The Secret Transformation

Kiyas, a long time ago there was a very successful trapper named Hubert who travelled across Saskatchewan on the many lakes and rivers in this land. The odd thing about this trapper was that he always travelled alone.

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The Handsome Stranger

Kiyas, a long time ago, a Métis community was holding a New Year’s celebration in the townhall. Everyone brought food and there was music and dancing. They were having a great time. It was one of those nights when great big, fluffy snowflakes were falling from the sky covering everything in a glistening white blanket of snow.

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My Ukrainian Heritage

For as long as I can remember, holidays like Christmas Eve and Easter were accompanied by Ukrainian foods like perogies (varenyky!), holobci, nalysnyky, pyrysky, borscht, scuffles, and poppy rolls, among others. When I was young these were brought by my Baba and aunties. Now, we try our best to replicate the recipes—the most precious are the handwritten copies on worn and dirty paper. More often than not, my dad will declare the result does not quite rival his memory.

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Grandma’s Little Helper

My family memories are filled with stories of my Michif grandmother. Her name is Flora Marie Trottier. She married my grandpa Joe Caron. Her parents were Jean Baptiste Trottier and Melanie Lemire and my grandma was born at Round Prairie.

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Book Review: Prairie Fairies: A History of Queer Communities and People in Western Canada, 1930-1985

A history of queer people on the Prairies offering a queer perspective is long overdue. Indeed, Korinek herself writes Prairie Fairies “opens a window into a vibrant, larger queer world that has flown under the historical radar for far too long” (6). The book many have been waiting for is here and it has certainly been worth the wait.

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Chinese Laundromat Memories

My relatives were part of the Chinese who immigrated to Saskatchewan between 1911 and 1921. According to Alison Marshall’s book Cultivating Connections: The Making of Chinese Prairie Canada, the population of the province grew at this time from 492,432 to 757,510. By 1921, the Chinese population was double the number in Manitoba.

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Rosalie Lepine and Her Miraculous Cure

Charles didn’t give up, so he took his beloved wife to Battleford to another doctor. Can you imagine the ride from St. Laurent to Battleford? It was probably on the Carlton trail. Charles was desperate when he presented her to the doctor in Battleford.  The doctor could not help.  She was sent home again. When they got back to St. Laurent, Charles didn’t know what to do.

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The Glorious, Ever-Joyous Ukrainian Weddings of Old

1963 was a record year for attending lively and colourful Ukrainian weddings at the Rainbow Hall in Canora and the Burgis Beach Hall, Good Spirit Lake, just two miles from our family farm.  That summer our family took in a wedding every single Saturday for more than two months – 9 in all! 

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Looking Through My Old Photos

He wanted good things for his family, friends, and community. Under his leadership, the Métis/Michif people came together. These were good times filled with laughter. It was a happy community.

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