• Age: 18
• Grade: 12

Saskatchewan Dirt is a well researched genealogical and geographical pursuit of the early connections between settlers and Indigenous people in southeast Saskatchewan. In her research, Bev Lundahl uncovers several surprising connections in both the past and the present, sparking a road trip undertaken in the spring of 2020 with Georgina Cyr—the Métis chairperson of Intercultural Grandmothers Uniting (IGU). Sharing these discoveries with the other members of IGU leads to compelling memories from several Residential School survivors. The search unfolds in real-time during the pandemic, marked by climate and human health emergencies along the way, including the announcement of the identification of unmarked graves at Residential School sites across the prairies. Saskatchewan Dirt is a true story of connection—and the building of reconciliation.

Genealogy has led Bev Lundahl down obscure trails that have lured her into hidden places and exposed forgotten slivers of Canadian history. Based on her late father’s experiences in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, “e “underbird, the Quesnel & the Sea illustrates Canada’s challenges in its relations with Indigenous peoples. Her first book, Entangled Roots, the Mystery of Peterborough’s Headless Corpse (YNWP 2014) shares another family story that delves into Canada’s struggles with class and race in 19th-century Ontario.

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