Arctic Journal - Hardcover

Brown Bern Will

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 2890889017 ISBN 13: 9782890889019

Publisher: Editions Novalis, 1998

Synopsis

From mushing dog-teams 70 miles in 60-below blizzards, to building beautiful churches from hand-cut spruce logs; from staking land claims for uranium, to helping unionize a mine - Bern Will Brown has had a career like few Roman Catholic priests. As a teen, Brown joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, an order of missionary priests working in the Arctic. Brown's first challenge was to learn French as well as the tongue of his Hare Indian parishioners. He then mastered fishing and hunting, breeding and driving dog-teams, building igloos and making snowshoes. To his many priestly duties were added those of carpenter, musician, and medic - delivering babies and pulling teeth. In 1971, Brown was married in his own log church to Margaret Steen, a part-Eskimo woman. They continue to live among their native neighbours in Colville Lake, above the Arctic Circle. Brown now photographs and paints highly regarded scenes of life in his beloved North. "Arctic Journal" is bursting with remarkable tales, both comic and tragic, of a way of life that existed nowhere else on earth, and that has now disappeared forever.

About this title

Synopsis

First published in two volumes in 1998 and 1999, Bern Will Brown's Arctic Journal has quickly become a publishing milestone; one of the import books about life in Canada's North. It is important because it is written by a long-term resident who first arrived there filled with dreams and aspirations in 1948. This engaging and poignant journal tells the story of a young priest whose understanding of mission work is completely subverted by his experiences of working in the Great Slave Lake region. What makes his book special? On Amazon.ca, this was the only first person narrative on the arctic from this time period. the other journals and writings were from the 19th century or modem-day reconstructions of older events. Brown here captures a unique period of change in the North, that has not been recorded elsewhere in this engaging way.

Edition details

• Publisher: Editions Novalis
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 2890889017
• ISBN 13: 9782890889019
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 226