End-of-Earth People: The Arctic Sahtu Dene

by Bern Will Brown

Overview

A history of the "End-of-Earth" Native people of Canada’s far-North Sahtu region.

Bern Will Brown, noted northern author, artist, photographer, and respected community leader living in Colville Lake, Northwest Territories, provides new insights and perspectives on the Sahtu Dene, the people referred to as the "Hareskin" in Alexander Mackenzie’s 1793 journal. Having lived among them for over sixty years and as a speaker of their dialect, Brown is well positioned to provide an adventure in history and culture rooted in the Hareskin traditional way of life.



End-of-Earth People, his latest contribution and a valuable record of the North, is a portrait of a people Brown has come to know in ways that anthropologists and ethnologists can only envy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459722699
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	03/10/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Bern Will Brown went to the Canadian Arctic in 1948 as an Oblate priest and travelled extensively by dog team throughout the region. In the early 1960s, he helped found the Hareskin community of Colville Lake, north of the Arctic Circle. He still resides in Colville Lake, Northwest Territories.

Bern Will Brown went to the Canadian Arctic in 1948 as an Oblate priest and travelled extensively by dogteam throughout the region. In the early 1960s, he helped found the Hareskin community of Colville Lake, north of the Arctic Circle. Bern Will Brown passed away on July 4, 2014.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Norman Yakeleya, NWT
Introduction by Ivan Gaetz
Preface
 
1. What We Know of Their History
2. Images of the People
3. The Hareskin Character
4. Language
5. Housing
6. Clothing
7. Food
8. Hunting and Trapping
9. Fishing
10. Women’s Crafts
11. Men’s Crafts
12. Daily Life
13. Social Life and Games
14. Superstitions and Taboos
15. Religion
16. Summary and Conclusion
 
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
 
Maps to be included
            Canadian Arctic
            Great Bear Lake Area
            Colville Lake Area

Editorial Reviews

"Brown’s prose is straightforward and honest; the stories he relates of his encounters with his Dene friends are often amusing and come from the heart. As an added bonus, the book includes many of Brown’s own beautiful photographs. Well worth picking up for anyone interested in Arctic culture."

Canada's History Magazine

…the book presents a rich photographic archive of life in Colville Lake and the Sahtu region since the late 1940s…Brown’s photographs make a significant contribution to documenting history and life in the Northwest Territories…

Arctic Magazine

"Brown’s prose is straightforward and honest; the stories he relates of his encounters with his Dene friends are often amusing and come from the heart. As an added bonus, the book includes many of Brown’s own beautiful photographs. Well worth picking up for anyone interested in Arctic culture."

Canada’s History Magazine

Like the man himself, Bern Will Brown’s final legacy, as represented by this volume, is authentic and insightful.

Above & Beyond

"The book candidly speaks about social issues the Sahtu Dene still struggle with, such as residential schools and dependence on government assistance, while providing rare details into the traditional practices of the Sahtu people, such as how to tan a moose hide or how to build a canoe from native material."

Above & Beyond Magazine

"Brown’s prose is straightforward and honest; the stories he relates of his encounters with his Dene friends are often amusing and come from the heart. As an added bonus, the book includes many of Brown’s own beautiful photographs. Well worth picking up for anyone interested in Arctic culture."

Canada’s History Magazine

"The book candidly speaks about social issues the Sahtu Dene still struggle with, such as residential schools and dependence on government assistance, while providing rare details into the traditional practices of the Sahtu people, such as how to tan a moose hide or how to build a canoe from native material."

"Brown’s prose is straightforward and honest; the stories he relates of his encounters with his Dene friends are often amusing and come from the heart. As an added bonus, the book includes many of Brown’s own beautiful photographs. Well worth picking up for anyone interested in Arctic culture."

…the book presents a rich photographic archive of life in Colville Lake and the Sahtu region since the late 1940s…Brown’s photographs make a significant contribution to documenting history and life in the Northwest Territories…

From the Publisher