Dedication: for Eva, David, and Rose with thanks
The term 'Spirit Wrestlers' refers to the Doukhobors, a pacifist Russian Christian sect in the south of Russia championed by Leo Tolstoy. Feeling persecuted, one-third of their number migrated to Canada in 1899 where the Canadian government attempted to split up their communally owned settlements and force their children to assimilate by attending state schools. (Source: Julie Rak, 'Doukhobor Autobiography As Witness Narrative' Biography 24.1 (Winter 2001): 226-241; Gunter Schaarschmidt, 'Review Essay: Recent Literature on the Canadian Migration of the Doukhobors', The Social Science Journal 37.3 (July 2000): 495-498.)