2025 Featured Young Croatian
Ivana Prpić
Ivana Prpić was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to proud Croatian parents who
encouraged her to learn about her heritage from a very young age. Her father Milan moved to
Canada with his family as a young man from Ličko Cerje, Croatia; her mother Suzi was raised
by Croatian parents who never let her forget where she was from. This meant that, growing up,
Ivana was keenly aware of the importance of staying connected to her Croatian roots. Ivana
has always been a part of the Croatian Catholic parish in Vancouver, attending mass in
Croatian, where as a child she participated in church choirs and recitals regularly in the
Croatian language. She attended Croatian school every Friday, and has wholeheartedly
supported all events held at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver.
Ivana joined Tamburaski Orkestar Kardinal Stepinac (TOKS) when she was in second grade,
and even travelled with TOKS to the very first CroatiaFest in 2004 - she has attended nearly
every CroatiaFest since then. TOKS has been a massive part of her life for 20 years and
counting - she has experience playing multiple different instruments in the orchestra, and
enjoys dancing and singing during choreographed suites. In 2015, she took on a leadership
role as Dance Instructor, where she has the great honour of teaching choreographies to the
group every year. She is also involved in the Croatian Heritage Association of BC, a new
organization in Vancouver which is working to create diverse opportunities for young Croatians
to come together including trivia nights, karaoke nights, and visiting elderly Croatians who
reside in long-term care. Outside of her involvement with the Croatian community of
Vancouver, Ivana currently works as a speech-language pathologist for a non-profit
organization that supports children with complex support needs.
“Growing up with such a rich cultural background has helped me understand the importance of
remaining connected to the past while looking forward to the future, both at the same time. I try
to be anchored in tradition, always - understanding the cultural stories behind dances that we
re-enact on stage, learning the meanings of the words that we sing, writing down my Baka’s
recipes. Culture in this sense can be preserved and maintained. On the other hand, culture is
also active and alive. I try my best to speak Croatian with my family so that I do not lose the
language. I stay connected with friends and relatives who live in Croatia. I spend time in vinyl
shops downtown, scouring the boxes of records for anything my parents used to listen to.. All
of these things keep me tied to my culture, both on stage and off stage. It’s not just something
you perform - it’s something you do every day.
“It brings me so much joy to see more and more young Croatian-Canadians feeling
passionately about kolo. When I speak to members of TOKS about their experiences, they tell
me they finally feel like they have somewhere that they belong. My hope as a young Croatian-
Canadian is to continue to create those spaces for young people to nurture their Croatian
heritage in Vancouver - like me, I hope they start by putting on a beautiful costume and singing
on stage, and then they get off stage and keep living their culture by learning how to properly
roast a pig in the backyard, or putting on their botuni earrings that they bought last summer. I
love it when my brother sends me a playlist of old Croatian songs that we both get to discover
for the first time. I love learning how different the dialects of Croatian are - do you call a pillow a
jastuk, or a kušin? And, alongside all of that, I love putting on an ornate costume and walking
on stage to perform and preserve my culture for generations to come.” - Ivana
