I picked this book up when I purchased a bunch of wilderness exploration books several years ago. The premise of a young English man being sent into the arctic tundra to live with, and trade with, the native people’s in northern Canada was intriguing. What was even more interesting was the time period that this true story took place – the early 1930’s, when the Hudson Bay Company (referred to as the HBC) was still operating in the northern parts of the Hudson Bay area and northern Canada.
The narrative was written by Edward Beauclerk Maurice, who was only 17 years old when he was hired by the HBC. Edward narrates his journey across the Atlantic, and his first posting, where he learned the the language of the Inuit natives. He eventually became trustworthy enough that he was sent deeper into the wilderness to his own post, where he spent the next year alone with Inuit tribes trading furs with barely any contact with the outside world.
The story is unique and well told by Maurice, and offers up a glimpse of life as it was with the Inuit natives prior to their lives being changed by encroaching civilization and technology. Maurice provides unique perspectives into the everyday lives of these people, and how they interacted with him and treated him. He eventually became an accepted member of their local society, their trust such that he assisted with local disputes and was considered someone to whom they could bring problems to be solved. What was amazing about this was that he was – at the time – younger than most of those who deferred to him!
For anyone wishing to read a unique, interesting story about the extreme north of Canada and the tribes that lived their, this is a book I highly recommend.
Mike Charves 