Coppermine Expedition 2012 Reading List

Compiled by Stefan Superina

Image: Muskoxen on Aylmer Lake

Note:

The selection of literature on the following pages was compiled to encourage those who are interested in reading more about themes related to Aboriginal history, European exploration, discovery and mapping of the Canadian north. I have included a description for each book that comes from a respective publisher or review.

In the process of researching and developing educational materials relating to the Coppermine 2012 Expedition, I felt it appropriate to include this list as a means of trying to captivate stories of a land characterized by the indomitable spirit of the individuals and cultures whose ingenuity, mental and physical strength, and insatiable appetite for discovery gave them the courage to persevere and survive in one of the harshest climates on earth. I have also included books on themes relating to politics, adventure travel and guiding.

This is by no means an exhaustive list; it merely scratches the surface of northern polar literature. If you feel that there is a book that would be a welcome addition to the list, please do not hesitate to contact me at:

stefsuperina@hotmail.com

Warm Regards,

Stefan Superina

1. Pike’s Portage: Stories of a Distinguished Place

Edited by Morten Asfeldt and Bob Henderson Dundurn, 2010

"Pike's Portage plays a very special role in the landscape of Canada's Far North and its human history. It is both an ancient gateway and the funnel for early travel from the boreal forest of the Mackenzie River watershed to the vast open spaces of the subarctic taiga, better known as the

"Barren Lands" of Canada.”

2. A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions (1818)

John Barrow David and Charles, 1971

“Sir John Barrow (1764–1848) was Second Secretary to the Admiralty for forty years. He was responsible for promoting polar exploration, and published two books on the subject for general readers. A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions appeared in 1818, and this

1846 publication continues the story. Drawing on the explorers' own accounts, Barrow describes twelve voyages connected with the search for the North-West Passage. These include two

voyages by Sir John Ross, four by Sir William Parry, and two by Sir John Franklin (whose last, fatal expedition was under way when the book was published). Barrow documents the Arctic

landscape, fauna and climate, the explorers' clothes and provisions, scurvy (cured by preserved gooseberries and freshly grown mustard and cress), frostbite (necessitating amputations), on-

board entertainments, and encounters with 'Esquimaux', providing fascinating insights into the realities of polar expeditions in the mid-nineteenth century.”

3. Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition

Owen Beattie and John Geiger Greystone Books, 1998

“In 1845, Sir John Franklin set off, determined to "penetrate the icy fastness" of the Arctic. But he and his 129 men never made it. For the next 35 years, more than 20 major rescue parties

searched fruitlessly for the vanished expedition. In this updated version of a bestseller that sold over 118,000 copies, a top forensic anthropologist and a historian tell the dramatic tale of

excavating three sailors from the Franklin party. The bodies, well preserved by the permafrost, gave up their secrets to 20th century science, and the researchers pieced together a story of

horrific starvation, scurvy, and cannibalism.”

4. The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage.

Anthony Brandt Alfred A. Knopf, 2010

“The enthralling and often harrowing history of the adventurers who searched for the Northwest Passage, the holy grail of nineteenth-century British exploration. After the triumphant end of the

Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the British took it upon themselves to complete something they had been trying to do since the sixteenth century: find the fabled Northwest Passage, a shortcut to the Orient via a sea route over northern Canada. For the next thirty-five years the British Admiralty

sent out expedition after expedition to probe the ice-bound waters of the Canadian Arctic in search of a route, and then, after 1845, to find Sir John Franklin, the Royal Navy hero who led the last of these Admiralty expeditions and vanished into the maze of channels, sounds, and icy seas with two ships and 128 officers and men. In The Man Who Ate His Boots, Anthony Brandt

tells the whole story of the search for the Northwest Passage, from its beginnings early in the age of exploration through its development into a British national obsession to the final sordid,

terrible descent into scurvy, starvation, and cannibalism. Sir John Franklin is the focus of the book but it covers all the major expeditions and a number of fascinating characters, including Franklin’s extraordinary wife, Lady Jane, in vivid detail. The Man Who Ate His Boots is a rich and engaging work of narrative history that captures the glory and the folly of this ultimately

tragic enterprise.”

