Barren Lands

First published in 2001, Barren Lands is the classic true story of the men who sought—and found—a great diamond mine on the last frontier of the far north. From a bloody 18th-century trek across the Canadian tundra to the daunting natural forces facing protagonists Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson as they struggle against the mighty DeBeers cartel, this is the definitive account of one of the world’s great mineral discoveries. Combining geology, science history, raw nature, and high intrigue, it is also a tale of supreme adventure, taking the reader into a magical—and now fast-vanishing—wild landscape. Now in a newly revised and updated edition.

Narnia meets traditional Indigenous stories of the sky and constellations in an epic middle grade fantasy series from award-winning author David Robertson. Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home -- until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher). The only hunter supporting his starving community, Misewa, Ochek welcomes the human children, teaching them traditional ways to survive. But as the need for food becomes desperate, they embark on a dangerous mission. Accompanied by Arik, a sassy Squirrel they catch stealing from the trapline, they try to save Misewa before the icy grip of winter freezes everything -- including them.

This is a story about the fur trade and First Nations, and the development of northern Canada, seen and experienced not only through Leonard Flett's eyes, but also through the eyes of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.The lives of indigenous people in remote areas of northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in the 1960s and 1970s are examined in detail. Flett's successful career with both the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company provides an insight into the dying days of the fur trade and the rise of a new retail business tailored to First Nations.

In 1955 Arthur Moffatt led an expedition consisting of young college students and recent graduates to the Inuit lands of Nunavut, Canada, to follow the path of the 1893 Tyrrell expedition and to film and photograph the group's progress. The expedition, a 900-mile epic journey across the Barren Lands of Arctic Canada, has stirred controversy and criticism for over fifty years. The trip has been variously described as "the pioneering venture in modern recreational canoe travel" and as "an excellent example of how not to conduct a canoe trip." Delays took their toll on the adventurers, exhausted by the seemingly endless paddling through unknown rivers and lakes, the trek across the windswept tundra, and torment by voracious insects. Threatened with diminishing food reserves and increasingly harsh weather, the members of the expedition were forced to travel with greater speed and less caution, and ultimately a fatal mistake was made. Two of the canoes capsized, dumping four men into the frigid waters. Moffatt, the leader, died of exposure. It took the survivors ten days of arduous travel with minimum food and equipment to reach the safety of theÊHudson's Bay Company post. Barren Grounds features passages from the journals of two young Moffatt party members and excerpts about the 1893 expedition of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, along with entries from the journal of Art Moffatt himself. Part cautionary tale, part nail-biting adventure, the book will appeal to outdoorsmen and armchair adventurers alike.

For decades hidden in an archive in England: Critchell Bullock’s own account of his odyssey with John Hornby in 1924/25. In 2015 the archivist of Sherborne School (Dorset) disclosed the possession of Bullock's diary from his journey with John Hornby. An authentic and often very personal account, based on letters to a dear friend in England. A narrative about a winter spent in a self-dug cave on the edge of the Canadian Barren Lands, with intimate insights of hope and despair. About their ensuing journey on foot overland and by canoe down the Hanbury and Thelon Rivers, via Baker Lake and Chesterfield Inlet to Hudson Bay. Compiled from letters archived in the USA, Canada and England. Supplemented with content from Bullock's son's personal archive. Featuring unpublished photos, new insights into their journey and previously unknown details about John Hornby. Completed with Guy Houghton Blanchet's narration of a particular incident, never before published in full. “I can’t get over regretting that you did not yourself take the place of Waldron in writing the story of the Hornby-Bullock adventure.” Vilhjalmur Stefansson (May 1931) ​ “Why did not you write up your trip with Hornby yourself? And I might ask further – Why, since you have such a gift of fluent writing you don’t do something in that line?” Guy Houghton Blanchet (August 1950)

An account of a journey in 1889 to the desert region of Canada between Hudson Bay and the Arctic Sea, in order to find and study the musk-ox and its Indian hunters.

Account of journeys west of Hudson Bay in summer of 1939 to Nueltin Lake.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.