Folklife and Superstition: The Luck, Lore and Worldviews of Prairie Homesteaders

The homesteading era on the Canadian Prairies (1867–1914) was a dynamic period of history, when hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, migrating primarily from northwestern and eastern Europe, descended nascent provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Some were lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership, while others were fleeing war, famine, and persecution.

Homesteaders have been studied and written about extensively, often within the context of “settling” ...