5. No Ordinary Journey: John Rae, Arctic Explorer, 1813-1893

National Museum of Scotland Ian Bunyan, Jenni Calder, Dale Idiens, Bryce Wilson

McGill-Queens University Press, 1993

“John Rae's solitary childhood in the rugged hills of Orkney, Scotland, can be seen as preparation for the challenge he later faced in the Canadian Arctic. As a member of the

Hudson's Bay Company, with a posting as surgeon and clerk to George Simpson, he travelled extensively in the Arctic, often alone. Taught to survive in extreme conditions by the Indians and the Inuit, he used this knowledge in exploring, surveying and mapping; collecting information on zoology, ethnography, and geology; and making detailed observations of the ethnography of the Inuit. In his later years he wrote widely on the natural history, geography, and anthropology of the North. Rae was a committed, independent, and idiosyncratic man and a controversial figure in his own period. There has, until now, been little recognition of the importance and diversity of

his achievements.”

6. Prisoners of the North

Pierre Berton Anchor Canada, 2005

“Canada’s master storyteller returns to the North to bring history to life. Prisoners of the North tells the extraordinary stories of five inspiring and controversial characters whose adventures in Canada’s frozen wilderness are no less fascinating today than they were a hundred years ago. A Yukoner himself, Berton weaves these tales of courage, fortitude, and reckless lust for adventure with a love for Canada’s harsh north. With his sharp eye for detail and faultless ear for a good

story, Pierre Berton shows once again why he is Canada’s favourite historian.”

7. The Northern Copper Inuit: A History

Richard G. Condon with Julia Ogina and Holman Elders University of Toronto Press, 1996

“In Canada's far north, on the western coast of Victoria Island, the Copper Inuit people of Holman (the Ulukhaktokmiut) have experienced a rate of social and economic change rarely matched in human history. Owing to their isolated, inaccessible location, three hundred miles

north of the Arctic Circle, they were one of the last Inuit groups to be contacted by Western explorers, missionaries, and fur traders. Since contact, however, they have been transformed

from a nomadic and independent, hunting-based society to one dependent upon southern material goods such as televisions, radios, snowmobiles, ATVs, and permanent residential

housing provided by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Anthropologist Richard G. Condon witnessed many of these social, economic, and material changes during his eighteen

years of research in the Holman community. With translator/research associate Julia Ogina and the elders of Holman, Condon vividly chronicles the history of the Holman region by combining observations of community change with extensive archival research and oral history interviews with community elders. This chronicle begins with a discussion of the prehistory of the Holman region, moves to the early and late contact periods, and concludes with a description of modern

community life. The dramatic transformation of the Northern Copper Inuit is also reflected through nearly one hundred photographs and drawings that complement the text. Each chapter

opens with a reproduction of one of the striking Holman prints, depicting scenes from traditional Copper Inuit life.”

8. The Arctic in the British Imagination: 1818-1914

Robert G. David Manchester University Press, 2000

“Victorian Britain was fascinated by the Arctic and the accounts of its exploration. This is the first book to draw upon recent developments in representational theory and apply them to the

Arctic. The imagined Arctic was the product of a surprising variety of representations, and in this book the author has roamed across travel narratives, works of art and panorama, museum displays, tableaux vivantes and international exhibitions, the illustrated press, the lectures

organized by the geographical societies, a range of publications aimed at juveniles, as well as ephemeral representations such as cartoons, advertisements, and board games. The study of so

many forms over an extended timespan has allowed an assessment of their changing importance, and enabled a case to be made for Arctic representations following a different dynamic from

those associated with more familiar locations of Empire.”

9. Whose North: Political Change, Political Development, and Self Government in the Northwest Territories.

Mark O. Dickerson. UBC Press, 1992

“Residents of the Northwest Territories today face a number of difficult political issues: land claims, division of the territories, constitutional development, self-government, an accord for

sharing resource revenues, and the establishment of their place within the Canadian federation. Whose North? provides the context for a better understanding of these issues and traces the

evolution of an innovative, increasingly indigenous, governmental process. Today, eighteen of the twenty-four legislators are Native and the non-partisan, consensus style of government is unique

in Canada.”

10. Journey to the Polar Sea

John Franklin Conway Maritime Press, 2000

“Narrative of the British Coppermine Expedition of 1819-1822 to the northern shore of Canada. First released in 1824.”

11. As Long as this Land Shall Last: A History of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, 1870-1939

Rene Fumoleau McClelland and Stewart, 1973

“A historically accurate study that takes no sides, this book is the first complete document of Treaties 8 and 11 between the Canadian government and the Native people at the turn of the

nineteenth century. On the basis of those treaties, contested in the Mackenzie Pipeline debate, white fur-traders, trappers, and corporations gave themselves privileges of ownership with no regard to the Native claim and to the promise made to the Natives that they could live and hunt

there “as long as the sun rises, as long as the river flows, as long as this land shall last..” Historian René Fumoleau has delved into church and government sources to afford a clear

picture of the negotiations for the treaties beginning in 1870 and their aftermath up to 1939. With an updated introduction by Joan Barnaby, the documents discussed in the book speak for

themselves, implying a host of questions with both historical relevance and enduring significance.”

12. Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America

Shelagh D. Grant Douglas and McIntyre, 2010

“Based on Shelagh Grant's groundbreaking archival research and drawing on her reputation as a leading historian in the field, "Polar Imperative" is a compelling overview of the historical

claims of sovereignty over this continent's polar regions. This engaging, timely history examines: - the unfolding implications of major climate changes.

- the impact of resource exploitation on the indigenous peoples.- the current high-stakes game for control over

the adjacent waters of Alaska, Arctic Canada and Greenland.

13. A Journey to the Northern Ocean: The Adventures of Samuel Hearne, 1745-1792 Previously published as A Journey from Prince of Wale’s Fort in Hudson’s Bay to to

the northern ocean in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772.

Samuel Hearne Touchwood Editions, 2007

“Widely recognized as a classic of northern-exploration literature, A Journey to the Northern Ocean is Samuel Hearne's story of his three-year trek to seek a trade route across the Barrens in the Northwest Territories. Hearne was a superb reporter, from his anguished description of the massacre of helpless Eskimos by his Indian companions to his meticulous records of wildlife, flora and Indian manners and customs. As esteemed author Ken McGoogan points out in his

foreword: Hearne demonstrated that to thrive in the north, Europeans had to apprentice themselves to the Native peoples who had lived there for centuries-a lesson lost on many who

followed.”

14. The People of Denendeh: Ethnohistory of the Indians of Canada’s Northwest Territories

June Helm University of Iowa Press, 2000

“For fifty years anthropologist June Helm studied the culture and ethnohistory of the Dene, “The People,” the Athapaskan-speaking Indians of the Mackenzie River drainage of Canada's western

subarctic. Now in this impressive collection she brings together previously published essays—with updated commentaries where necessary—unpublished field notes, archival documents,

supplementary essays and notes from collaborators, and narratives by the Dene themselves as an offering to those studying North American Indians, hunter-gatherers, and subarctic ethnohistory and as a historical resource for the people of all ethnicities who live in Denendeh, Land of the Dene. Helm begins with a broad-ranging, stimulating overview of the social organization of

hunter-gatherer peoples of the world, past and present, that provides a background for all she has learned about the Dene. The chapters in part 1 focus on community and daily life among the Mackenzie Dene in the middle of the twentieth century. After two historical overview chapters, Helm moves from the early years of the twentieth century to the earliest contacts between Dene

and white culture, ending with a look at the momentous changes in Dene-government relations in the 1970s. Part 3 considers traditional Dene knowledge, meaning, and enjoyments, including a chapter on the Dogrib hand game. Throughout, Helm's encyclopedic knowledge combines with

her personal interactions to create a collection that is unique in its breadth and intensity.”

15. Finding Dahshaa: Self Government, Social Suffering, and Aboriginal Policy in Canada

Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox UBC Press, 2009

“Finding Dahshaa describes self-government negotiations as they have unfolded between Canada and the Dehcho, Délînê, and Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples. By contrasting accounts of negotiating sessions in city boardrooms with vibrant descriptions of Dene moosehide-tanning

camps on the land and community meetings in small northern communities, it shows why Canada’s Aboriginal policy has failed to alleviate the causes of social suffering in the North.

Social suffering is not a relic of the past, it has become part of the process as government negotiators have dismissed it as irrelevant to self-government or used it as a rationale to

minimize Indigenous authority. Ethnographic descriptions of tanning practices, which embody principles and values central to the project of self-determination, by contrast, offer an alternative

model for negotiations.”

16. Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak: One Woman’s Journey Through the Northwest Passage

Victoria Jason Turnstone Press, 1995

“During the summers of 1991 through 1994 Victoria Jason and two companions, Fred Reffler and Don Starkell, set out to kayak from Churchill, Manitoba to Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea. When she set out in 1991, Victoria, already a grandmother of two, had been kayaking for only a

year and was still recovering from the second of two strokes.”

17. The Big Ship: An Autobiography by Henry A. Larsen in cooperation with Frank R. Sheer and Edvard Omholt-Jensen

McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1967

“The memoirs of the long-time captain of the RCMP schooner St. Roch, which patrolled the Arctic on exploratory missions around the Northwest Passage, enforcing Canadian sovereignty

in the north.”

