Frances W. Kaye – författare

Ideal for courses in American history, this book gathers first-person accounts of the trauma of the Thirties in the Heartland and assesses these accounts from the distance of several decades

Fran Kaye looks at a variety of public arts institutions, including the Glenbow, Banff Centre, and 25th Street Theatre, to see how each has participated in creating its audiences. She examines prairie literature and visual arts that illustrate the development of a distinctive regional prairie culture.

Amer-European settlement of the Great Plains transformed bountifulNative soil into pasture and cropland, distorting the prairie ecosystemthat the peoples who originally populated the land had long understoodand were able to use wisely. Settlers justified this transformationwith the unexamined premise of deficiency, according to which the vastarea of the Great Plains was inadequate in flora and fauna and lackingin the advances of modern civilization.Drawing on history, literature, art, and economic theory, Frances W.Kaye counters the argument of deficiency, pointing out that, in itsoriginal ecological state, no region can possibly be incomplete.Goodlands examines the settlers' misguided theory,discussing the ideas that shaped its implementation, the forces thatresisted it, and Indigenous ideologies about what it meant to make gooduse of the land. By suggesting methods for redeveloping the GreatPlains that are based on native cultural values, Kaye points the way toa balanced and sustainable future for the region in the context of achanging globe.