This year, in 2005, both provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta -- located next door to each other in Western Canada -- are celebrating their joining to Canada on September 1st, 1905.
Saskatchewan, Canada's 'breadbasket', is a prairie province and produces over 54% of wheat grown in Canada, which, in good years, is worth close to $2 billion annually. Northern Saskatchewan produces softwood products and is rich in minerals, potash, uranium, coal, oil and natural gas.
The capital city is Regina. The province has a population of over a million, and 63% of the people live in an urban area. The Aboriginal name for the province is "kisiskatchewan", meaning the river that flows swiftly, referring to the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers which run through the province.
In the early 1800s, less
than 1,000 non-aboriginal people lived in the province, but with the
arrival of the train in the late 1800s, over 20,000 settlers lived
there, and were mostly farmers from Ontario. By 1925, Saskatchewan had
the highest per capita income in the world, but with the stock market
crash of 1929, followed by the Great Depression—a decade of bad crops
and drought—many people lived a very lean life. By the 1940s, the
economy turned around and there were many new immigrants from the
Ukraine, Russia, and Scandinavia.
| As
the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, Dr. Lynda Haverstock, said in
her address to Saskatchewan, "the dreamers, the builders, the tough,
the determined and the resourceful ... They were your ancestors and
mine." 100 Years of Heart is the theme of the Centennial. |
There are many Homecoming 2005 events, family reunions, and community events listed on the website at <http://www.sask2005.ca>.
The
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society is very active and has a number of
projects on the go, including the 2nd edition of Tracing Your
Saskatchewan Ancestors: A Guide to the Records and How to Use Them. The
society says that the book shows the researcher ways to conduct an
effective search of the new computerized Saskatchewan Land Titles
system; the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906; as well as
cemetery and immigration records.
The
society is also working on "The Saskatchewan Homestead Index Project"
(SHIP), which will place original homestead records (1870-1930)
in digital format on the Internet.
Biggar,
a community in the central west part of the province, is constructing
the Biggar Heritage Album with the assistance of people who live in the
town and those who have moved away. For details, contact the Bigger
Museum & Gallery at <http://bigmusga.sasktelwebsite.net>.
| The Spirit of Alberta
is the province's theme for their 100th anniversary. The premier of the
province, Ralph Klein, says in his speech that it is a "great time to
celebrate Alberta's past and to provide an even brighter future." |
Settled
against the Rockies, Alberta is known as as Canada's "energy province",
as the province has 80% of the country's reserves of crude oil and over
90% of the country's natural gas (oil was found in Alberta in 1914 in
Turner Valley in the north). Along with these reserves, cattle ranches
in the south form the basis of the province's economy.
Aboriginal
peoples, such as the Piegan, Cree, Blackfoot, Sacree, Kootneay, and
Slavey, lived in what is now Alberta. The first Europeans to reach
Alberta were the people to establish the Hudson Bay Company, followed
by those who established the North West Company. With the combination
of both companies in 1821, interest in the colonization of the province
began with the arrival of the railroad in 1885, and immigrant farmers
started to arrive.
The
province was named after a daughter of Queen Victoria, with the city of
Edmonton as its capital. Of the population, 44% is of British descent,
with other parts of the population being of German, Ukrainian, French,
and Scandinavian descent.
The
province was named after a daughter of Queen Victoria, with the city of
Edmonton as its capital. Of the population, 44% is of British descent,
with other parts of the population being of German, Ukrainian, French,
and Scandinavian descent.
The centennial website at <http://www.albertacentennial.ca> lists centennial events in communities across Alberta, with many events being held in both Edmonton and Calgary.
And
although there does not appear to be much centennial activity on the
provinces genealogical websites at the Alberta Genealogical Society <http://abgensoc.ca> nor at the Alberta Family Histories Society at <http://www.afhs.ab.ca>, the Alberta GenWeb website at <http://users.rootsweb.com/~canab> offers excellent resources about the province's ethnic groups, local history books, place names, and cemeteries.
Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh visited both provinces from May 17th to 25th, 2005.