18. Coppermine

Keith Ross Leckie Penguin Canada, 2011

“Part epic adventure, part romance, and part true-crime thriller, Coppermine is a dramatic, compelling, character-driven story set in 1917 in the extremes of Canada's far north and the

boom town of Edmonton. The story begins when two missionaries disappear in the remote Arctic region known as the Coppermine. North West Mounted Police officer Jack Creed and Angituk, a young Copper Inuit interpreter, are sent on a year-long odyssey to investigate the fate of the lost priests. On the shores of the Arctic Ocean near the mouth of the Coppermine River, they discover their dismembered remains. Two Inuit hunters are tracked and apprehended, and the four begin an arduous journey to Edmonton, to bring the accused to justice. Instructing the jury to "think like an Eskimo," the defence counsel sets out to prove the Inuit acted in self-defence. They hear

how the hunters believed the priests were possessed by demons about to kill them, and how, acting on this belief, they killed the men and ate their livers. The jury finds them not guilty. The

hunters become celebrities, a parade is held for them, they visit a movie theatre and an amusement park, and become guests of honour at socialite dinners. They are given new suits,

fine cigars, and champagne. But Rome is outraged that the murderers of its martyred priests will go free. As secrets of Jack Creed's past in the trenches of Europe are revealed, Jack tries to save

his two friends, and himself.”

19. Coppermine: The Far North of George M. Douglas

Enid Mallory Broadview Press, 1989

“This book presents a compelling view of one of the great travellers of the 20th century and of the last days of "the Old North." A mining engineer and almost the archetype of the practical

man, George Douglas was in 1911 given the task of searching for minerals in the watershed of the Coppermine, above the Arctic Circle. He never found great wealth, but developed a life-long affinity with the North itself; a fragile land of subtle beauty about to be changed forever by the

advance of southern "civilization." During that year and the next he lived a life of extraordinary adventure, became the first white man to make contact with many of the Inuit of the region, and

became involved with the great figures of that last generation of Northern adventures. He became a reluctant father figure to Jack Hornby, the doomed romantic who would starve to death with Harold Adlard and Edgar Christian in 1927. Douglas knew as well Robert Service; in one

of the more grisly episodes recounted in this book, he and Service are among a group that discovers the bodies of two dead trappers in and isolated cabin. The note beside the bodies reads "I just killed the man that was killing me...There ain't no but death for me." On his later trips--he

continued to travel north until 1938--Douglas became haunted by the loss of the old north: a place in which travel meant exploration, a place whose natural resources were as yet

unexploited, a place in which death was never far away, and a place of raw and spectacular beauty. This book is illustrated with 116 of Douglas' own extraordinary photos, makes that place,

that era, and this remarkable man come to life again.”

20. Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson

Peter C. Mancall Basic Books, 2009

“The English explorer Henry Hudson devoted his life to the search for a water route through America, becoming the first European to navigate the Hudson River in the process. In Fatal

Journey, acclaimed historian and biographer Peter C. Mancall narrates Hudson’s final expedition. In the winter of 1610, after navigating dangerous fields of icebergs near the northern tip of Labrador, Hudson’s small ship became trapped in winter ice. Provisions grew scarce and

tensions mounted amongst the crew. Within months, the men mutinied, forcing Hudson, his teenage son, and seven other men into a skiff, which they left floating in the Hudson Bay. A story of exploration, desperation, and icebound tragedy, Fatal Journey vividly chronicles the undoing

of the great explorer, not by an angry ocean, but at the hands of his own men.”

21. Fatal Passage: The untold story of John Rae, the Arctic Adventurerwho discovered the fate of Franklin

Ken McGoogan HarperCollins, 2001

“John Rae's accomplishments, surpassing all nineteenth-century Arctic explorers, were worthy of honors and international fame. No explorer even approached Rae's prolific record: 1,776

miles surveyed of uncharted territory; 6,555 miles hiked on snowshoes; and 6,700 miles navigated in small boats. Yet, he was denied fair recognition of his discoveries because he dared to utter the truth about the fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew, Rae's predecessors in the far

north. Author Ken McGoogan vividly narrates the astonishing adventures of Rae, who found the last link to the Northwest Passage and uncovered the grisly truth about the cannibalism of

Franklin and his crew. A bitter smear campaign by Franklin's supporters would deny Rae his knighthood and bury him in ignominy for over one hundred and fifty years. Ken McGoogan's passion to secure justice for a true North American hero in this revelatory book produces a completely original and compelling portrait that elevates Rae to his rightful place as one of

history's greatest explorers.”

