At the confluence of the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers is a broad fertile valley surrounded by the towering peaks of the Kootenay Mountains. The rivers were a highway for Indigenous peoples for millennia, and when Europeans arrived in the late 1800s they built steamers to navigate the winding rivers. Abundant mineral deposits attracted mining and industry to the region in the early 20th Century, but that's not what attracted the Doukhobors to the region. The Doukhobors are a pacifist Christian sect who came to Canada around the turn of the last century, fleeing persecution in Tsarist Russia. They wanted to be left alone by the state, to farm peacefully and live peaceful communal lifestyles. They were led to the Castlegar area by Peter 'Lordly' Verigin, where they established dozens of small farming settlements, called doms, especially on the east side of the Columbia River, an area they named Ootischenia. They planted fruit orchards and set up a jam factory at Brilliant, which is the subject of our walking tour. Though few Doukhobors continue to live communally in the doms around Castlegar, they've left a lasting legacy on the region, and their stories are preserved today by the Doukhobor Discovery Centre in Ootischenia.

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Castlegar