by Dayna Lytwyn
Within the Mossey River Municipality in Manitoba once stood the Ukrainian settlement known as the Cork Cliff District. In 1899, eight Ukrainian peasants from Bukovyna and Galicia landed in Gruber, Manitoba, two miles north of Winnipegosis. From there, they travelled eastward, crossing the Mossey River. On this new land, they stayed and followed the Homestead Policy, which allotted them one hundred acres of land for ten dollars and obligated them to clear thirty acres within the first years of settling.
The settlers later established community institutions like the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Cork Cliff School #1509 and the Cork Cliff Hall.
The interior of the church features the carving work of Peter Kuzyk and religious artifacts that have been donated by the settlers.
In the one-room Cork Cliff School #1509, a teacher would have single-handedly taught grades one through nine.
Cork Cliff Hall contained a small library and was a gathering place for dances, drama boxes, pie socials or puppet shows.