Thirsty Land Into Springs of Water

“The Latter-day Saints in Canada have received far less critical, scholarly attention than they deserve, making Brassard’s monograph an invaluable contribution to the existing historiography.  At the intersection of Latter-day Saint studies and the history of the Canadian West, this book explores key sites of negotiation, including plural marriage, a range of roles for women, economic and political choices, and architecture and gravestones, to explain how the Saints managed to assimilate into white settler society in southern Alberta while maintaining their unique faith.” -- Sheila McManus, Professor of History, University of Lethbridge “In scholarly and popular interpretations of Mormonism past and present, there has been and still remains an assumption that there is no meaningful distinction between Canada and the US. Brassard offers a correction by looking for ‘Canadian Mormonism’ in the manner in which settlers and local converts managed their liminal status in western Canada’s ‘evolving prairie identity.’ Formidable research lies behind this account of sixty years of negotiation over family style, gender valuations, economic enterprise, and political power. The resulting analysis shows how Canada was able to get a large and distinctly religious population to limit themselves to a non-threatening level of religious peculiarity. No less, her close study of temple architecture and burial practices allows Brassard to illuminate the means by which this population simultaneously broadcast its Canadian sameness and reinforced its signature religious difference. This book is a valuable contribution to both religious studies and history.” -- Kathleen Flake, Richard Lyman Bushman Professor of Mormon Studies Emerita, The University of Virginia