The Doukhobor Discovery Centre is pleased to announce that it has received a special grant under the Canadian Museums Association's Preserving Canadian Treasures Program.

The Canadian Treasure in question is a one shear plough reputed to have 'broken the Canadian prairie'. It was amazingly flexible, had a replaceable cutting blade, and was mostly pulled by horse or oxen.

In rare cases it was also pulled by people, and one of the most famous pictures of Doukhobor history shows a group of Doukhobor women pulling this plough. This was done in several Doukhobor villages in 1900 when the men were gainfully employed making railroad beds and women and children were building the villages and preparing gardens from the sod for spring planting.

The plough in question, now badly deteriorating due to wood decay and rust, was originally used in Assiniboia in 1900 and brought to British Columbia in 1908.

The Doukhobor Discovery Centre is presently seeking funds to prepare an appropriate shelter for its most valuable Canadian treasures so this and various other important agricultural artefacts can be preserved. Our agriculture history is encased in such items, and sad to say, most of them are condemned to rot and ruin.

This grant was one of nine given out across Canada directed at the preservation of unique Canadian treasures. It is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Yosef Wosk.