22. Ancient Mariner: The amazing adventures of Samuel Hearne, the sailer who walked to the Arctic Ocean

Ken McGoogan HarperCollins, 2003

“Though immortalized by Samuel Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” few people know that eighteenth-century British adventurer Samuel Hearne became the first European to see

the Arctic Ocean while standing on America’s northernmost shore. In Ancient Mariner, McGoogan demonstrates that Hearne was far more complex, accomplished, and influential than

history has shown. A Royal Navy midshipman during the Seven Years’ War, Hearne moved to London, and in 1766, just twenty-one, joined the Hudson’s Bay Company. He embarked on an

overland quest for rich veins of copper supposedly located “far to the northward where the sun don’t set”— and also to discover the Northwest Passage. Hearne’s posthumously published

journal, the first book by a European explorer on the Arctic, describes a journey of 3,500 miles marked by hardship, and mitigated only by his friendship with the legendary Dene leader

Matonabbee. His epic adventure culminated in the infamous and still-controversial massacre at “Bloody Falls”—a murderous battle between two native tribes that changed him forever. In a fascinating example of literary detective work, McGoogan determines that, having returned to London to live out his final days, Hearne met Samuel Taylor Coleridge, inspiring the poet to

write “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”

23. Lady Franklin’s Revenge: A true story of ambition, obsession and the remaking Arctic History

Ken McGoogan HarperCollins, 2005

“With Lady Franklin’s Revenge, bestselling author Ken McGoogan (Fatal Passage, Ancient Mariner) delivers another page turning biography that brings a remarkable historical figure vividly to life. Denied a role in Victorian England’s male-dominated society, Jane Franklin(1791-1875) took her revenge by seizing control of that most masculine of pursuits, Arctic

exploration, and shaping its history to her own ends. Arguably the greatest woman traveller of the 19th century, Lady Franklin rode a donkey into Nazareth, sailed a rat-infested boat up the Nile, climbed mountains in Africa and the Holy Land, and, wearing petticoats, beat her way

through the Tasmanian bush. When Sir John Franklin, her husband, disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, she orchestrated an unprecedented 12-year search, contributing more to the discovery

of the North than any celebrated explorer. Having failed to rescue the hapless Franklin, she turned failure into triumph by creating a legend. Richly detailed, panoramic in scope, this

biography of the unforgettable Jane Franklin is destined to become a classic.”

24. Race to the Polar Sea: The Heroic Adventures and Romantic Obsessions of Elisha Kent Kane

Ken McGoogan HarperCollins, 2008

“In the mid-1800s, geographers revived the ancient idea that at the top of the world, encircling the North Pole, lay a temperate “Open Polar Sea.” Without doubt, the voyager who discovered

this balmy basin would etch his name forever in the annals of exploration. Among those drawn to the challenge was Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, a handsome, charismatic figure from a leading

Philadelphia family who was already a well-known adventurer and explorer. In 1853, Kane sailed to the Arctic to seek both the Open Polar Sea and the lost British explorer John Franklin. After sailing farther north than anyone yet, Kane and his men became trapped in the ice. Besides

treacherous icebergs and violent currents, Kane battled starvation, disease, and a near mutiny before abandoning ship to lead a desperate escape in sleds and small boats. Race to the Polar Sea tells this story in heart-pounding detail. Drawing on documents never before seen, author Ken McGoogan brings to life a heroic figure famous in his day as America’s greatest explorer

and celebrates a shining example of American courage and survival.”

25. Canoeing Canada’s Northwest Territories: A Paddler’s Guide

Edited by Mary McCreadie Canadian Recreational Canoe Association, 1995

“This is the first and only detailed guidebook on Canada's world-renowned arctic rivers. In addition to describing 20 rivers and how to experience them (from the Hood to the Coppermine to the Kazan), the author also details how to prepare for an Arctic canoe trip, local attractions

and the heritage of the north. An invaluable trip planning aid.”

