I Am Amongst The Last of The Prairie Drylanders
Canada’s cultural diversity stems from itsmassive geography spanning 9.98 million km². It spans the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the 49th parallel to the High Arctic Archipelago. Its mass shapes and defines each one of us differently, depending on the area we live in or grew up in. Many are immigrants, most are the sons and daughters of those who came before us seeking a new and better life. I consider myself among the final descendants of Prairie Dryander’s. My great-grandparents migrated from Ontario, having previously emigrated from Ireland, to settle in Asquith, Saskatchewan. They faced the challenging prairie landscape and harsh winters, establishing a farm that remains within our family today. Notably, my grandmother was born that same year in a sod house built from the very earth that had long lain dormant, now given a new purpose. I was born in 1960 amid the rugged landscape of Alberta, during a period when both Alberta and Saskatchewan were predominantly rural provinces....