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Heather Burnham
My name is Heather Burnham from Gettysburg, SD;
my parents are Sue and Lonnie Burnham, who own and operate a small aerial
application business called Nauman Flying Service.
I enjoy singing, golfing, and going to camps and am very active in the
United Methodist
Church. My faith is the central focus of my life.
I will be a freshman at Presentation College working toward a bachelor’s
degree in Radiology Technology and hope to work as a Rad. Tech. in a
hospital someday.
I learned about the 2005 Youth Essay Contest from Ep and Hilda Sieler,
when they gave a presentation about the essay contest to my German II class
last winter. They are members of the Black Hills GRHS Chapter.
Learning about my heritage has been very rewarding. I have felt a
strengthened sense of family and faith. I am now aware of why I am so drawn
to being in community with my family and my church. It is because these
values are running through my veins.
In this photo, Hilda Sieler is presenting the Black
Hills Chapter first place award in the high school division to Heather.
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"A Heritage of Courage &
Strength"
I have recently learned about an amazing
group of people. These people have a strong ethical background, a unique
culture, and a firm sense of tradition. They have a rooted faith that has
supported them through their many struggles and hardships. They are unlike
any other ethnic group on the planet. These people are known as the Germans
from Russia. What amazing people! They have suffered through more
tribulations than many of us could attest to in our entire lives. Because
of the work ethics they instilled in their offspring, the Germans from
Russia deserve credit for several of the high-end jobs that many
Midwesterners have landed today. They perfected the highly respected craft
of farming well over four hundred years ago. This occupation is the
lifeblood for many people living in the Great Plains. Much respect and
gratitude is due to those who made life in the Dakotas the way it is today,
the Germans from Russia.
In the late 1600’s, Catherine the Great of Russia
put out a proclamation inviting suffering Germans to find sanctuary in
western Russia. Previously, the conditions in Germany had become worse and
worse. The country had been attacked ruthlessly throughout several wars.
The Germans welcomed Catherine’s proclamation with open arms, and many
packed up all of their belongings and journeyed into Russian territory
immediately. They settled near the Volga River in the region now known as
the Ukraine. The farmland was harsh. It was not an easy task to make ends
meet, but the Germans were resourceful. They plowed and planted the land,
and after time the Russian citizens as well as the German colonists
benefited from its fruits. The Germans did not mind working hard if it
meant they could live in seclusion from the wars and the control of Russian
communists. There they were free to keep their own religion, language,
customs, and live in their own villages.
Freedom to relish in their own unique culture was
the most rewarding aspect of the German’s emigration. They were and
continue to be very cultural people. There are many longstanding traditions
amongst their group, which might have been forgotten had they been forced to
mix into Russian society. Containing themselves within their own community
preserved their language, foods, games, stories, and personality traits. If
it weren’t for such preservation, we may not fully understand the meaning of
the Eureka Schmekfest today!
Unfortunately, the good times never seem to last,
and the Russian-German people were faced with trials once again. After a
couple of hundred years, the Russians became jealous of the prosperity and
success of the Germans. They took back much of the protection placed upon
the Germans, including military exclusion. The Russians persecuted them for
their religion and forced them to speak Russian instead of their native
language. The Germans now even faced losing their secluded villages and
thus their way of life. It was time for another change.
Fortunately, soon after, the Americas and Canada sent
out declarations stating that there was land in need of settlement. In the
United States it was the Homestead Act of 1862. As soon as word reached the
Russian-Germans, they fled to safety once more. Some of them went to Canada
while others went to South America. Many of them came here, to the Great
Plains of North America. They settled again, and again they started over on
their 160 acres of rugged prairie land. And true to their past, the
Russian-Germans were prosperous again.
It is hard to imagine living through wars or moving to
a new country to settle uninhabited land. I’m not sure any of us would have
the courage and endurance to defeat such a task today if it weren’t for the
Russian-German blood flowing through our veins.
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This essay is copyrighted and no parts of it shall be
used by others in any form without permission of the author.
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