26. True North: The Yukon and Northwest Territories

William R. Morrison Oxford University Press, 1998

“Canadians have always been fascinated by the North. Celebrated in song, story and motion picture, it has contributed such icons of the public consciousness as the Klondike Gold Rush, the doomed Franklin expedition, the outlaw Dan McGrew and the lady that's known as Lou, the Mad

Trapper of Rat River, the Mountie who always gets his man, and the heroic Inuit hunter. True North looks at all aspects of the region, to provide an accurate account of its past. For many readers the most fascinating chapters will be those on the exploration of the region, featuring

Eric the Red, Cabot, Frobisher, Baffin, Mackenzie, Franklin, Amundsen and many more. With the explorers came the fur trade, and the hardships involved in moving goods from England to the Canadian arctic. The book's final chapters deal with recent history and modern concerns: the militarization of the region, with developments such as the DEW line: and its exploitation by

business interests. At the centre of the book, of course, are the Inuit and Dene. Their history is constantly present, in discussions of their early contact with European explorers, their treatment

in missionary-run government schools, relations with the mining settlements, fur traders and whalers, the diseases brought to the North by the builders of the Alaska Highway, and the administration of government policy on the north and native peoples. The book's closing

chapter,"Search for the Future,” discusses in detail several topics of particular importance to the First Nations, such as the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline, the devolution of political power,

land claims negotiations, and preparations for the creation of a third territory. The result is a lucid, accessible and stunningly illustrated introduction to the Canadian north.”

27. The Frozen Ship: The histories and tales of Polar Exploration

Sarah Moss Signal Books, 2006

“This thought-provoking examination of the most influential and popular accounts of polar exploration—from Viking settlers and Renaissance conquerors to expeditions led by

such famous explorers as Ernest Shackleton, Richard Byrd, and Roald Amundsen—emphasizes themes of endurance, greed, obsession, and self-sacrifice in tales that have captured the popular

imagination for centuries. The stories that consider the life-threatening risks of polar exploration, the enduring appeal of romanticized frozen landscapes, and issues of national

identity that are linked with exploration, also include descriptions of indigenous communities, forgotten stories of women at the poles, Robert Falcon Scott’s meticulous account

of his own dying, and purely imaginary approaches to polar travel such as Frankenstein and Winnie the Pooh.”

28. Ordeal by Ice: The Search for the Northwest Passage

Farley MowatMcClelland and Stewart, 1960

“Ordeal by Ice is the thrilling account of the great Northern explorers: men who struggled, starved, and finally conquered the capricious forces of the bitter Northern winter in a centuries-long search for the Northwest Passage. The stories, compiled by award-winning author Farley

Mowat and presented in gripping, firsthand narratives, capture both the stark drama of the struggle for survival and the breathtaking panorama of virgin Arctic lands.”

29. Tundra: Selections from the Great Accounts of Arctic Land Voyages

Farley Mowat McClelland and Stewart, 1973

“Mowat's third volume in his Top of the World trilogy on arctic exploration presents 10 selections from journals of extraordinary men who scoured the Canadian tundra. Neatly editing for a popular audience, Mowat amplifies the texts with minimal intrusion. In the earliest account here (1769-1772), Samuel Hearne describes an almost 5000-mile trek, and trains his eye on the

Indians who accompany him--their cookery and customs, including a self-preservation tactic where a sick squaw is left behind to fend for herself, and their bloody ambush of the slumbering

Eskimo foe. Later that century, Alexander Mackenzie fails to find a route to the Pacific Ocean but discovers the major river now bearing his name. During WWI, Mounties search the tundra, investigating the disappearance of two Belgian missionaries. In the 1920s, Edgar Christian, fresh from English public school, intends to spend a winter on the plains with his eccentric

cousin, trapper John Hornby. Christian's journal relates desolation, cold and an excruciatingly slow death by starvation that claims the entire party.”

30. Company of Adventurers

Peter C. Newman Penguin Canada, 2004

“Shaping the destiny of Canada, the merchant founders of the Hudson's Bay Company tamed the wilderness as they built the world's largest private commercial empire. A brilliant story

chronicling the unsung heroes of North American history.”

31. North of Reliance: A Personal Story of Living Beyond the Wilderness

Dave Oleson Northword Press, 1994

“David Olesen takes us on a journey to northern Canada. With poetic verse he explains the hardships and the pleasures of living in isolation. David's love of the land and the way of life he

has chosen comes through clearly as we are transported to the wilderness.”

32. Travelling Passions: The Hidden Life of Vilhjamur Stefansson

Gisli Palsson University of Manitoba Press, 2005

“Vilhjalmur Stefansson has long been known for his groundbreaking work as an anthropologist and expert on Arctic peoples. His three expeditions to the Canadian Arctic in the early 1900s, as

well as his expertise in northern anthropology, helped create his public image as an heroic, Hemingway-esque figure in the annals of twentieth-century exploration. But the emotional and private life of Stefansson the man have remained hidden, until now. New evidence of this other life has recently been discovered: a collection of love letters between Stefansson and his fiance Orpha Cecil Smith were found in a New Hampshire flea market; Stefansson's field diaries have revealed elegant essays and insightful commentary on Inupiat society; baptismal records have

revealed that Stefansson had a son, Alex, with his informant and guide, Fanny Pannigabluk; and through web searches and a private detective, Palsson found and conducted interviews with the descendants of both Cecil Smith and Alex Stefansson. Travelling Passions sheds new light on

Stefanssons life and work, focussing on the tension between his private life and the theories that brought his name to the halls of fame. Palsson draws a clear, vivid, and in many ways

unexpected picture of the mythical figure of Stefansson.”

