- August 9, 2014
Please join the Christopher Lake Library and University of Manitoba Press in welcoming Merle Massie to the Lakeland District!
When: Saturday, August 9th, 1:00 pm
Where: Christopher Lake Library (Hwy 263, Christopher Lake, SK)
Cost: FREE
This event is part of Christopher Lake’s annual Western Days, which also includes “dunk tanks, parades, petting zoos, and fireworks.”
About the book
Saskatchewan is the epitome of the “prairie” provinces, even though half of the province is covered by boreal forest. The Canadian penchant for dividing this vast country into easily-understood “regions” has reduced the Saskatchewan identity to its southern prairie denominator and has distorted cultural and historical interpretations to favor the prairie south.
Forest Prairie Edge is a deep-time investigation of the edge land, or ecotone, between the open prairies and boreal forest of Saskatchewan. Ecotones are transitions from one landscape to another, where social, economic, and cultural practices of different landscapes are blended. Focusing on the Prince Albert region ecotone, Merle Massie delves deeply into the varied uses of the land over the centuries, from Indigenous meeting place to mixed farming community, from transportation hub to industrial resource extraction site. Along the way we meet fascinating area residents, some just travelling through and others whose presence had lasting impacts on the land through political and commercial enterprises.
By studying what other historians have commonly dismissed as “scrub land,” Massie shows how the edge ecotone has repeatedly offered refuge from the economic and environmental instability of the southern prairie landscape. Her lively and engaging book overturns long-held assumptions about settlement patterns, economic development, and what it means to be from the “prairies.”
About the author
Merle Massie is a Saskatchewan writer, editor, and farmer who specializes in local, rural, and environmental history.
