No Man's River

by Mowat, Farley

• ISBN13: 9780786716920
• ISBN10: 0786716924
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-06
• Publisher: Da Capo Press

Summary

With No Man's River, Farley Mowat has penned his best Arctic tale in years. This book chronicles his life among Metis trappers and native people as they struggle to eke out a living in a brutal environment. In the spring of 1947, putting the death and devastation of WWII behind him, Mowat joined a scientific expedition. In the remote reaches of Manitoba, he witnessed an Eskimo population ravaged by starvation and disease brought about by the white man. In his efforts to provide the natives with some of the assistance that the government failed to provide, Mowat set out on an arduous journey that collided with one of nature's most arresting phenomenathe migration of the Arctic's caribou herds. Mowat was based at Windy Post with a Metis trapper and two Ihalmiut children. A young girl, known as Rita, is painted with special vividnesschecking the trap lines with the men, riding atop a sled, smoking a tiny pipe. Farley returns to the North two decades later and discovers the tragic fate that befell her. Combining his exquisite portraits with awe-inspiring passages on the power of nature, No Man's River is another riveting memoir from one of North America's most beloved writers.

Author Biography

FARLEY MOWAT began writing for his living in 1949 after spending two years in the Arctic. He has lived in or visited almost every part of Canada and many other lands, including Siberia. He is the author of 38 books, including People of the Deer, The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, Never Cry Wolf, A Whale for the Killing, Aftermath, My Father’s Son, And No Birds Sang, The Farfarers, Walking on the Land, The Snow Walker, and High Latitudes. He and his wife, writer Claire Mowat, divide their time between Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Table of Contents

THE WHY AND THE WHEREFORE	1	(16)
PART ONE THE INCOMERS	17	(54)
Chapter One THE INCOMERS	19	(12)
Chapter Two LIVING ON THE LAND	31	(10)
Chapter Three BROTHERS	41	(16)
Chapter Four A SPRING TO REMEMBER	57	(14)
PART TWO WINDY POST	71	(40)
Chapter Five WINDY POST 7	3	(84)
Chapter Six MAN AND LEMMINGS	87	(10)
Chapter Seven SCIENCE LOSES ONE	97	(14)
PART THREE IDTHEN ELDELI	111	(52)
Chapter Eight SOUTHBOUND	113	(10)
Chapter Nine MANY ISLANDS LAKE	123	(13)
Chapter Ten TELEQUOISIE	136	(11)
Chapter Eleven BROCHET	147	(16)
PART FOUR KASMERE'S RIVER	163	(56)
Chapter Twelve CLIMBING THE COCHRANE	165	(9)
Chapter Thirteen TWO TO REMEMBER	174	(11)
Chapter Fourteen KASMERE'S GRAVE	185	(11)
Chapter Fifteen KASMERE'S BIRDS	196	(11)
Chapter Sixteen PUTAHOW	207	(12)
PART FIVE ARCTIC PRAIRIE	219	(36)
Chapter Seventeen HOMECOMING	221	(11)
Chapter Eighteen LAND OF LITTLE STICKS	232	(12)
Chapter Nineteen THE DEER'S WAY	244	(11)
PART SIX NO MAN'S RIVER	255	(62)
Chapter Twenty BIG RIVER	257	(11)
Chapter Twenty-one RIVER DOGS	268	(9)
Chapter Twenty-two ESKIMO CHARLIE	277	(14)
Chapter Twenty-three KUMIUT	291	(11)
Chapter Twenty four TAVANNI NOT	302	(15)
PART SEVEN—AFTERMATH	317	(24)
Chapter Twenty-five CHARLES	319	(12)
Chapter Twenty-six RITA	331	(10)
AUTHOR'S NOTE	341	(2)
INDEX	343