33. From Far and Wide: A Complete History of Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty

Peter Pigott Dundurn, 2011

“Is the Canadian North a state of mind or simply the lands and waters above the 60th parallel? In searching for the ill-fated Franklin Expedition in the 19th century, Britain's Royal Navy

mapped and charted most of the Arctic Archipelago. In 1874 Canadian Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie agreed to take up sovereignty of all the Arctic, if only to keep the United

States and Tsarist Russia out. But as the dominion expanded east and west, the North was forgotten. Besides a few industries, its potential was unknown. It was as one Canadian said for later. There wasn't much need to send police or military expeditions to the North. Not only was there little tribal warfare between the Inuit or First Nations, but there were few white settlers to protect and the forts were mainly trading posts. Thus, in the early 20th century, Canada's Arctic was less known than Sudan or South Africa. From Far and Wide recounts exclusively the historic

activities of the Canadian military in Canada's North.”

34. The Howling Arctic: The People who made Canada Sovereign in the Farthest North

Ray PriceThe Alger Press, 1970

“Always in the background of this remarkable book you will hear the howling winds and feel the implacable cold that make Canada's eastern Arctic the least forgiving land on the face of the earth. But in the foreground you will find people, truly remarkable people, for Ray Price is a

“people writer” and a storyteller. He tells stories about breathtaking courage and devil-possessed evil, about friendships and feuds, high adventure and domestic comedy, about heroes and murderers, priests, traders, sailors, policemen, hunters and trappers – and even about a few men-like Windy Smith – who are in the Arctic because it is the one place in the world they want

to be. The land has always been there, but it is the people in Ray Price's book who have added it to our map – found it, occupied it, lived and died in it. And made it a part of Canada. In The

Howling Arctic, the fascinating story of the eastern Arctic is told for the first time.”

35. Emperor of the North: Sir George Simpson and the Remarkable Story of the Hudson’s Bay Company

James Raffan HarperCollins, 2007

“The adventure-filled story of the legendary Hudson’s Bay Company is inextricably linked to the formation of a Canadian nation stretching from sea to sea to sea. In an absorbing and lively new

book on The Bay, James Raffan explores the forces that moulded a man, a company and a country. The histories of Sir George Simpson and the HBC in the golden years of the 19th

century are in many ways one history, for Simpson’s professional acumen and personal ambitions propelled a failing business to a position of great wealth and political power. At its height, the HBC trading territory covered an astonishing one-twelfth of the world’s surface. Raffan captures the many contradictions of the larger-than-life man at its centre: a brilliant

manager who kept an iron grip on his fur forts from east to west, ensuring British power across the land; a pompous dandy who was most at home in a voyageur-paddled canoe; a man ashamed of his illegitimate birth but who went on to sire 13 children with eight different women, only one

of whom was his wife; a master businessman who laid the foundations for the single greatest business enterprise of its day. Emperor of the North is the vibrant tale of a man who shaped

much more than a fur-trading company—he launched an empire of ideas that led to the creation of a country. Meticulously researched, highly readable and wonderfully illuminated by maps and archival photographs, Emperor of the North is a delight for history buffs, armchair adventurers

and biography fans alike.”

36. In Search of the Northwest Passage

Ann Savours St. Martin’s Press, 1999

“The search for the North West Passage to the Far East was the main driving force behind British arctic exploration from the 16th to the mid-19th century. It included the famous and ill-fated John Franklin expedition--the disappearance of which and resulting search is one of the

great tragic stories in the history of exploration--and culminated with Roald Amundsen’s successfully voyage in 1903-06. Ann Savours examines the British encounters with the Eskimo, how yearly ice variations affected expeditions, and the daily lives of the early explorers. This book will be compulsive reading for all those interested in the saga Arctic exploration and for

those who enjoy stories of human endeavor in the face of terrible odds.”

