Two events promoted in Nelson, British Columbia, have been fraudulently selling Freedomites (Svobodninki, Sons of Freedom) as Doukhobors — a movie and museum exhibit. Both events were promoted in the Nelson Star newspaper.
Canada has laws against consumer fraud, false advertising, counterfeit goods, bait-and-switch, identity theft, mislabeling, adulterated food, etc. Consumers want to be protected against deception, counterfeit products to be confiscated, defective products repaired or exchanged, businesses licensed and inspected, and perpetrators arrested.
If 'Doukhobor' was a trademarked commercial product, it would be a crime to promote the 'Doukhobor' label to the public, collect money but
deliver something else. After more than half a century of public awareness education, this fraud is still happening in Canada because the word falsely lingers as a profitable commodity of sensationalized abuse, arson, bombings, nudity and terrorism.
Movie: The Change Agents (2012)
In mid-April 2014, Alex Atamanenko (Member of Parliament) gave Tarasoff a DVD copy of a movie to review which was produced by staff and students of L.V. Rogers Secondary School in Nelson, BC. Atamanenko saw it and wanted Tarasoff to comment. The movie shocked us. It’s been in the
Kootenay news since October 2010. Why did no one tell us about it? Why was it not mentioned in the USCC Doukhobor monthly magazine
Iskra? *
The opening minutes show
6 photos of Freedomites taken in the 1950s, 2 with nudity and fire, while the narration falsely states they are Doukhobors, pacifist spirit-wrestlers. Next, student actors joke about nude protests, arson and bombing; while their teacher discusses the Son of Freedom nude protests as examples of social activism.
While the movie promotes cleaning the environment, it pollutes the public perception of Doukhobors. The words ‘Doukhobor’ and ‘spirit-wrestler’ must be deleted from the movie and never be used to describe extremist actions of Freedomites (Russian:
Svobodniki: also: Sons of Freedom).
Tarasoff complained to the movie owner/producers and writer about correcting this fraud. So far some have acknowledged the errors, but the current movie owner has not made the corrections. (See:
Ottawa Screening of 'The Change Agents')
Photo Exhibit: Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art and History (2014)
On June 10, 2014, the
Nelson Star website posted ‘
Examining the Sons of Freedom’ about an exhibit of photos from the 1950s and 1960s at the Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art and History, promoted with a photo of the current Doukhobor choir “Friends.” Tarasoff responded with an
open letter to the paper and museum to correct two errors.
Your story implies that “Sons of Freedom” are “Doukhobors”. They are not the same! The story stated that ‘the photographs in this exhibit document a compelling chapter in the history of the Sons of Freedom Doukhobors, as well as our community.’ To avoid stereotyping and discrimination, the word “Doukhobor” should not appear in this story, nor should it be used as a synonym.’ The exhibit title should be: ‘
Sons of Freedom: Photographs from the Stevens Studio,
The original Russian term used by these separatists was
Svobodniki (sovereign people), later called Freedomites, and by the 1920s journalists called them "Sons of Freedom" (Russian:
Syny svobody).
Photos of Freedomites in the movie were obtained from the museum collection, online at
Touchstones Nelson, flickr. Neither the newspaper nor the museum have responded.
Go to Court
Though the movie and photos don't directly refer to the
USCC Doukhobors, the Council of Doukhobors in Canada (
CDC), the Canadian Doukhobors Society (
CDS), or the Doukhobor Society of Saskatoon (
DSS); the intention to deceive the public about Doukhobors for profit and gain is obvious.
With no remorse, the paper promotes organizations which stigmatize Doukhobors with a powerfully negative label that changes their self-concept and social identity.
The only possible legal defense for such fraud is claiming that no entity owns the generic 'Doukhobor' label, therefore anyone is free to use it, abuse it, and misuse it as they wish, to fool the public for profit and personal gain. Though this is unethical, wrong, and dishonest; it's probably not illegal until someone takes the issue to court, or public protests bring shame to the perpetrators.
"[U.S.A.] trademark law does not permit registration of trademarks that 'may disparage' individuals or groups or 'bring them into contempt or disrepute.'..." (
Washington Redskins' Federal Trademarks Cancelled, the two-way, National Public Radio, June 18, 2014.)
For now, buyer and reader beware —
caveat emptor.
Short link to this page:
goo.gl/7xdrmi
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* A search of the USCC Doukhobor web site found the movie was mentioned in USCC News twice with no comments or further information. A query to the
Iskra editor revealed that the USCC board voted to be mute, a vow of silence, regarding Freedomites, a topic too sensitive for public discussion.
— By Koozma J. Tarasoff and Andrei Conovaloff.
