of working in harmony through sharing and learning.

We meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from September to the end of June. Please visit us to see our work in progress and to shop for unique handcrafted gifts in our gift shop. Your support is greatly appreciated.

For more information visit our new website:    doukhoborcis.org

View Photos of our Doukhobor Fashion Event in the USCC Web Gallery

Members of the CIS Group
Co-ordinated and Produced the Fashion Event

USCC Talent Show, Brilliant Cultural Centre, March 2008