Arctic Journal II: A Time for Change

Kerry Abel is a professor of history at Carleton University. She is the author of Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History, co-editor of Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects, and co-editor of Northern Visions: New Perspectives on the North in Canadian History.

In this second volume of personal memoirs, OMI missionary Bern Will
Brown takes the reader on a journey through time and place in Canada’s
western subarctic and Arctic.

Between 1955 and 1999, Brown served at Aklavik, saw the early days of
Inuvik, worked out of Fort McMurray, and built churches at Nahanni Butte
and Colville Lake. It was a period of considerable change in the region,
as people were drawn into new community settlements and learned to cope
with the pressures of resource development and Cold War politics. It was
a time of change for Brown as well; he obtained papal dispensation to
marry in midlife and returned to work in a new capacity at Colville
Lake.

Arctic Journal II is handsomely produced with many color photographs
taken by Brown, including photos of his own paintings. Although really
just a series of anecdotes, Brown’s eye for detail and ear for a good
story keep the reader engaged and provide the illusion of a fine
after-dinner conversation. The stories are sometimes funny, sometimes
tragic, and sometimes even angry; all provide a clear sense of the
texture of one man’s life in the North. Certainly there are troubling
undertones. Native life is generally depicted in very unflattering
terms, with instances of domestic violence, drunken sprees, and child
neglect predominating; Brown seems to imply that personal failing rather
than socioeconomic dislocation is to blame. Some readers might also find
Brown’s paternalism and sexism difficult to accept. But as an
anthropological insight into one type of missionary mind, the book is a
valuable tool. Certainly, it is an entertaining read and may some day
become a useful historical document.