37. The Mad Trapper: Unearthing A Mystery

Barbara Smith Heritage House Publishing, 2009

“When Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper of Rat River, was gunned down in February 1932, he went to his death without anyone knowing who he really was—most people believed the name "Albert Johnson" was an alias. He'd eluded a well-organized, well-equipped posse for seven

weeks, surviving solely on wits and determination in the bitter cold of a Canadian Arctic winter. Some 75 years later, he was being pursued again, this time by a team of filmmakers and forensic

scientists bent on determining his identity once and for all. In this age of DNA testing and leading-edge forensic techniques, would the decades-old mystery finally be solved? Myth Merchant Films' Michael Jorgensen and Carrie Gour hoped so. Armed with a television production crew and a group of top forensic scientists, they headed to Aklavik, Northwest

Territories. The team exhumed Johnson's body, examined the remains and harvested samples for further testing and DNA comparison with potential kin. The results were broadcast in a

Discovery Channel documentary, Hunt for the Mad Trapper. Author Barbara Smith was on hand to witness it all. In this book she takes readers to the isolated northern community of Aklavik,

where the legend began, recounts the tale of the manhunt that mesmerized the world, describes the exhumation and subsequent scientific analyses and shares the astonishing information

unearthed in Myth Merchant's investigation.”

38. Alexander Mackenzie: The Hero who failed

James K. Smith McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1973

“Biography of Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish explorer and Northwest Company fur trader of 18th century Canada, who discovered the Mackenzie River, and who was the first man to reach

the Pacific overland north of Mexico. Includes maps, photographs, list of Indian groups encountered by Mackenzie, and bibliography.”

39. The Man who mapped the Arctic: the intrepid life of George Back, Franklin’s Lieutenant

Peter Steele Raincoast Books, 2003

“In the mid-1800s, George Back went on three Arctic expeditions with Sir John Franklin across the Barren Lands of the Canadian north. But unlike Franklin, Back lived to tell his tales in

journals, drawings, watercolors, and maps. Noted writer Peter Steele drew on these sources, along with contemporary accounts, to craft this gripping tale of resilience in the face of

incredible odds. The book thrillingly recounts the near-impossible circumstances of these expeditions — the fights with the Hudson Bay Company, rations that failed to get through, even cannibalism. Back survived these horrors to lead an exploration of the Great Fish River, now

named the Back River in his honour. His return upstream, hauling his handmade boat up 83 sets of rapids, is one of the greatest-ever feats of heroism and endurance. A gifted artist and

mapmaker, Back was a brave explorer forgotten by history. Steele does him belated justice with this fascinating account.”

40. Sir Martin Frobisher: Seaman, Soldier, Explorer

Taliesin Trow Pen and Sword, 2011

“Sir Martin Frobisher was one of the great sea dogs of Elizabethan England. He was a pirate and a privateer - he looted countless ships and was incarcerated by the Portuguese as a young

man - and he aided Sir Francis Drake in one of his most daring voyages to attack the Spanish in the West Indies. But Frobisher was also a warrior who was knighted for his services against the

Spanish Armada, and he was an explorer. He was the first Englishman to attempt to find the fabled Northwest Passage to Cathay - to China. He commanded three voyages into the uncharted

northern waters of Canada and Greenland and devoted eighteen years of his life to this dream. Taliesin Trow's new biographical study of this many-sided Elizabethan adventurer should revive interest in him and in this extraordinary period in English seafaring history. For Frobisher was a

fascinating, enigmatic character whose reputation is often eclipsed by those of his remarkable contemporaries, Drake, Hawkins and Ralegh.”

41. Peary: The Explorer and The Man

John Edward Weems Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1967

“Much of the value of this biography of the discoverer of the North Pole lies in its access to hitherto unavailable personal documents, notably Peary's diary. The diary, often quoted here,

gives final proof that Peary did in fact discover what he was searching for, and for which Congress awarded him its thanks and a retirement pension. However, Peary's former surgeon,

the affable Dr. Frederick Cook, had telegraphed to the world that he had discovered the Pole and had telegraphed this message five days before Peary reached a wireless to break the news. This

frustration, after twenty three years of incredible effort, infuriated Peary to such a degree that he world not defend his accomplishment. In fact he never quite recovered from the blow. This is a thorough account of the expeditions, the immense journeys by dog sled, the impossibly perilous crossings of tundras of ice and snow. That the redoubtable Peary's achievement should be bent

and twisted by the press was indeed tragic, and this is a broad and moving biography, particularly in its theme of American spirit and ingenuity

pitted against the existential polar wastes.”

42. The Legend of John Hornby

George Whalley John Murray, 1962

“Biography of John Hornby (1880-1927), traveller in the Barrens of the Northwest Territories in the area which became the Thelon Game Sanctuary.”