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by Emma Minde

Emma Minde's portraits of the family into which she was given in marriage are touching and instructive. They show us a young woman leaving her home at Saddle Lake, Alberta, to join a household of strangers at Hobbema - with not only a husband she has yet to meet, but also four powerful adults who will shape her life: her husband's parents, Mary-Jane and Dan Minde, and Dan Minde's younger brother Sam and his wife Mary. Emma Minde's autobiography focusses on her relationship with these two women, Mary-Jane Minde and Mary Minde. The education that the newly arrived wife received in their households was built on obedience, hard work and a firmly held set of beliefs, seen as essential preparation for a life of uncertainty and rapid change, hardship and constant struggle. These reminiscences, told to Freda Ahenakew, offer rare insights into a life history guided by two powerful forces: the traditional world of the Plains Cree and the Catholic missions with their boarding-schools, designed to