Building a Province: A History of Saskatchewan in Documents

Louis A. Knafla is a history professor at the University of Calgary.

Saskatchewan has not had the rich tapestry of historiography that other
Canadian provinces have received, due in part to the natural calamities
that have destroyed some of its original manuscripts, and to the fact
that more settlers have moved through the province than have set down
roots. David Smith, a prominent Saskatchewan author, has put together a
lively collection of 134 documents that provide a valuable reference
work for the study of the province’s political, social, economic, and
cultural history.

The collection is organized into 10 sections dealing with such topics
as the legislative foundations of the province in 1905; the development
of its public institutions, and its cultural artifacts and
consciousness; the history of agriculture, education, social policy, and
political organizations; and natural resources and the environment.
There is a very short introduction, no commentary or annotation, and no
illustrations or index.

Smith is primarily interested in the use of documents to convey an
understanding of policy developments across the spectrum of provincial
life and work. Since the collection is based primarily on public
documents, there is little on the First Nations, family, religion, work,
and leisure. Smith has sought to define the general landscape, which
finds its contours in policy debates and actions, in order to provide a
focus that the volume would otherwise lack. The result is a useful
introduction to the development of Saskatchewan’s identity, especially
after World War II.