In this account of an 800-mile canoe trip -- which begins at Reindeer Lake on the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border, continues into Nunavut past the treeline, and ends on Hudson Bay -- Peter Kazaks conveys the experience of being in the north by describing the daily details that bring the trip to life.

Over the century between the first Oblate mission to the Canadian central Arctic in 1867 and the radical shifts brought about by Vatican II, the region was the site of complex interactions between Inuit, Oblate missionaries, and Grey Nuns – interactions that have not yet received the attention they deserve. Enriching archival sources with oral testimony, Frédéric Laugrand and Jarich Oosten provide an in-depth analysis of conversion, medical care, education, and vocation in the Keewatin region of the Northwest Territories. They show that while Christianity was adopted by the Inuit and major transformations occurred, the Oblates and the Grey Nuns did not eradicate the old traditions or assimilate the Inuit, who were caught up in a process they could not yet fully understand. The study begins with the first contact Inuit had with Christianity in the Keewatin region and ends in the mid-1960s, when an Inuk woman joined the Grey Nuns and two Inuit brothers became Oblate missionaries. Bringing together many different voices, perspectives, and experiences, and emphasizing the value of multivocality in understanding this complex period of Inuit history, Inuit, Oblate Missionaries, and Grey Nuns in the Keewatin, 1865–1965 highlights the subtle nuances of a long and complex interaction, showing how salvation and suffering were intertwined.

Canoe across large lakes, up and down rivers and rapids; labour over portages and through a miasma of blackflies; bask in the golden evenings of the Subarctic. In this account of an 800-mile canoe trip – which begins at Reindeer Lake on the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border, continues into Nunavut past the treeline, and ends on Hudson Bay – Peter Kazaks conveys the experience of being in the north by describing the daily details that bring the trip to life. He captures the flavour of an extended wilderness canoe trip and reflects on living in unfettered wilderness. The reader will also grasp something of the serene beauty of the barren lands and begin to understand why its intoxicating nature keeps drawing some back. The first half of the trip, essentially from Reindeer Lake to Nueltin Lake, retraces P.G. Downes' voyage described in his classic Sleeping Island. Next the four men of this expedition, led by George Luste, entered the barren lands and followed the Thlewiaza River, the Kognak River, South Henik Lake and the Maguse River north and east to the shore of Hudson Bay. These lands, seldom visited, are close to a true wilderness – one of the few remaining ones.

Published in association with the Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, and Information Canada.