Storied Landscapes ─ Ethno-Religious Identity and the Canadian Prairies

The provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta were settled by many groups of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who retained their religious and cultural traditions. Swyripa (history, U. of Alberta, Canada), a wonderfully engaging writer, organizes their experiences and engagement with the land into broad thematic chapters that coherently describe the lives of people whose ancestors were in the Ukraine, Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Russia, and whose religious beliefs--including Mennonite, Doukhobor, and Jewish--had caused many of them to suffer discrimination in their native lands. The building of churches and shrines, celebration of festivals and memorials, and founding of schools and monasteries are a central theme. Filled with a wealth of individual examples, this history is notable for conveying in depth the history and profound impact of settlers who, by not being French or English, have previously been seen as marginal. Distributed in the US by Michigan State U. Press. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)