Prairie People: A Celebration of My Homeland

Frits Pannekoek is an associate professor of heritage studies, the
director of information resources at the University of Calgary, and the
author of A Snug Little Flock: The Social Origins of the Riel Resistance
of 1869–70.

Robert Collins has written for such publications as Maclean’s,
Reader’s Digest, and Toronto Life, and is the author of more than 15
books. An unabashed admirer of the prairies, he sets out in this book to
capture the prairie identity through interviews with ordinary and
not-so-ordinary people.

At times Collins comes across as a shill for the local chamber of
commerce (his treatment of Edmonton might make even Mayor Smith blush).
If there is anything good to say, he will say it. Where there is
controversy he attempts to slip up the middle, extolling the Western
virtue of debate and openness, rather than what others might see as
closed-mindedness.

At one point, Collins argues that the success of Native entrepreneurs
has “less to do with the aboriginal industry or government dollars
than with the individual’s own sheer determination.” That may well
be true, but what does it say about the “determination” of the urban
Native people living on the streets of Regina? Is their lack of success
a personality flaw?

The book’s various sections and chapters tend to be vignettes rather
than sustained essays, but they should satisfy fans of Reader’s
Digest. Despite its flaws, Prairie People is an effortless and
pleasurable read.