The new web series Pioneer Girl is not your grandmother's history lesson. But perhaps it should have been. The six-episode comedy offers a feisty take on Canadian history, shining a light on the often-overlooked contributions that women have made to the nation.
A Fiery Beginning
Righteous indignation takes the form of Eleanor, a feminist history PhD student played by Kat Barrell, known for her role in the sci-fi series Wynonna Earp. After setting her professor's car on fire because he stole her research for his book, Eleanor is expelled from school and forced to work at an open-air heritage museum, a pioneer village that recreates life in 1867.
The series debuted on May 13 on the YouTube channel KindaTV, with six episodes each lasting about seven minutes. Paloma Nuñez portrays Eleanor's manager, while Ishan Davé and Joelle Peters play staffers Matthew and Sam, respectively.
Behind the Scenes
The show's creator and head writer is Davida Aronovitch, who worked as a writer-producer for Historica Canada's Heritage Minutes series from 2012 to 2021. Pioneer Girl is loosely based on her experiences in that role.
“I’ve come across so many incredible but lesser-known stories, particularly about women, that deserve to be told,” Aronovitch says. “I wanted to find a platform to share these stories and shift the narrative away from the history we are always told in textbooks.”
Setting the Stage
Filmed in Toronto at The Village at Black Creek, the show introduces the fictional Olden Days Times Pioneer Village as a struggling establishment that must boost revenue or risk closure. In her early days at the village, Eleanor darns socks, wears a bonnet, sweeps animal waste, and demonstrates butter-churning for children. During one demonstration, she recounts how Lucy Maud Montgomery's publishers stole the rights and profits for Anne of Green Gables and how Montgomery spent years in legal battles to reclaim them.
Eleanor also engages in a semi-flirtation with back-to-the-earth guy Matthew and clashes with gift shop employee Sam. She is the type of woman who wears corsets with Converse sneakers and challenges princess stereotypes while operating a spinning wheel.
Cultural Context
Pioneer Girl arrives at a time when television and other media are re-examining our relationships to history, cultural mythologies, and gender roles. Recent examples include The Testaments, the dystopian sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, which debuted on Disney+; Taylor Sheridan's neo-western Yellowstone franchise, with its spin-offs Marshals and Dutton Ranch; and Shonda Rhimes' Bridgerton, now in its fourth season, which continues to craft a more inclusive take on the Regency era.
“How we talk about history has changed a lot. In a great way,” Aronovitch says. “But the present is feeling heavy. The world can feel like an impossibly complex and bleak place right now. Above all, we hope that people will laugh. And that the series inspires people — especially women — to keep talking and trying, as we all work to navigate important conversations that help us learn and grow.”
