Created in 1935, the Canadian federal government’s Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) was active for over seven decades. This presentation will offer an updated take on the PFRA, one that is rooted in extensive historical research and that considers the effects of this agency on prairie Indigenous communities. And how the PFRA’s construction of infrastructure intended to serve the public good failed to account for the interests of affected Indigenous peoples.
Shannon Stunden Bower (she/her) is a settler scholar of mixed European and British ancestry. She is a Professor of History in the Department of History, Classics, and Religion at the University of Alberta. Stunden Bower studies the environmental history of the Canadian prairie west, with particular interests in agricultural history, water management, and state power. Her publications include Wet Prairie: People, Land, and Water in Agricultural Manitoba (2011) and Transforming the Prairies: Agricultural Rehabilitation and Modern Canada (2024), both with UBC Press. Also, she has published articles in scholarly journals such as the Canadian Historical Review, Environmental History, and Agricultural History. Her research has been recognized through awards from groups including the Canadian Historical Association, the Agricultural History Society, and the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE). Currently, Stunden Bower is at work on a SSHRC-funded research project targeting the post-1945 history of publicly-funded irrigation on the Canadian Prairies.