Sandra Rollings-Magnusson – författare

The phrase "child labour" carries negative undertones in today's society. However, only a century ago on the Canadian Prairies, youngsters laboured alongside their parents' working the land, cleaning stovepipes, and chopping wood. By shouldering their share of the chores, these children learned the domestic and manual labour skills needed for life on a Prairie family farm. Rollings-Magnusson uses historic research, photographs, and personal anecdotes to describe the kinds of work performed by children and how each task fit into the family economy. This book is a vital contribution to western Canadian history as well as family and gender studies.

The Homesteaders covers the whole settler experience, beginning the year Canada was founded and the first sodbusters appeared in what is now Saskatchewan, right through the immigration boom years preceding the First World War. In their own words, settlers recount their lives from the moment they registered for their "home quarter" -- 160 acres of land given to them, so long as they could cultivate it. Homesteaders describe the formidable task of building the family home from sod or logs, the back-breaking labour of cropping and harvesting the fields, the patience needed when working with draught animals, and the misery of dealing with the pests which threatened their livelihood. Their reminiscences extend further as they discuss the type of food that was available, the medical practices they had to endure, and the educational experiences of their children in one-room schoolhouses, as well as their hobbies, the books that they read, the songs they sang, the pets that they owned, the games that they played, and the local dances, picnics, weddings, and chivarees that they attended during these early years.

The homesteading era on the Canadian Prairies (1867–1914) was a dynamic period of history, when hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, migrating primarily from northwestern and eastern Europe, descended nascent provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Some were lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership, while others were fleeing war, famine, and persecution.

 

Homesteaders have been studied and written about extensively, often within the context of “settling” the Canadian West and the displacement of Indigenous populations. These narratives, while crucial to our understanding of Canada’s national identity and colonial past, tend to obscure the personal stories, beliefs, and mindsets of those individuals who came to this part of the world and made a life there.

Drawing on a treasure trove of archival sources, historian Sandra Rollings-Magnusson presents a vivid and deeply personal collection of Prairie folklife, revealing stories full of humour, superstition, fear, and hope. She gives insight into homesteaders’ daily lives, including instances of water-witching, signs of good and bad luck, neighbourly practical jokes, and popular pastimes. Through adaptation, hardship, homesickness, and a sense of adventure, they built communities with others from different backgrounds, creating a unique culture that blended the old with the new.