Place 17 of 52: Cold and Remote Saskatoon Provides Its Own Warmth

Jun 13, 2018 · 20 comments
Daniel (Toronto)
An excellent introduction to Saskatoon packed with information. Even for Canadians like myself you captued the mood of this distant city and your emphasis on indigenous culture is perfect. As the 52 place traveller you are such an interesting and Compelling storyteller with an attention to detail. More stories like this one please.
Jacob Z (New York)
52 Places used to be my go-to destination for the exotic and far flung but this year's iteration has really drained the excitement out of travel for me. The author really comes across as jaded leaving a reader like myself feeling deflated, not inspired after reading each dispatch. Please, please, please approach each place through the eyes of a child. It will make for a much more enlightening and enjoyable experience for all involved.
JLxx5 (San Francisco)
This series started a little wobbly, understandably for such an immense project, but has found its voice. It is a real pleasure to read and should be a real triumph at completion.
JR (Northwest)
This story made me want to jump in my car and drive to Saskatoon. I'm really enjoying Jada Yuan's dispatches. The residential boarding schools are a national shame, both in Canada and the U.S. The arrogance of the settlers, who thought they knew best, has had huge lasting consequences. What atonement can be made, should be made. Reparations are a necessity, as is the recognition of treaties.
Henry (Calgary/Victoire)
Saskatoon is indeed a great city. While there, it is worth making a day trip north from the city to Prince Albert National Park and the town of Waskesiu. The landscape changes to rolling, tree-covered hills, dotted with myriad lakes as you enter the Canadian Shield.
Marylyn (Florida)
We have has crossed Canada several times using the lower roads, Saskatoon was off our by-ways. However, the article will urge us to take a trek up north -- perhaps returning home at the end of this summer. Thanks.
BadgerPete (Madison, Wisconsin)
You picked the right person for the role of 52 Places Traveler. This is excellent writing.
rella (VA)
All of the attractions that Ms. Yuan spotlights sound wonderful. However, some people may also want to work in a trip to the waterfront, where a park now honors the city's most famous onetime resident: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/saskatoon-joni-mitchell-saskatchewan-...
TJ (Canada)
@rella Surely you meant to say Gordie Howe, whose family moved to Saskatoon when he was nine days old. A memorial marks Mr. Howe's burial place. I camped in the Gordie Howe Campground in the summer of '73!
Steve M (Doylestown, PA)
In the mid-1990's I traveled to Saskatoon several times for work. It is a uniquely charming place. At Wanuskewin a German speaking family group entered the lobby area while the receptionist, a gorgeous young first nation woman with glistening long black hair, was intensely occupied with paper work at her desk. When she became aware of their presence she sprung up from her work and welcomed them profusely, offering her help explaining the exhibits. The tourists were clearly thrilled to be so warmly received by someone who, for them, personified the exotic legend of North America's original people. Wanuskewin taught me that these people who lived on the prairies in tipis in minus 40 weather were astonishingly, admirably tough and well adapted. Near Saskatoon there's also a museum of agricultural equipment including steam powered tractors reminiscent of those in "Days of Heaven".
Judie Buell (Saskatoon)
Cold huh? Average temp for next 10 days is 78 Fahrenheit. Better get out the winter jacket!
Here (There)
The Diefenbaker Center is worth a visit.
Mon Ray (Skepticrat)
Seeing the work of an artist who self-identifies as Cherokee (but may not be) is not very appealing, and is hardly worth mentioning as a feature to be sought out by visitors. (If he is on the Cherokee tribal rolls he is Cherokee; if not, not. The Cherokee have a process for determining whether a person is or is not a tribal member.) I sincerely hope the author is not planning to promote the work of Rachel Dolezal, the infamous white woman who self-identifies, and sometimes passes, as black.
Kaleberg (Port Angeles, WA)
All the author of this excellent pice did was describe the controversy. She did not "promote" anything.
JWMathews (Sarasota, FL)
Thank you for this article. It's also the first one about Saskatoon that put the "berry" in the last paragraph instead of the first.
vicky (south carolina)
These 52 Places essays are wonderful. I think they'd be even better with some more images throughout the pieces. Keep going!
Art Kraus (Princeton NJ)
Perfect timing! We're taking a trip to the Prairies soon and one of our stops will be Saskatoon. No tipis for us, though. We're staying at the University of Saskatoon, which (like many schools in Canada) opens its dorms to tourists in the summer. I also appreciate the warning regarding temperatures there, but you needn't have been as specific as you were. A temperature of "40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero" is the same as minus 40 Celsius. Having lived with temperatures even colder (as low as -55F) in my years in the Fairbanks area earlier in life, it's just dam* cold. :)
Al (Austin, TX)
It’s still OK to add the units to -40, because many people might be unaware that with a linear transform, like the C to F conversion, there will always be a one “fixed point”. For the C to F conversion, -40 happens to be that point.
AlRo (Venezuela)
"Think 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero in winter." Great article. The word "Fahrenheit" is redundant. Forty degrees below zero Fahrenheit is the same as 40 degrees below zero Celsius, and just as cold.
Justin (Omaha)
@AlRo: Yes, -40 is the same in C and F, but not Kelvin!