Heavy Burdens on Small Shoulders: The Labour of Pioneer Children on the Canadian Prairies.

Frits Pannekoek is an associate professor of heritage studies, 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.

At best this is a problematic little book with an enchanting title. The book, obviously a dissertation with all of the methodological trappings, is divided into seven predictable sections. The first theory-based section analyzes, with more complexity than it merits, the division of child labour in the family farm economy. Each subsequent section then deals with a different labour type: domestic labour (washing clothes, preparing meals), entrepreneurial labour (working for wages, raising cattle for sale, selling milk), subsistence labour (hauling water, digging wells, getting fuel, etc), and productive labour (field work, working with horses, etc). In each section there is a discussion not only of the labour type, but the role of children in each. Gender and age were obviously the key differentiators.

The most enjoyable parts of the book are the stories drawn from primary sources, although there are too many, for my liking, from English-language newspapers. Often these stories were edited before publication to prove a point, although the author has looked at manuscript materials as well. Only a few ethnic language sources are considered. My own modest research suggests that ethnic children did have it “different”; it would have been worthwhile to explore that difference. The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village near Elk Island National Park has spent two decades collecting cultural and economic material on children of East Central Alberta. These could have provided a fascinating foundation for the study. Aboriginal children are also completely forgotten. Their role in Aboriginal farming would have been fascinating since the cultural context of child rearing was so different.

What could have been a major landmark volume will unfortunately become one that might be marginalized. I hope the author continues to broaden her research so as to include other groups particularly the visible minorities of non-European cultures and to explore the impact of the farming frontier on each. All that she really proves is that children were key to economic success, and that children’s work was highly gendered.