Wakaw takes its name from the Cree word for "crooked," borrowed from nearby Wakaw Lake. The town sits roughly halfway between Saskatoon and Prince Albert, in hilly, partly forested country east of the South Saskatchewan River.
The area was settled mainly by people of Eastern European origin. Wakaw was founded on 26 December 1911, when 21 residents petitioned the Department of Municipal Affairs to incorporate the Village of Wakaw. The first townsite was on land donated by Anthony Goller, who had immigrated to Canada in 1902. When the railroad was built, the town was moved to its present location. Wakaw became a town on 1 August 1953, and it marked its 100th anniversary with Centennial Celebrations from 21 to 31 July 2011.
Wakaw was home for a time to John Diefenbaker, later Canada's 13th Prime Minister. He opened his first law office here and practised in town from 1919 to 1925, and his first wife, Edna Brower, lived here too. Today about 800 cabins line nearby Wakaw Lake, some of them lived in year round, and the town's shops and boutiques serve both the community and the lake.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Wakaw” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.